October 2002 Notebook
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Thursday, October 31, 2002

Music:

  • Ray Anderson Alligatory Band: Heads and Tales (1995, Enja). I love Anderson's postmodern trombone, and I dig the concept behind the Alligatory Band, which is to raise a ruckus. Problem is, this album doesn't really rise to the occasion until the finale, a piece called "Drink and Blather," where Anderson resorts to his skewed hipster singing, adumbrating a set of variations on "life is better this way." Sure is. B+
  • Manu Chao: Radio Bemba Sound System (2002, Virgin). I've heard reports that Manu Chao runs the hottest show on the planet, and this pretty much closes the case. Problem is, do you really want the hottest show on the planet in your living room? B+
  • Kenny Garrett: Happy People (2002, Warner Brothers). What a trajectory! His breakthrough album was called Black Hope, after which he engaged in some serious Trane-chasing, but after Pursuance he's gotten all soft and comfy, culminating in this easy-listening creampuff. But beautiful. B
  • The Best of Julie London: The Liberty Years (1955-64, EMI). She was a starlet, a pin-up who sang a little, and the songs mostly came out of that Great American Songbook that all the other starlets leaned on. Yet she remains astonishingly listenable: a voice that is clear and unmannered, friendly rather than coquettish, thoughtful. And she had impeccable taste in music: small jazz ensembles, sometimes just a guitar or smear of strings, or Nelson Riddle, the one big band maestro who was nimble enough to complement his singers rather than carpet bomb them. A-
  • Time for Love: The Best of Julie London (1955-65, Rhino). Same period, only three duplicates, so much for consensus notions of what her best was. This one leans more to the slow stuff, which makes it breathier if not necessarily sexier. I slightly prefer the EMI compilation, but this comes very close. A-
  • Charlie Mingus: Tijuana Moods (1957, RCA, 2CD). This was one of Mingus's first extended works, but it's gone through the editing wringer several times, especially for its first release in 1962 and the subsequent mirror splice of New Tijuana Moods. This set releases all of the bits and pieces, and while the world hardly needs more false starts, it still works pretty well. The first disc is a coherent album -- perhaps the most coherent yet eeked out of this material -- and the second has some interesting alternatives and a long stretch of Mingus-speak. Glad to have it. A-
  • Youssou N'Dour: Joko (The Link) (2000, Nonesuch). The urgency to listen to this one went up with the arrival of the new one, but it has much the same virtues: he's taken command of his voice to new levels, and found rhythms both subtle and complex that fit him like a glove. And the closing song in English doesn't embarrass; in fact, it puts the record over the top. A-
  • Youssou N'Dour: Nothing's in Vain (2002, Nonesuch). A
  • Charlie Parker Quintet: Bird & Fats -- Live at Birdland 1950 (Cool & Blue). Another one of those anemic bootlegs meant to capture every last sacred breath that Bird blew. Not the worst of sound, although Fats sure doesn't catch many breaks. And Bird does get in his licks, as does the piano player (Bud Powell). B
  • Raphael Saadiq: Instant Vintage (2002, Universal). This has been bubbling under my A-list threshold for months now, a piece of supple neo-soul that in no way lives up to its gospeldelic ambitions, yet keeps gaining ground inch-by-inch. A-
  • The Specials: Best Of (1996, Disky). Spotty, inferior comp. I got The Singles Collection around here somewhere, still unrated; bet it is better. B
  • Mark Turner: Dharma Days (2001, Warner Brothers). He's developing into a distinctive stylist, but he's also going soft and softer. B

Tuesday, October 29, 2002

Thinking about my projected post-9/11 oeuvre; i.e., the recasting of my political thoughtbook. Thought I'd try to outline it here.

  1. What Can a Poor Boy Do?

    The answer to the question is "write this book," but it's not that simple. It would be terribly naive to think that this collection of personal experiences, historical reflections, and theoretical musings had any chance of changing anything. The most an idea can do is to take root in someone else's mind, at which point it ceases to be yours and becomes theirs. And even then, the propagation of "their" ideas is subject to the need for such ideas. So the test of ideas is how needed they are, and how well they fit needs. The book will then explore how ideas fit needs -- in particular, the need for peace, justice, fairness, hope, fulfillment, continuity and sustainability.

    But that's the end of this section. It starts with me, where I'm coming from, and why that seems so marginal, so uninfluential. We need to explore the dense thicket of ideology enveloping American thought and mythology, and how the political process (and its media) work against alternative points of view.

  2. When the Chickens Come Home to Roost

    Malcolm X's assassination was the end of a series of steps which began with him uttering these forbidden words. What makes them forbidden is that they suggest that tragic events are conditioned by ordinary history. I want to recount the events of 2001-09-11 as they unfolded from my vantage point, in Brooklyn, on TV, through the lives of friends, through my own thoughts -- including the evocation of the Malcolm X quote. Talk about the "Century" photobook; about Wendell Berry's essay on the 1991 Iraq war; about what constitutes war, and what peace requires.

  3. A Tale of Two Nations

    I want to trace out the interactions between the US and Israel, the peculiar similarities and profound differences, and how each tugs at the other. I want especially to look at how pushing antiterrorism to the center of the American agenda leads us to Israelization, which leads to explanations why it doesn't work even for Israel, and why America can never really be remolded into Israel. We also need to look at the settler/native dynamic (which is certainly part of the bond between the two countries) and why this is misconceived. We need to look at how Israeli concepts like "preemptory war" have been adopted by the US, and why they don't work either tactically or strategically.

  4. The Moral Superiority of the Left

    Which also, of course, brings up the moral bankruptcy of the right. Let's talk about ethics. Let's explore the core of the right's view, which is that people are fundamentally vile and have to be disciplined. (A view which I might add is particularly attractive to people who are in fact vile, or at least deeply suspicious and mistrustful.) And let's explore how trust has become the central issue in the modern world, and what that implies for how we organize our communities, economies, and culture. And let's look at freedom -- what works and what doesn't. And while we're at it, let's deal with religion, both as the last refuge of the ignorant, and as their social enforcer.

  5. The Way Things Ought to Be

    This is where we get prescriptive: policy details to secure peace, to promote opportunity, to practice reasonable restraint, to enable as much freedom as possible.

Sunday, October 27, 2002

Music:

  • The Best of International Hip-Hop (2000, Hip-O). Deep down, for me at least it's always been about the beats. A-
  • Steve Coleman / Dave Holland: Phase Space (1991, DIW). Coleman's main thrust has been towards a funk-fusion that keeps a respectful distance from hip-hop, but when he moves in that direction, you tend to forget what a fine mainstream jazzman he can be. The duet format confines him to long stretches of delicate craft, and Holland is both the perfect accompanist and worth concentrating on in his own right. B+
  • Mississippi John Hurt: Avalon Blues (1963, Rounder). No one else ever played the blues so simply, nor so exquisitely. He never showed off. His guitar playing was delicate, yet it rewarded close attention; his voice was plain, yet it conveyed unapproachable integrity. His 1928 sessions were classic. His '60s rediscovery was supernatural. This set is as fine as any. A
  • J.B. Lenoir: Vietnam Blues: The Complete L&R Recordings (1965-66, Evidence). A minor bluessmith, but he had plenty to be blue about in the '60s, including a scathing remembrance of Alabama, and that stupid, horrible war in southeast asia. A-
  • Rhett Miller: The Instigator (2002, Elektra). Old 97's were a good group that I never liked all that much. I'm not even sure at this point why I graded two of their records as high as A-, but will note that Robert Christgau has them both at A. But this one I'm much more certain about, not merely because I've played it more times than all four Old 97's combined. Comes down to songs: every one here is baited and hooked, snatches of lyrics leap out, and while the tunes don't quite jingle in your head, every one reminds you of a welcome friend. Comparisons to Marshall Crenshaw are not unwarranted. A-
  • Pop Music: The Golden Era 1951-1975 (Columbia/Legacy, 2CD). One small piece of Columbia's self-congratulation exercise, the closest thing to a selection principle here is how much moolah Columbia raked in over the era. The organizing principle is to separate the pre-rock pop from the pop-rock: the former runs 19 cuts, terminating in Barbra Streisand's "People". The following 32 cuts start up with Dion doing "Ruby Baby" and while they wander every now and then into some of the most cloying hits of the era, they never leave the rock paradigm. Still, it's hard to believe that there is anyone who's interest in pop-rock is so shallow that they'll delight in having Chad & Jeremy, Laura Nyro, Chicago, and Labelle on the same disc, so the real interest is in the first 19 cuts, which rarely take a false step. Too bad that side doesn't end until Bob Dylan has sung. B-
  • The Reputation (2002, Initial). A close call -- I've been sitting on the fence on this for quite a while. Elizabeth Elmore is both a poignant singer and a sharp writer, and the songs here have form and punch. But I've never really latched onto any, and in the end this sounds a lot like a pretty good Pretenders album. I may revisit this later, but for now: B+
  • Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali: A Better Destiny (2002, RealWorld). Ecstatic, kick-ass qawwali, sufi music raised to a roiling boil. A-
  • Wayne Shorter: Wayning Moments (1962, Vee Jay). Nice outing, especially for the trumpet player (Freddie Hubbard). B+
  • Jimmy Smith: Cool Blues (1958, Blue Note). A rip-roaring outing for the organ master, with a Charlie Parker tune and "A Night in Tunisia" to pick up the pace, but the saxophonists also excel: Tina Brooks you should know about already, but Lou Donaldson closes with a gorgeous ballad. Wonder why Donaldson's own soul grits albums don't rise to this level? Maybe it's the organ guy. A-
  • The Best of Los Van Van (2000, Hemisphere). I don't feel like I have a good handle on these Cubans, but this feels like the most robust of the three comps I have. A-
  • World Saxophone Quartet: Steppenwolf (2002, Justin Time). Bluiett is one of my favorite saxmen, and Murray, well, he's my main man. Dunno about Purcell, but Lake's pretty good, too. So I keep going back to the well (10 albums so far), but the fact is that I've always found WSQ's sound way too monotonic -- what a difference some African drums make -- and I've also found them prone to slip into incomprehensible cacophony (especially when Julius Hemphill was present, in person or in memory). Twenty-some years down the road, this live set seems about par for the course: brilliant musicians, startling runs, astonishing tones, and more than a dollop of incomprehensible cacophony. B-
  • Tom Zé: Jogos de Armar (2001, Trama). His music strikes me as lumpy, full of discontinuities. I'm told that the one album that I like best (Com Defecto de Fabricaçao) is too much David Byrne; that this is the real thing. Well, Byrne's jaggedness is easier to take; this I'm real unsure about. But after a couple of dozen plays, I need to file it somewhere. At its best it improbably works, and that happens more often than not. Until I figure out what it does, that's about all I have to go on. A-

Friday, October 25, 2002

My birthday. Turned 52, but feeling much more over the hill than seems to be the norm for that age. Been stuck under a near cold for this week, and it's rained continuously for two days -- dark and damp and cold. For the last 7-8 years I've been fixing a fancy birthday feast. Felt totally uninspired this year -- miss you Liz, where the hell are you? This year just had brother and sister and two family members show up -- a shortage of nephews and nieces, not to mention friends. But then I didn't cook much either: chicken and dumplings, like I learned from my mother; green beans, similar to but not quite the same as mom's; a creamed corn recipe from I Hear America Cooking; and the oatmeal stout cake I've made a few times, with the recommended orange-date ice cream that I had never ventured before. I thought I got just the right texture on the dumplings this time, and the corn was scrumptious; but the cake fell and was a bit dry, and I may have been a bit too cautious about burning the topping. The ice cream, unsweet by itself despite supersweet mejdol dates, complemented the fresh cake nicely, but the leftovers are becoming cloying -- the cream-and-orange-juice combination is neither a pure ice cream nor a sherbert.

The death of Paul Wellstone and his posse was sad enough, but what is especially sad is how quickly it submerges into our general nervousness over the impending elections. Bush and his administration have behaved so appallingly since their annointment by Antonin Scalia that one expects the Reichstag to catch fire any day now. Principled Democrat opposition is astonishingly hard to find -- I'm not even sure that Wellstone qualified, although it's easy to point to others with far fewer scruples. Yet the most thing that strikes me the strongest is how fragile our lives are, and how arbitrarily history wends around them.

Thursday, October 24, 2002

Music:

  • Mali Music (2002, Honest Jon's). Damon Albarn's little vacation project: go to Mali, cut some tapes, go home, futz with them, send them back for window dressing. Albarn throws a curve ball on the first track -- an atmospheric piece, purely western and transcendent a bit like Stevie Wonder's "Ten Zillion Lightyears". Moreover, it's a purpose pitch, reminds you who's in charge here. After that, he gives you a taste of Africa, then works around the zone with a lot of change-ups, cut-fastballs, and the occasional slider. Sometimes it sounds like pretty good Eno; sometimes it hints at the front-line Malians Albarn didn't get a chance to work with (Salif Keita, Ali Farka Toure). More often it sounds like esoteric Blur spiced with African effects, which is basically what it is. Inauthentic, but who cares? A-

Wednesday, October 23, 2002

Music:

  • Modest Mouse: This Is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to Think About (1996, Up). Their first LP, rough and halting yet imbued with an uncouth musicality that works improbably, not unlike Pavement. They got tighter later on, but this is what they tightened up, in all its unkempt marvelousness. One of the most important rock bands to emerge in the late '90s. A-
  • Modest Mouse: Sad Sappy Sucker (2001, K). Well, maybe not so important. I gather these pieces actually date back to 1994-95, most sounding prototypical, but ending with a dose of bad Beefheart. B-
  • The Rough Guide to Merengue & Bachata (2000, World Music Network). Leaning strongly to the fast ones -- often the smart tactic with Latin music -- and rich with accordion, but Antony Santos' closer is based on guitar so precise and elegant that Franco wouldn't disown it. A-
  • Vienna Art Orchestra: The Minimalism of Erik Satie (1983-84, Hat Art). A series of short Satie pieces, each with longer reflections drawing out a sensibility that was at least as protojazz as Joplin. The voicings come from the horns -- the whole thing has a brassiness that you've never heard with Satie before. A-
  • Vienna Art Orchestra: A Notion in Perpetual Motion (1985, Hat Art). A huge smorgasbord, variegated, long, recorded live (as the extraneous applause reminds you) but astonishingly clear, brilliant in snatches, pretty much your average garden-variety Vienna Art Orchestra album. B+

Tuesday, October 22, 2002

Music:

  • Abdullah Ibrahim: Voice of Africa (1976, Kaz). When this series of '70s recordings were released on four CDs in 1988, I figured two would suffice, and picked Tintinyana and Blues for a Hip King. The other two have since been hard to find, so stumbling on this one was a coup. Especially since it is if anything even better than my random choices. Ibrahim's South African jive has been a theme oft repeated throughout his career, but here it is amplified by his most sympathetic colleague, saxophonist/flautist Basil Coetzee. Nonstop wonderful. A
  • Joe Lovano: Viva Caruso (2002, Blue Note). Not the operatic slugfest that you'd expect; in fact, less arranged or contrived (a matter of viewpoint) than his Sinatra tribute, let alone Rush Hour. Nice Italian music, full-blooded saxophone. B+
  • Simon Shaheen & Quantara: Blue Flame (2001, Ark 21). Shaheen, master of oud and violin, classical and modern Arab music, describes this record as "the culmination of my career." If anything, the fault here is in trying to sum up too much, perhaps too soon. But scattered pieces are intriguing. A-
  • Jimmy Scott: But Beautiful (2002, Milestone). Compare his "Please Send Me Someone to Love" with Percy Mayfield and you'll find as mannered and overweening a jazzbo as you can imagine, yet in its excessive precision it still piques interest. Less comparable material is easier to take. And the band, led by Renee Rosnes, glides along, with stellar solos by Eric Alexander and Lew Soloff. Haven't heard much else; he's gonna be a project. B+
  • Sleater-Kinney: One Beat (2002, Kill Rock Stars). I thought I'd play this one more time before resigning it to B+ limbo: subcategory pretty good record that I don't actually enjoy. This isn't a new story: all of my friends love them, and I can understand at least some of the reasons why they do -- they are smart and principled and intense and play a thickly nuanced hardrock that is ennervating. But at least one of the singers grates on my ears until they bleed, I've never been able to discern a word, and the first moment of pleasure I normally feel when playing their records is when they shut the fuck up. But funny thing, this may indeed be their best record ever, even if nothing fundamental has changed: well, I did pick up a bit of a lyric ("I've got this curse in my lips"), and at least one of the singers has developed a nifty Lene Lovich impersonation. And it no doubt helped that this spin was a bit louder than usual -- I'm not a volume person, but a little volume does help spread them out a bit, and here at least the variety rewards the ordeal. So I guess I should kick them up a notch: subcategory pretty great record I don't much enjoy but I'm impressed by anyway. A-
  • Neil Young: Harvest (1972, Reprise). One of the few Neil Young records that I had missed, and especially awkward at this point, coming back to it as I am after listening to its many reprises. Evidently the start of the Young's softfolkrock thread, which attained its definitive sound in Comes a Time, and has returned to the fore every three or four albums, most recently Silver and Gold -- in contrast to his hardfolkrock thread, resoundingly launched with Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere and After the Goldrush, and finally topped by Rust Never Sleeps. But coming as it did after the first two, this record has a half-baked feel to it, toned-down, uncertain, and downright murky. "Heart of Gold" is classic, and the closing "Words (Between the Lines of Age)" is haunting, and "The Needle and the Damage Done" precurses yet another thread that peaked with the much more clearly thought-out Tonight's the Night. Minor. B+

Monday, October 21, 2002

Music: Still making slow progress here.

  • Bang on a Can: Terry Riley: In C (2001, Cantaloupe). Without having Riley's minimalist classic handy, I can't compare and contrast, but this seems brighter and more shimmering -- a truly minimalist effect for an eleven-piece group. A-
  • Eno: Dali's Car (1974-76, Lubek). BBC airshots, a fragment of the live Eno album there was never any reason to issue. "Third Uncle" and "Baby's on Fire" do work up a bit of a sweat, but the sound is wanting, and nothing is added. B-
  • Benny Goodman: Ken Burns Jazz (1927-58, Columbia/Legacy). Goodman's role in the Ken Burns (sounds like King James, doesn't it?) Bible of Jazz is substantial; not surprising, given that Goodman was the nexus where good jazz finally met up with the jazz age mass market. This samples broadly, cutting a wide swath through Goodman's many band configurations, if anything shortchanging his vituosity. A-
  • The Doc Watson Family (1963, Smithsonian/Folkways). Doc's features are fine, but he can't carry the kinfolk when they don't even let him pick. B
  • The Complete Capitol Hits of Margaret Whiting (1943-56, Collector's Choice, 2CD). Pretty singer, pretty vacant music. C+

Friday, October 18, 2002

Music: It's been quite a while, so I need to start rating some things to at least catch up with the backlog.

  • Imperial Teen: What Is Not to Love (1998, Slash). Their second, bought well after the fact and sitting on the to-play shelf even longer. It actually bridges the first and third nicely, showing off what neat tricks they can play with repetition and texture. Not as neat as the new one, which I've also upgraded to full A status. A-
  • Neil Young: Are You Passionate? (2002, Reprise). Neil gets topical again; not up to the level of Freedom, more like another chapter in American Stars and Bars and Hawks and Doves. A-

Monday, October 07, 2002

Back from Detroit. Lots of things to write about, but some bookkeeping first. CDs picked up:

  • Ray Anderson Alligatory Band: Heads and Tales (1995, Enja).
  • Anti-Pop Consortium: Arrhythmia (2002, Warp).
  • Aphex Twin: Selected Ambient Works Volume II (1994, Sire, 2CD).
  • Aterciopelados: Gozo Poderoso (2001, BMG Latino).
  • Juan Atkins: Legends: Volume 1 (1999, Om).
  • Beatles: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Band (1967, Apple). A
  • Big Moe: Purple World (2002, Priority).
  • Eubie Blake: Memories of You (1915-73, Biograph).
  • Art Blakey and the Afro-Drum Ensemble: The African Beat (1962, Blue Note).
  • Hamiet Bluiett & Concept: Live at Carlos I: Another Night (1986, Just a Memory).
  • Ken Boothe: A Man and His Hits (1967-84, Heartbeat).
  • The Breeders: Title TK (2002, 4AD/Elektra).
  • The Byrds: Mr. Tambourine Man (1965, Columbia/Legacy). A-
  • The Fabulous Johnny Cash (1958, Columbia/Legacy).
  • We All Are One: The Best of Jimmy Cliff (1969-93, Columbia/Legacy).
  • Coldplay: A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002, Capitol).
  • Steve Coleman/Dave Holland: Phase Space (1991, DIW).
  • The Congos: Heart of the Congos (1977, Blood & Fire, 2CD).
  • Carl Craig: More Songs About Food and Revolutionary Art (1997, Planet E).
  • Reverend Gary Davis: From Blues to Gospel (1971, Biograph).
  • Desert Roses and Arabian Rhythms (2001, Mondo Melodia).
  • Dave Douglas: The Tiny Bell Trio (1993, Songlines).
  • Ian Dury & the Blockheads: Juke Box Dury (1977-81, Stiff). A+
  • Marty Ehrlich/Ben Goldberg: Light at the Crossroads (1996, Songlines).
  • Etoile de Dakar: Volume 4: Klahey Etoile (1998, Stern's).
  • Sue Foley: Where the Action Is . . . (Shanachie).
  • John Forté: I, John (2002, Transparent).
  • From Avenue A to the Great White Way: Yiddish and American Popular Songs From 1914-1950 (Columbia/Legacy, 2CD).
  • Benny Golson: Free (1962, GRP).
  • Benny Golson Funky Quintet: That's Funky (2000, Arkadia).
  • Dexter Gordon: Settin' the Pace (1945-47, Savoy).
  • Jean Grae: Attack of the Attacking Things (2002, Third Earth).
  • Alvin Youngblood Hart: Territory (1998, Hannibal). B+
  • John Hicks: Music in the Key of Clark (2002, High Note).
  • The Hives: Veni Vidi Vicious (2002, Sire).
  • Honk! Honk! Honk! (1952-58, Ace).
  • Joe Houston: Blows Crazy! (1951-63, Ace).
  • Abdullah Ibrahim: Voice of Africa (1976, Kaz).
  • Ice Cube: Greatest Hits (2001, Priority).
  • Etta James: Blue Gardenia (2001, Private Music).
  • Elton John: Greatest Hits (1974, Polydor).
  • Hank Jones/Cheick-Tidiane Seck: Sarala (1996, Verve).
  • Salif Keita: Papa (1999, Metro Blue).
  • Liquid Todd: Solid State (2002, The Right Stuff).
  • Joe Lovano: Viva Caruso (2002, Blue Note).
  • Mantronix: In Full Effect (1988, Capitol).
  • The Rascals: Time-Peace: Greatest Hits (1968, Atlantic).
  • Rivers of Babylon: The Best of the Melodians 1967-1973 (Trojan).
  • Rhett Miller: The Instigator (2002, Elektra).
  • The Pete Minger Quartet: Minger Painting (1993, Jazz Alliance).
  • Charles Mingus: Tijuana Moods (1957, Bluebird, 2CD).
  • Hank Mobley: A Slice of the Top (1966, Blue Note).
  • Moby: Songs 1993-1998 (Elektra).
  • Modest Mouse: This Is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to Think About (1996, Up).
  • Van Morrison/Lonnie Donegan/Chris Barber: The Skiffle Sessions: Live in Belfast (1998, Point Blank).
  • Niney and Friends: 1971-1972: Blood and Fire (Blood & Fire).
  • Paris Washboard: Love for Sale (1996, Stomp Off).
  • Charlie Parker Quintet: Bird & Fats: Live at Birdland 1950 (Cool & Blue).
  • Art Pepper: The Hollywood All-Star Sessions (1979-82, Galaxy, 5CD).
  • Liz Phair: Juvenilia (1995, Matador).
  • Julian Priester/Sam Rivers: Hints on Light and Shadow (1996, Postcards).
  • Django Reinhardt/Stéphane Grappelli: Swing From Paris (1935-39, ASV).
  • Yannick Rieu: Non Acoustic Project (2002, Effendi).
  • Paul Rishell/Annie Raines: I Want You to Know (1996, Tone Cool).
  • The Rough Guide to Merengue & Bachata (2001, World Music Network).
  • The Rough Guide to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (2002, World Music Network).
  • The Rough Guide to Salsa Dance (1999, World Music Network).
  • Charlie Rouse/Julius Watkins: Les Jazz Modes: The Rare Dawn Sessions (1956, Biograph, 2CD).
  • Mark Shim: Mind Over Matter (1997, Blue Note).
  • Matthew Shipp Quartet: The Flow of X (1997, Thirsty Ear).
  • Wayne Shorter: Wayning Moments (1962, Vee-Jay).
  • Jimmy Smith: Cool Blues (1958, Blue Note).
  • Spring Hill Jack: Amassed (2002, Thirsty Ear).
  • Tomasz Stanko: From the Green Hill (1998, ECM).
  • Tricky: A Ruff Guide (1994-99, Island).
  • The Trio (1970, BGO, 2CD).
  • The Best of Los Van Van (2000, Hemisphere).
  • Straight Lines: Ken Vandermark's Joe Harriott Project (1999, Atavistic).
  • Luke Vibert/BJ Cole: Stop the Panic (2000, Astralwerks).
  • Vienna Art Orchestra: The Minimalism of Erik Satie (1983-84, Hat Art).
  • We: As Is (1997, Asphodel). B+
  • Dr. Michael White: New Year's at the Village Vanguard (1992, Antilles).
  • World Saxophone Quartet: Point of No Return (1977, Moers).
  • World Saxophone Quartet: Steppenwolf (2002, Justin Time).


Sep 2002