David Murray : I'm a Jazzman

This evening ARTE will show at 22.20 PM (Paris time) a documentary by Jacques Goldstein on the (in)famous tenorsaxofonist. Famous or infamous? Well some people will define Mister Murray as a poseur. He never really struck me and i don't have a lot of recordings by the man. I saw him once life with an octet at De Singel in Antwerp (on piano there was D.D. Jackson and i was especially pleased to see James Spaulding) but even that wasn't an unforgettable concert.

It reminds me i have an mp3 version of DAVID MURRAY AND LOW CLASS CONSPIRACY FLOWERS FOR ALBERT West Wind 2039 (Germany CD - 1990). Will check that one out the coming days and see what the documentary might learn me on Mister Murray.

Don't ask me for a dvd copy for the simple reason i still use a good old VHS recorder ;-)

Rene Magritte

Last weekend we visitied The new Rene Magritte Museum in Brussels. It really is worth a visit. Not only the exhibited works are to be fulle appreciated but you get as well from the third floor a beautifull view on Brussels.

I was particularly struck by quotations of Magritte like for instance :

"La liberté, c'est la possibilité d'être et non l'obligation d'être"

"Liberty is the possibility of being without the obligation to be"

I'll publish the days to come some other thoughts and quotations by Rene Magritte...

40 ans de Bitches Brew sur TSF

Je l'avais découvert un peu trop tard pour alerter les visiteurs de ce blog (et vous venez de loin je sais) mais il y avait une émission sur TSF Jazz concernant les 40 ans de 'Bitches Brew'.

La déscription est la suivante :

"Les 40 ans de Bitches Brew
le 20h de TSF
vendredi 28 août 2009
TSFJazz


C'est sans doute, avec "Kind of Blue", l'un des albums les plus connus de Miles Davis... TSF Jazz va souffler les 40 bougies de "Bitches Brew", enregistré les 19, 20 et 21 août 1969, quelques mois après "In a Silent Way", qui marquait l'entrée du trompettiste dans sa période électrique. C'est avec Frédéric Goaty, directeur du nouveau "Jazz Magazine/Jazzman" que nous reviendrons sur ce tournant majeur dans l'oeuvre de Miles Davis.
par Sébastien Vidal"

Je l'ai enregistré du webstream (127Kbps) et mis a votre disposition, les liens se trouvent dans les commentaires... bon weekend à vous et merci pour votre visite!!

La Vuelta

Today starts the 64th edition of La Vuelta. The start this year will be in The Netherlands, in Assen, famous for its motorraces. Anyway you don't have to miss a second from this tour by consulting Cyclingnews, Eurosport, l'Equipe and Sporza.

Don't worry, TuneUp won't become an all sports blog;-)

James Ellroy : The Hilliker Curse

Despite the fact that James Ellroy's new novel "Blood's a Rover" is still to be published shortly, the Demon Dog Of Literature is already busy on his new project called "The Hilliker Curse" which deals on his relationship with of course his mother and women in general. You can read more about it at Sobel Weber Ass., Inc.



Our favorite magazine "Playboy" publishes 4 part of his forthcoming book.

Did someone get the april, june and september publications and could send me a copy of it?


Thanks a lot dear Ellroy fans!

Lester Young Centennial

Ethan Iverson of The Bad Plus wrote an essay on Lester Young and published it on Do The Math. I think there's enough stuff available to read through the weekend.
Enjoy!

Elmore Leonard & Quentin Tarantino

Wamg published an article on a possible new project of Quentin Tarantino, the adaptation of Elmore Leonard's "Forty Lashes Less one".

Given his adaptation of "Rum Punch" another Elmore Leonard adaptation could become very interesting and imagine Quentin Tarantino doing a western?!

But the Filmnest lists an article in which Tarantino says he'll never adapts somebody else's work again....

Sans doute to be continued...

ROIO of the week : Sonny Rollins, Berlin 1974.11.01

A short one which i haven't seen on blogs, etc.... very much, so here it is the first ROIO of the week and you know where to look for the link...




Sonny Rollins Quintet
19741101 Berlin
unknown lineage -) EAC -) HD -) FLAC
B+

1. The Cutting Edge 5:01
2. A House is Not a Home 8:33
3. Look for the Silver Lining 10:20
TT 23:53 M

Sonny Rollins tenor sax
Rufus Harley, soprano sax and bagpipes
Masuo , guitar
Gene Perla, bass
David Lee, drums

Miles Davis : In A Silent Way

Tonight at 22:30 PM London time, BBC Radio 2 celebrates the 40th anniversary of Miles Davis' In A Silent Way, and explores the extraordinary music that Miles produced in the period dubbed the "Electric Era" from 1969-75.
You can read more about the program and listen live at it here. I'll try to record it and upload an MP3 of it...

****
The download of the MP3 file is in the commentary section, enjoy!

Guest bloggers are welcome

If you want to collaborate or contribute don't hesitate to me : read a book, saw a movie, write a cd review,... : guest contributors are always welcome...

Si vous voulez contribuer en écrivant des critiques de cd, livres, films, ... vous êtes toujours le bienvenue ...

Gianni Basso R.I.P.

I was away for the weekend and found this in my mailbox :

Gianni Basso
Died,August 17,2009
Born in Asti, but spends part of his childhood in Belgium, moved with his family because of the work of his father, first began studying the clarinet and the tenor sax, entering age (in 1946) in the big band of the Belgian Raoul Falsan and distinguished by suffered for his obvious musical talent.
In 1950 is back in Italy, where, gathering the sounds of cool jazz of recent U.S. imports (this is the jazz of Baker and Mulligan), gives rise along with the trumpeter Oscar Valdambrino to "Low-Valdambrino Quintet" With this training (extended to become an octet, depending on needs) has performed throughout Italy and abroad, working with many major jazz as Italian Dino Piana and Mario Pezzotta (trombone), Glauco Masetti and Attilio Donadio (sax), Gianni Cazzola (drums) and Renato Sellani (piano).

Over the same period'50 then founded, with Valdambrino, the "Italian Sextet" adding to the brass section sax contralto of Attilio Donadio.

This wonderful decade for Basso sees the illustrious collaborations with major international artists (Gerry Mulligan, Chet Baker, etc..) That led him to be discovered even in the United States.

A Starting in the'60s began playing at par with the great jazz (Lee Konitz, Phil Woods, Art Farmer, Johnny Griffin, Zoot Sims, Buddy Colette) and remains one of the largest and most in demand session man in the world: is part of the famous big bands such as "Kenny Clarke / Francis Boland Big Band", the "Maynard Ferguson Big Band" and the "Thad Jones Big Band."

Miles Davis : The post retirement years an appreciation

Jeff Wilson wrote some observations about Miles Davis' post retirement live years. You can read it here. I haven't read it myself so can't tell you any more about it. Hope you like it...

James Ellroy

I acquired an advanced readers copy of his new novel 'Blood's A Rover' just before the holiday season which was great so i could continue my annual James Ellroy holiday reading tradition. So that's what happened, and i admit the book still haunts me. When i finished the book on the train back home i had to sit still for a while and let it all sink down.
The characters used in the book are so accurately and concrete that it seems the reader knew them for all his life. Of course Wayne Tedrow and others are returning characters in James Ellroys universe but still....
Anyway i won't reveal anything concerning the plot till the book is officially published but if you have read 'Blood's A Rover' already like me you're always welcome to leave a comment ;-)

ROIO of the week

I'm planning of making available once a week a ROIO. That is, for the newcomers amongst us, a Recording Of Indeterminate Origin. As one says regularly over on the Miles-L : "The vaults are deep"

Fred Kaplan on Kind of Blue

Kind Of Blue is published 50 years ago and Fred Kaplan wrote some extensive article about the album and its historical context which you can read here.
Enjoy!

The Secret of Kind of Blue : update

Is available as an MP3, look for the link in the comment section....

Le Petit Célinien

Récemment mon intérêt pour Louis Ferdinand Céline à été renouvelé parce que, ben parce que mon cher ami Didier a attiré mon attention sur un blog très intéressant concernant un de nos auteurs préféré.
Il s'agit d'un blog nommé 'Le Petit Célinien' qui publie quotidiennement sur L.F.C. et qui vous envoie, sur simple demande son journal hebdomadaire en format 'pdf' qu'on peut alors facilement imprimer ainsi que les articles que l'auteur a publié auparavant.
N'oubliez bien sûr pas de visiter et de vous pencher dans les archives de son ancien blog 'http://ettuttiquanti.blogspot.com'. J'ai commencé déjà mais je suis encore loin d'avoir terminé ;-)

Kind of Blue on screen

Slate published an article called :"The best and worst Kind Of Blue moments in screen history. Enjoy !

BBC 2 Tonight : The Secret Of Kind Of Blue

BBC 2 will broadcast a Kind of Blue docu by Guy Barker at 22.30 London Time. Here's all the info you need and you can listen at it by clicking on your right 'BBC I-Player'. I'll try to record it and make it available as an MP3 download...

Bud Shank BBC Radio 3 tribute

Bud Shank passed away recently. BBC radio 3 presented a tribute to this marvelous altsax and flutist which was aired on June 20th 2009. A link to an MP3 of this program presented by Alan Shypton can be found in the commentary section.


JAZZ LIBRARY (60 minutes)
BBC 3 June 20th, 2009
Bud Shank was one of the major figures in West Coast Jazz before his death in April 2009. To commemorate Bud and his music, Alyn Shipton selects Shank's key recordings, with the help of a 1992 archive interview with the man himself, covering his work with Stan Kenton, Shorty Rogers, the LA Four and many of his own groups.
Playlist:

DISC 1
Title: Bags of Blues
Artist: Bud Shank
Composer: Cooper
Album: The Original Bud Shank Quartet: The Pacific Jazz Years
Label: Giant Steps
Number GSCR 028 CD 1, Tr 9
Personnel: Bud Shank (alto saxophone), Claude Williamson (piano), Don Prell (bass), Chuck Flores (drums). Hollywood, 25 Jan 1956

DISC 2
Title: Lotus Bud
Artist: Shorty Rogers/Bud Shank Lighthouse All Stars
Composer: Rogers
Album: America The Beautiful
Label: Candid
Number CCD 79510, Tr 5
Personnel: Shorty Rogers, Conte Candoli (trumpet), Bud Shank (alto saxophone), Bill Perkins (baritone saxophone), Bob Cooper (tenor saxophone), Pete Jolly (piano), Monte Budwig (bass), Larance Marable (drums). 4 August 1991

DISC 3
Title: Reflections (City of Glass - 3rd mvt)
Artist: Stan Kenton
Composer: Bob Graettinger
Album: Stan Kenton 1951-52
Label: Classics
Number 1428, Tr 2
Personnel: John Howell, Maynard Ferguson, Conte Candoli, Stu Williamson, John Coppola (trumpte), Bob Fitzpatrick, Harry Betts, Bill Russo, Dick Kenney (trombone), George Roberts (bass trombone), Stan Fletcher (tuba), John Graas, Lloyd Otto, George Price (french horn), Bud Shank, Art Pepper, Bob Cooper, Bart Calderall, Bob Gioga (reeds), strings directed by Alex Law, Stah Kenton (piano), Ralph Blaze (guitar), Don Bagley, Abe Luboff (bass), Shelly Manne (drums). 5 Dec 1951

DISC 4
Title: Beau Boy
Artist: Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All Stars
Composer: Rogers
Album: Sunday Jazz at the Lighthouse, Vol 2
Label: Contemporary
Number OJC CD 972-2, Tr 8
Personnel: Rolf Ericson, Chet Baker (trumpet), Bud Shank (alto saxophone), Bob Cooper (tenor saxophone), Claude Williamson (piano), Howard Rumsey (bass), Max Roach (drums). September 1953

DISC 5
Title: The Nearness of you
Artist: Bud Shank
Composer: Carmichael, Washington
Album: Original Bud Shank Quartet: The Pacific Jazz Years
Label: Giant Steps
Number GSCR CD 1 028, Tr 3
Personnel: Bud Shank (flute), Bob Cooper (oboe), Claude Williamson (piano), Don Prell (bass), Chuck Flores (drums). 19 Jan 1956

DISC 6
Title: Honey Chile
Artist: Buddy Bregman
Composer: Bregman
Album: Swinging Kicks
Label: Verve
Number 559 514-2, Tr 15
Personnel: Conte Candoli (trumpet), Frank Rosolino (trombone), Bud Shank (alto saxophone), Stan Getz (tenor saxophone), Jimmy Giuffre (baritone), Paul Smith (piano), Al Hendrickson (guitar), Joe Mondragon (bass), Stab Levey (drums). Dec 1956

DISC 7
Title: Harlem Samba
Artist: Bud Shank/Laurindo Almeida
Composer: Almeida
Album: Brazilliance Vol 2
Label: Blue Note/Pacfic Jazz
Number CDP 7961022, Tr 11
Personnel: Laurindo Almeida (guitar), Buid Shank (alto saxophone, flute), Gary Peacock (bass), Chuck Flores (drums). 1958

DISC 8
Title: Veiled in Blue
Artist: Bud Shank and Roumanis String Quartet
Composer: Roumanis
Album: Drifting Timelessly
Label: Capri
Number 75001-2, Tr 6
Personnel: Bud Shank and Roumanis String Quartet: Bud Shank (alto saxophone), Irene Sazer (violin), Carla Picchi (violin), Paul Ehrlich (viola), Dan Reiter (cello)

DISC 9
Title: Pavanne, Op 50
Artist: L A Four
Composer: Faure
Album: ZACA
Label: Concord
Number 4130, Tr 6
Personnel: Bud Shank (alto saxophone), Laurindo Almeida (guitar), Ray Brown (bass), Jeff Hamilton (drums)

DISC 10
Title: Double Trouble
Artist: Lighthouse All Stars
Composer: Shank
Album: Eight Borthers
Label: Candid
Number 79521, Tr 10
Personnel: as Disc 2.

Normance - L.F. Céline

'Normance' by Louis Ferdinand Céline's novels was finally translated from french in english. Read Marlon Jones book review here.
Enjoy!

Tune Up

Welcome at Tune Up, the replacement blog of http://tuneup.skynetblogs.be/, which due to technical problems isn't accessible for me at the moment.

I hope you'll visit me as massive as you did on my previous blog...

Lexman