Recommendations Sought

[gnhrtg]

Hi,

I'll order a couple of things the first week of April and I would want to hear your opinions about the following (or any other thing that springs to mind when you see the list). Thank you for your time.

Ab Baars - Verderame
Gerry Hemingway - Slamadam
Tilbury & Parker - Two Chapters and an Epilogue (this I'll buy anyhow but it's here so that you know what tickles me)
Territory Band - which one; in general I greatly enjoy Vandermark
Michael Moore Trio - Bering (how's the mood on this one, I enjoy all the Clusone disks, Available Jelly, and also Jewels and Binoculars)
Jemel Moondoc Trio - Live at Glenn Miller Cafe (I have not heard Moondoc, I have heard Parker and Drake in many contexts and do like the groove they produce)

I also thought that this thread might be used (maybe there are others I'm not aware of) as a place where one can ask for recommendations or about an album he hasn't yet heard. There are places to post reviews, to vote the top ten, but - as far as I know - not for saying "I like these and am interested about this kind of stuff, what would do you recommend?" We also don't have a place where we can list stuff we don't like and why. I don't have the time now to collect facts but a majority of the reviews and mentions of albums seem to be one where they are praised. If we don't like everything we buy then maybe we should also have a place where we list albums (and preferably our reasons) about which people should be more cautious in buying.

[stonemonkts]

Based on your list, I have another CD to add for consideration:

Michael Moore---White Widow (Moore, Mark Helias, Alex Maguire, Han Bennink). 2001 Ramboy

Wonderful CD which contains tracks of straight ahead, cool, and free playing (at least to my ears, I hear all 3 styles or modes). In any case, Moore's musical ideas are engaging, and the sound is great. Bennink has a few moments on it which are priceless. I think this session is little known and underrated, but that's just my opinion. Recommended strongly!

Of your list, the only one I own is the Moondoc/Glenn Miller set, which I've only heard twice but so far like very much. I'm anxious to see what others think of your list.

[gnhrtg]

Thank you for all the comments and suggestions.

Looking at what's going on in other places of the board, I think I might substitute the new Vandermark 5 album instead of the Terrritory Band.

Stonemonkts - did you listen to Bering? From what you tell me, I understand that White Widow might also be one that I would really dig since that seems to be the mood, to me, where listening to Moore play is pure pleasure.

[stonemonkts]

Originally posted by gnhrtg
Stonemonkts - did you listen to Bering? From what you tell me, I understand that White Widow might also be one that I would really dig since that seems to be the mood, to me, where listening to Moore play is pure pleasure.

I have not listened to Bering, so unfortunately I couldn't compare it with White Widow. Perhaps someone else can chime in who have listened to both CDs.

I'd like to take this opportunity to recommend yet another CD for your consideration:

George Graewe/Ernst Reijseger/Gerry Hemingway--Saturn Cycle
This is one beautiful CD. I've been listening to it for a few weeks. It is a live session from 1994 recorded in Koln. I personally am very attracted to the territory this music represents, and I wish I can describe it....I don't know...highly intelligent, thought provoking, chamber jazz (that sounds like a dry description to me, but this music is anything but).

[MRS]

. . .just to reiterate, any of Gerry Hemingway's quintet and sometimes quartet dates involving the band in question are indispensible.

Also. . .Graewe/Reijseger/Hemingway should garner tantamount attention. This, along with the aforementioned, is I believe one of the finer working groups of the past fifteen years. All dates, to my knowledge, are readily available save "Zwei Nächte in Berlin [live]" though I'd actually recommend "Counterfactuals" to start things off. You can even go to Gerry's website and ask him to burn a copy of a concert of this trio's in Istanbul which is fantastic if you can get past mediocre sound quality.

My recommendation to you: "Exploding Customer--Live at the Glenn Miller Cafe."

Good idea for a thread--maybe it will mitigate/consolidate my often ludicrous spending benders.

[gnhrtg]

I have heard Graewe solo, Reijseger in Clusone and ICP, and Hemingway in BassDrumBone and although I did now about the existence of their trio, I never got around to buying and listening to any of the stuff since it did not gather much attention here. I guess I'll add that to the list as something new (to me at least).

------------------

To actually contribute, if anyone is into Klezmer-Jazz (e.g., Masada, Satlah, Krakauer), here's what I have to say. I do like the stuff since they have playful melodies and it's highly enjoyable when it's coupled with "good" improvisation. I like Satlah, almost all Masada I've heard, and Krakauer's last album "Twelve Tribes" and Jewlia Eisenberg's "Trilectic" for instance. I have tried and not liked at all the following:

Rabbinical School Dropouts (Tzadik)
Masada Guitars (Tzadik)
David Krakauer's first album (Tzadik)

The reason I do not like them is they employtoo little improvisation for my taste. Jazz to me is mostly about improvisation and these are too structured with the heads (or long melodies) dominating and in Rabbinical School Dropouts what improvisation I hear sounds sub-par as, for instance, those in certain smooth-jazz albums in the sense that they play just what the tune requires and try not to push into other directions (which also has a lot to do with interplay).

[Martin]

Curiously enough, I listened to "Sonic Fiction" immediately before going online and diving into this thread (finished listening some twenty minutes ago!). It's been the first time I played the disc in some years time, and I now think of it as an incredibly strong and satisfying session - much better than what I thought to remember. It also may be a fine starting point for Georg Graewe whose music I occasionally find very tough and demanding listening (eg, his solo "Gedächtnisspuren").

I was so heavily impressed by "Sonic Fiction" that I took all other discs I have from the trio out of my shelves (for a not-so-distant-future relistening full of old remembrances and new insights): Zwei Naechte in Berlin, The View From Points West, Flex 27, La Bonne Vitesse (the Istanbul concert Michael mentioned), Saturn Cycle and Counterfactuals.

Also listened to a good portion of the BassDrumBone discs in the past three or four days. As of now, "Hence The Reason" is the one I like best.

[Captain Hate]

I've listened to both Bering and White Widow and I think I like Bering a little better (although if you ask me tomorrow...). Bering has the same lineup as Chicoutimi: Michael Moore - clarinet, Fred Hersch - piano & Mark Helias - bass. The music reminds me a lot of the Jimmy Giuffre/Steve Swallow/Paul Bley rerelease on ECM in that there's nothing flashy and everything is done in an understated manner. But its all good and catches you up in it. Its a mixture of originals (most of which sound somehow familiar, like the songs on "Who's Bridge") and versions of Shorter's Albatross, Rowle's The Peacocks as well as others.

Add me to the list of people that are absolutely captivated with Saturn Cycles. And everything else that trio's done.