I'm not sure how many posts this will get, as I don't think many people here particularly care for it, but why the hell not.

I suppose just go with the usual...your thoughts on it, favorite albums, etc.

As for me, I'm pretty big on free jazz, and I think it gets way too much flack by the so-called "jazz community"

Some of my favorite artists:

Cecil Taylor
Sun Ra
Don Cherry
Ornette Coleman
Pharaoh Sanders
Albert Ayler
John Coltrane
Alice Coltrane
Lennie Tristano
Art Ensemble of Chicago
Anthony Braxton
Eric Dolphy
Bill Dixon
Archie Sheep

Favorite 10 abums would be something like this, although I imagine the list is a relatively generic one(no real order after the first two)

Cecil Taylor- Unit Structures
Lennie Tristano- Intuition
(unbelievable this was recorded when it was, altough I would love to someday get Descent into Maelstrom, which I've heard is better)
John Coltrane- Ascension
Sun Ra- The Magic City
Pharaoh Sanders- Karma
Ornette Coleman- Free Jazz
Don Cherry- Mu
Anthony Braxton- For Alto
Albert Ayler- Spiritual Unity
Art Ensemble of Chicago- Les Stances A Sophie
Eric Dolphy- Out There

Then of course there are more recent free jazz acts, like Anatrofobia, Fond of Tigers, John Zorn, Talibam!, Original Silence, and plenty of others, but they're more rock influenced, so I'd imagine all those would fit better in regular Avant Garde thread.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: grabblegarrr,

I'm glad you started this, it gives me a lot to check out. I'm a big fan of Sun Ra and Ornette Coleman, but didn't really know where to go next.

Yay!

quote:

Originally posted by grabblegarrr:

Some of my favorite artists:

Archie Sheep

Archie Shepp? I bet Mr. Sheep might make some good music. Grabble, is this post making you feel a little sheep-ish? ok I'm done, wow that was terrible.

Very solid list! Very similar to a top ten of my own for the genre. I will definitely have to check out Lennie Tristano and Anthony Braxton. I would also like to add Sonny Sharrock, as well as ZU for the modern, rock influenced end of the spectrum.

Archie Shepp is a bit overrated, Archie Sheep though, that's where it's at.

I'd also like to add Spring Heel Jack's 2002 album, Amassed, not as original (though probably as good as) their more drum n bass albums that came before it (especially Disappeared), but very very good nonetheless (I'd say one of my favorite records of the decade). Jason Pierce (Spiritualized) adds some nice touches on this record.

next to Coltrane, no stranger to avant-Jazz himself, Coleman is my favourite jazzman.
He always knew in those heady early days how to spiral away from a central grounding and yet leave echos of where he'd been and the listener could make sense of how his pieces developed.

Cecil Taylor is also a tremendous talent, but I've heard only a handful of albums.
I gotta agree on including Sonny Sharrock. He has such power and heartbreak in his work.

...and heresy, heresy; heart break is what I have never got from Ayler. I like his stuff, but it's always been a bit too 'head' for me. I never get the sense he is playing for his life, unlike Coltrane.

Don't forget Derek Bailey, AMM, Ruins, and Andrew Hill, whose Point of Departure is an essential purchase!!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Ninny Gooptz,

I understand the Albert Ayler thing, and I definetely don't think his body of work comes anywhere near Coltrane's, but I do love a few of his albums, most notably Spiritual Unity, which I do think he is "playing for his life" on.

Also, I agree with the AMM. I've only heard their most acclaimed, AMMMusic, but I really love it. What else would you suggest by them?

Also, I haven't heard anything by Derek Baily, although I've heard much about him. I'll have to pick up the Andrew Hill album sometime too.

Nice list grabblegarr. I really like Peter Brotzmann Octet's Machine Gun a whole lot too. It's an amazing record and just reissued last year. I love AMM too!

I'm glad you get that sense of absolute manic commitment from Ayler, g/g. Maybe I just need to listen deeper, longer...

Anything by Bailey is worth your time, but good places to start would be either Ballads or Guitar, Drums and Bass.

AMM are daunting to delve into, and don't always fall easily into an avant-jazz category, but of what I've listened to I recommend The Nameless Uncarved Block, AMM 3 and the Allentown live one, though not so jazzy, but still wonderfully odd.

quote:

Originally posted by jonathanbrisby:
Nice list grabblegarr. I really like Peter Brotzmann Octet's Machine Gun a whole lot too. It's an amazing record and just reissued last year. I love AMM too!

Shit, I'm behind. I have that album on my computer, but I didn't know it had been reissued, I'll have to buy it. Yeah it is a really great, aggressive record. In fact, I probably should have included it in my top 10 because it really is fantastic. But, oh well.

really great list. i have been meaning to expand my music collection on this front.

Great thread. Some really, really awesome albums mentioned. I guess I really don't have a whole lot to add, I'll just note that Ornette Coleman's Free Jazz has to be one of my top 10 albums of all time, in any genre. And Derek Bailey's music is just so fantastic. Such a great guitarist. At first his playing may seem like anyone could do it but some of the shit he pulls off is super technical and incredibly challenging.

Plus as it turns out I was just listening to Jumpin' Punkins by Cecil Taylor yesterday. Very good.

quote:

Originally posted by jonathanbrisby:
Nice list grabblegarr. I really like Peter Brotzmann Octet's Machine Gun a whole lot too. It's an amazing record and just reissued last year.

I haven't heard Machine Gun, sounds like I need to. However I do have For Adolphe Sax. I dig it.

OK, I should have contributed to this thread a long time ago but I am here now and that counts for something. I really like a lot of your list grab, I am partial to Coltrane as he is probably my favorite jazzman of all time.

I’ll try to mention a few you didn’t, since you have most of the cornerstones and giants (Coleman, Mingus, Coltrane) covered.

Eric Dolphy is a really good one. As the first important bass clarinet soloist in jazz, he was a master at most woodwinds. He fits more into the free jazz category because of his use with the twelve note scale—that’s not even mentioning how he made those weird noises through the instrument! My favorite album by him has to be Out There, following his work with Mingus, he really shined. And the title track collaboration with the bassist is amazing. I especially like the bass on here played by the overlooked, Ron Carter. However, a lot of his work is really great and worth seeking.

Some albums that you didn’t mention that you should hear if you haven’t are:

Anthony Braxton – 3 Compositions of New Jazz
Albert Ayler – Bells-Prophecy
Sam Rivers – Streams
Archie Shepp - Four for Trane
James Blood Ulner - Tales of Captain Black

That’s all I can really help with for now, I’m sorry I don’t have more.

anthony braxton - for alto

pretty incredible stuff. for those of you who have posted on this thread, you should definitely check it out.

all of the artists named in this thread are wonderful! Sun Ra & the various members of his Arkestra(John Gilmore) are my favorite musicians by far! And respect to the guy that mentioned Animals on Wheels...another one of my influences!


Anyone who enjoys anything named in this thread...check out my band Masik. I dont mean to spam, but some of our tracks follow direct5ly along these lines. Especially our newest one, High Orionis...drums for days! Let us know what you think...oh, and this is recorded LIVE as always



[High Orionis]
[img]http://jumk.de/astronomie/img/chi2-orionis.jpg[/img]

Excellent list. One omission that I really love (though I've only heard the first half) is Noah Howard's "Black Ark", from '69. Really amazing playing from everyone involved, especially the unearthly bleating of Arthur Doyle.

As for modern stuff, Charles Gayle's "Repent" is a good 70-minute Brontzmann-style blowout, Zu's "Igneo" is an insane hardcore/funk/free jazz hybrid, and The Chicago Underground Quartet's self-titled album is an interesting listen, blending free jazz, cool jazz, minimalism, and post-rock.

Incidentally, did anybody see either Cecil or Ornette at the Portland Jazz Festival in February? I did, and they were both incredible.

I picked up Alice Coltrane's Eternity the other day. I had downloaded it before and was blown away. I have a feeling Satchinananda might be more of a classic or "more important" in some sense, but for now I'm happy!

Hey, check out avant jazz great Joe Gallivan. He has a small website with some free - freeMusic
http://www.joegallivan.net/

I've been listening to Art Ensemble of Chicago quite a bit lately, especially two of their more acclaimed albums (aside from Les Stances A Sophie) . The first is with Brigitte Fontaine and it goes by the name of Comme A La Radio. It's a French jazz folk record (not free jazz at all, really) but it has some great moments and deserves to be heard.

The other, Urban Bushmen, is more along the lines of free jazz. Can't say why, but at times, this reminds me quite a bit of a more "free" and less serious Charles Mingus. There are also definitely a lot of tribal and world influences thrown into the album, which helps mix things up quite well. Either way it's groovy as hell and always high energy. Definetely recommend this one.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: grabblegarrr,

I just got the Ornette Coleman box Beauty is a Rare Thing in the mail today. I'm already somewhat familiar with The Shape of Jazz to Come, but listening to John Zorn's Masada project has got me more curious about Coleman's influence on him, so I figured I'd go right to the source material. Lonely Woman has the coolest bass line ever, any genre.

Anyway, my all time favorite jazz album is Dolphy's Out to Lunch. The rhythm section is simply amazing. Tony Williams is the best jazz drummer i've ever heard. Dolphy absolutely owns any wind instrument. The man was amazing.

Speaking of Zorn, I really love most of his Naked City stuff, but I don't know if that qualifies as free jazz. I think some of the stuff on Radio is free, and maybe the quick hardcore songs have free structures as well, I don't really know.

quote:

Originally posted by elguapo:
I just got the Ornette Coleman box Beauty is a Rare Thing in the mail today. I'm already somewhat familiar with The Shape of Jazz to Come, but listening to John Zorn's Masada project has got me more curious about Coleman's influence on him, so I figured I'd go right to the source material. Lonely Woman has the coolest bass line ever, any genre.

Anyway, my all time favorite jazz album is Dolphy's Out to Lunch. The rhythm section is simply amazing. Tony Williams is the best jazz drummer i've ever heard. Dolphy absolutely owns any wind instrument. The man was amazing.

Science Fiction is another good Coleman album.

And amen on Tony Williams - he makes Miles Davis' Filles des Kilimanjaro for me. I still need to give Out to Lunch a proper listen.