I don't think he's a shill. I just always wonder why anybody would post such a query without stating his own opinion. Is this query coming from somebody who has or hasn't heard the music? What does this person think of the music. Etc.
It annoys me when somebody starts a thread to seemingly stimulate discussion, then doesn't offer his or her point of view. Like those people who start top 10s, then don't list their own. Etc.
Pete, I agree to an extent. I would at least like to know where he stands on Ras's stuff in general, or if he has any familiarity with his music whatsoever.
With that being said, I'm happy someone half-way across the world is hip to Ras. He's a really good, hard working musician and a great guy.
Ras is definitely a great guy and fine musician. He's getting a lot of opportunities to play lately and seems to be growing more each time I hear him. Certainly has his head in the right place. I wish him continued growth and success.
And hopefully he's not mad that I still haven't sent him the second disc from that 11 disc Ayler set yet.
Taran, the person you need to speak with is Dennis Gonzalez. He knows Ras quite well and has played with him, and many of his Music Now cohorts. You should pop in over at his thread.
Last edited by Scott Dolan; April-12th-2005 at 06:32 PM.
Ras is doing a great job in terms of keeping a particular take on free jazz current; that said, I don't find the execution as gripping as the intention. To my ears, his music lacks a final element of compelling focus - possibly that's more a question of mismatch between what I like to hear and what Ras wants to produce.
That may sound lukewarm praise, but Ras is on my "watch what he does" list, and a lot of much more widely-known players are not.
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