Baby New Year isn’t even out of the birth canal yet and already there’s an ambitious box set in the works that will send improv junkies scurrying for their holiday-depleted billfolds & money-clips. In conjunction with Polish Jazz and executive producer Cezary Lerski, a man who had a sizeable hand in this year’s Vandermark 5 Alchemia set, Ictus Records is putting together a 30th Anniversary retrospective slated for a street date of March 1st. Not to be confused with Derek Bailey’s Incus imprint, Ictus covered some of the same musical provinces, but with a focus on North American rather than European improvisers. The dozen discs included appear to correspond to a coveted clutch of long-deleted albums revolving around the work of the label’s artistic director Andrea Centazzo, also a percussionist/improviser/composer. A complete annotated list of the box’s contents is accessible over at the Ictus site, including mp3 samples of nearly every track. I discovered a sampler disc waiting in my mailbox upon my return from Arizona hiatus & haven’t had a chance to crack it yet, but given the scope and historical pedigree of the music I’d wager my holiday haul of ducats that this project will be one of the most talked about of early ’06.
Posted by derek on December 29, 2005 7:39 AMAn interesting and pretty much forgotten catalog for sure. I like "Drops" quite a bit, and have two Lacy LPs on the label - a duo with Centazzo and a trio adding Kent Carter - but the Bailey far outweighs those musically. There is, if I recall correctly, a nice 3LP box of solo Centazzo and a very good solo Cyrille rec as well.
For those who have turntables, the originals are fairly inexpensive and pressed reasonably well, but it is cool that the material is being collected "of a piece." Wonder whether we'll get a nice booklet out of the deal?
Thanks for the heads' up, DT.
Posted by: clifford at December 29, 2005 1:36 PMLooks pretty interesting...any idea how much it will cost?
Posted by: David Jones at December 29, 2005 5:07 PMThanks for that info, Cliff. I didn't realize that the originals were so readily available.
David, this is unconfirmed, but I'm guessing it'll be priced in the neighborhood of Alchemia ($130).
Posted by: derek at December 29, 2005 5:30 PMI had/have a handful of these, I always assumed it was pretty much a vanity project from Centazzo, nothing particularly memorable. I'd say you can use your money much better elsewhere, David, especially if it's as pricy as Derek is guessing.
wake me up when the Horo guy decides to reissue some of the discs he's been sitting on the past few decades...
Posted by: jon abbey at December 29, 2005 5:50 PM[i]I had/have a handful of these, I always assumed it was pretty much a vanity project from Centazzo, nothing particularly memorable. I'd say you can use your money much better elsewhere, David, especially if it's as pricy as Derek is guessing.[/i]
Yeah, but the promo for it made it look pretty spiffy and all. Maybe I should blow the money saved on some more Sugimoto...
Posted by: David Jones at December 29, 2005 7:07 PM"Maybe I should blow the money saved on some more Sugimoto..."
You could make your own Taku album by following the steps below:
1) Take any Sugimoto album you have, later the better
2) Press play and let the first minute play
3) Press pause and wait for five minutes
4) Repeat steps 2 and 3 as many times as you like
5) Meanwhile, make sure it's raining outside and your windows are open as you record the result
-- et voilà! One ready to serve Taku album!
Yeah, Jon, with you there - bring back the HORO catalogue. But there are some nice Ictuses too
Posted by: Dan Warburton at December 29, 2005 10:02 PMJon - I'm with you on this one. I have most of original releases and save for a few - "Trio Live", "Drops", "Clangs" and "Real Time Two" - rest were not what I would call a memorable bunch.
$130 sounds like an in-your-face cash grab to me.
I didn't even realize that Ictus releases were out of print in the first place. I wouldn't be surprised if there were more than enough improv fans who are willing to pay out whatever's asked for this set, which is rather sad.
Yeah, I had forgotten about a lot of the later ones and how little I ever cared... it would be nice if you could buy individual releases, because I doubt that many people are going to kick out $130 to hear Drops or some such.
Lest we forget the other Ictus label, a one-off project that released the Don Heckman-Ed Summerlin Improvisational Jazz Workshop LP ca. '68, a real nice piece with a silkscreened cover and a cute little booklet - Cadence still sells second pressings of it (no book, machine printing) for like $7. But that's another story.
Posted by: clifford at January 3, 2006 2:35 PMDear friends,
We saw so much debate about the release of ICTUS....Anniversary that I decided to write in order to clarify what's about.
The box set is NOT a mere reproduction of existing ICTUS CD's/LP's but a brand new project.
In fact all the 12 CD's have been digitally re-mastered and re-edited following the original recording order that has being missed due to the LP 2 sides limitation transferred then in the CD's series. 3 CD's out of 12 are totally unreleased before and some others contain many never before released new tracks. Even CD's like Drops are released with completely new and very informative packaging and especially with a totally new sound. The difference is quite amazing with all previous versions.
In addition the collection comes with a 52 pages booklet with more than 100 never seen photos of the original sessions, 2 essays on the music, the CD's presentation and more.
We are completing the packaging right now and hope to have the set out by the end of March.
Posted by: Cezary Lerski at February 22, 2006 3:58 PMSome 18 months later I've finally bought the 12 CD box after looking longingly at it for nearly a year. Working steadily through the albums I didn't already know, and blown away by Carlos Zingaro's violin playing. Some mean trombone (Mangelsdorff?) in the big band too. If I wasn't going out to see Han "New Age" Bennink tonight I'd stay in and listen to more.
Anyone else digging this? (Is there another thread on this box somewhere here at Bags?)
I recall another thread on this box, perhaps a review even? You'll have to dig through the archives Dan.
My favourite of the bunch is Centazzo's dates with Lacy [two in the box] and one set with Rova.
.................................................. © 2003 - 2006 bagatellen ..................................................