Muriel Grossmann and The Golden Rule There is something very alluring about the sounds Muriel Grossmann evokes on Golden Rule, her latest album, the first she has released on vinyl, and the third in a trilogy with a band consisting of Gina Schwarz on bass, Uros Stamenkovic on drums, and Radomir Milojkovic on guitar. Grossmann, born in Paris but living in Ibiza, has been able to capture the melodic style of, say, a Lester Young with the more ethereal sounds of Coltrane, who is often credited as an originator of the “spiritual jazz” movement. What you hear is a muscular tenor... Read More
AIR-AIR Revisited; Comparison of Pressings; Interview with Tom Coppola
AIR-AIR Revisited: Comparison of Be With Records Vinyl Reissue to Original Embryo Pressing; Interview with Tom Coppola Tom Coppola, Googie Coppola and Dave Johnson (photo by Fred Ahlert, courtesy Tom Coppola) When I reviewed the 2016 Be With Records reissue of AIR on vinyl, I promised to compare it to an original pressing; I thought the reissue was quite good, even though derived from a digital transfer. The original, on the Embryo label, although not exactly rare, does command a price these days. I borrowed a copy of the original... Read More
KEN GOLDEN: TOP PICKS FOR 2018- A LIST
KEN GOLDEN: TOP PICKS FOR 2018- A LIST : Ken Golden, who contributed a piece on “Prog Rock Obscurities” here in 2016, has been a tireless guide to the less well known, the obscure rock, jazz and hard to “genre-fy” music that has become a staple of my musical diet, gives us a holiday present in the form of his most interesting “picks” for 2018: I’m often asked to compile a year-end top 10 list and I always refrain. My memory is short and there is so much music pouring through the threshold of my business that it becomes too much work v. fun. Plus I... Read More
Mark Weber on the West Coast Experimental Jazz Scene and the Shape of Things to Come
Mark Weber on the West Coast Experimental Jazz Scene and the Shape of Things to Come Sun Ra Arkestra – April 2, 1981 Los Angeles – photo by Mark Weber I first got onto Mark Weber when I was researching Horace Tapscott and landed on Mark’s webpage, which included a photo essay of the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra. Mark spent the first 32 years of his life in LA, and was the CODA jazz magazine LA columnist for the better part of a decade, spending a total of 18 years reporting for CODA from Cleveland, New Orleans, San Francisco, New York, Detroit and Salt Lake City. His... Read More
SPIN CYCLE-Rare, Overlooked and Worthwhile Records to Explore
SPIN CYCLE- Rare, Overlooked and Worthwhile Records to Explore I cycle through a lot of records here—some are rare or obscure and many are deserving of further attention, but most don’t get covered simply due to time constraints. Many are overlooked and all are worthwhile, depending on your taste and sense of adventure. Thus, this piece, highlighting records worthy of further exploration; some will get more in-depth reviews as time permits. Nate Morgan- Journey into Nigritia This comes from Nimbus West, another great label with an interesting mix of spiritual jazz... Read More
A MESSAGE FROM THE TRIBE- WENDELL HARRISON
A MESSAGE FROM THE TRIBE- WENDELL HARRISON Wendell Harrison, Image by Noah Morrison, courtesy The Kresge Foundation. Talking with Wendell Harrison is like jazz itself—a free flow of information, filled with nuance and detail, marked by contrasts and the occasional surprise, all connected when you stand back and get the shape of things. Wendell is a kind, warm man whose joy of life is evident in his words, music and all that he does: now an elder statesman of the Detroit jazz scene, Wendell is a teacher, a keeper of the legacy and an active musician and producer. The years have... Read More
The Talking Blues-Doug MacLeod’s Break the Chain
The Talking Blues-Doug MacLeod’s Break the Chain I’ve always liked the blues. In some ways the simplest, yet often the most difficult music to play: the changes are easy, and while many players stun with instrumental virtuosity, what really sticks (for me) is the raw, emotional outpouring, not the flashiness. Sometimes it just falls flat because it seems like you’ve heard it a million times, and it is being played by rote. Doug MacLeod’s Break the Chain, recently released on the audiophile label, Reference Recordings (more about the label and production below), is in some... Read More
Randy Holden- Guitar God (Interview)
Randy Holden- Guitar God For those of you with an appreciation for hard, heavy guitar-centric rock from the period, it doesn’t get any better than Randy Holden. His solo album, Population II, is now a highly collectible rarity for good reason: it’s a monster album. If you only have passing knowledge of the man, or look him up on the Internet, the accepted wisdom recites that Holden is “best known for” his work on Blue Cheer’s New, Improved! But that album doesn’t even scratch the surface. In fact, it is partly a Blue Cheer album and partly a Randy Holden album; the dividing... Read More
The Curious Case Of Record Cleaning In The Quest For Sonic Perfection
The Curious Case Of Record Cleaning In The Quest For Sonic Perfection Michael Bodell, September 1, 2018 “If there exists a more effective, easy, reliable, and utterly transformative way of cleaning LPs, I have yet to hear it.” Art Dudley, Stereophile March 2015 In 1952, Bendix Corporation of Davenport, Iowa took ultrasonic cleaning from the laboratory and into production for the first time. The company experimented with ultrasonic applications through the 1950s to find tank cleaning in a fluid an optimal use, especially in industrial applications. ... Read More
Comus: First Utterance + Interview with Members of Comus
Comus: First Utterance The folk music revival of the ‘60s not only revitalized interest in traditional music but also sparked the creation of more contemporary sounds that were influenced by the cultural tides and musical shifts of a turbulent decade. Although it was not released until 1971, First Utterance stands today as a “Ur” album of the psychedelic folk movement; it is a wild ride even by “modern” standards, inured to a post-punk, industrial, hip-hop, noise rock sensibility. It must have been shattering to listen to at the time of its release. Roger Wootton... Read More
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