Derek: I would never call you a curmudgeon. :)

On the one, Derek. Was (once again) distinctly underwhelmed by this. The last Gayle I enjoyed was, as you know, the solo piano disc.

Thanks, Nate. The gradual appearance of scattered gray hairs has me questioning the viability of my biases.

Glad I'm not alone in my pining for Gayle's glory days. And speaking of testosterone-tapping energy music, Dan, curious what you thought of Yoshihide's new Clean Feed release.

I was at the gig! Spectacular! Massimo Ricci reviewed if for PT, but I agree with him 100%!
And that was the first time Mats had played with the ONJQ too.

Love the new ONJQ too.

And agree about Gayle on alto; I wonder if health/stamina issues could have been a factor in the switch, or if it was just an artistic need. I was expecting a lot when I saw him earlier this year at the Vision with By Any Means, but felt underwhelmed after their set was over; maybe hearing him on tenor would have been different.

I think health issues probably were a factor in his decision. I seem to recall the onset of a hernia presaging a renewed focus on piano. Awhile after that, alto arrived in his arsenal. He definitely can build up a head of steam on the smaller horn, but it just doesn’t have the same rafter-blasting effect as the tenor, IMO.

It’s funny, I just put my J. Hancock on a review of the new Brötzmann/Zerang disc on Al Maslakh (Mazen Kerbaj’s label) and found myself coming to contrary conclusions. The music comes from a 2005 performance at an improv music fest in Beirut and Brötz more than proves that he’s still got sleeping cyclones in his lungs that will awaken at the coupling of embouchure & reed. But for me, it’s the sudden shifts to tenderness & lyricism (wounded and bloody as they may be) that really make the set. There’s a stretch in the closing minutes of the first 30-minute(!) improv where he voices the familiar theme to “Master of a Small House” (a tangent I’ve heard him take several times now, in-person & on record) that absolutely blows away all the predictable horn violence that’s preceded it. I just don’t get the same tingly feeling when Gayle goes melodic on a standard with his alto.

I really liked "SHOUT!", but he plays tenor on it and the rhythm section is first rate: Sirone and Gerald Cleaver.

Interesting review.

Damon, I dug "Shout!" a lot, too. I was just playing "Repent" last night for comparison. Surprisingly, I'm not sure which I prefer these days, as constant over-blowing shreiks has been sounding a little rote for me lately (maybe I've been listening to too much Taku Sugimoto). I didn't know Gayle switched to alto, and I'm pretty curious to hear what it's like.

Derek, I saw Brotzmann last month (in MNPLS) and I was pretty dissapointed, as I thought it sounded so predictible and oddly unemotional. It was almost as though he just wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. I look forward to hearing the Zerang Duo, though.

I think the difference is that Gayle is a great musician, and Brötzmann is a great artist.
You can really hear it on Brötzmann's solo cds, my favorite being "Nothing to Say"

"I think the difference is that Gayle is a great musician, and Brötzmann is a great artist."
Would you care to explain what you mean by this? I've always been under the impression that musicians, like painters, sculptors, poets, novelists and playwrights, were all artists. Perhaps you could enlighten us..

Well, yes as Beuys said, "everyone is an artist" (I kind of Like Martin Kippenberger's saying, "Every artist is a person" a little more) but what I mean is that Brötzmann at his best for me goes beyond music, almost as if it just happens to be a saxophone, and that it could have been anything else.

Where other people are definately grounded in the discpline of music and theory etc. I am not sure I value one over the other and either Gayle or Brötzmann at their best is fine with me.

"as Beuys said, "everyone is an artist""
Yeeeeah but that's about as woolly as one of his felt-lined rooms, Damon; you know as well as I do that that's not what we're talking about here.. Not everybody can play a saxophone, can they? Stop being vague and tell me the difference between a musician and an artist!

I like Shout! a lot too and hear it as some of the first commercially-released evidence of Gayle’s shift in style and focus. The piece’s are more open-ended and melodically-governed, due in no small part to the rhythm team of Sirone and Cleaver.

Tanner, I missed that Brötz gig, but did hear positive reports from several people who were there, particularly in relation to Mark Sanders playing. It’s funny that you mentioned feeling that Brötz “just wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible” because that’s sorta the vibe I got at Evan Parker’s solo gig a few days earlier. Maybe it’s something in the Twin Cities water supply that’s souring these giants of European improvised music on the scene?

Damon, I’m not really grasping what you’re saying either re: the whole artist/musician distinction. Brötz is an artist in both an aural and visual sense, whether he’s using a horn or brush to express himself. Gayle had a performance art tangent going on for awhile and has dabbled in painting/collage (cover/interior art to some of his albums, see above). I’d easily include them both under the “artist” mantle.

What I mean is that what makes Brotzmann great is something outside of music. He seems to have somekind of innate sense about exactly what to do to make an artistic statement.
That is why his earlier recordings are just as interesting as later ones.

Obviously they are both musicians and both artists.

It seems to me that Damon is using "musician" as a subset of "artist," and categorizing Brötzmann vs. Gayle that way makes perfect sense to me. PB is a larger figure than CG - his interests and artistic outlets are consistently broader (doing his own album covers, showing his visual work, etc.) than Gayle's, or most other nominal peers. That doesn't diminish Gayle's best work, but I agree the two are on different planes.

What is the difference between a musician and a (musical) artist?

I would think a musician is a person who plays a musical instrument. A (musical) artist is a musician who is not conscious of playing a musical instrument.

Yeah, Derek, it just could be the water. Although, I'm sure Chicago or Milwaukee could rival the cities for noxious water and they seem to be doing well enough. :)

I missed Parker. I wish I could have seen him, brief or not.

Sanders was definitely cool to watch, but I've seen better performances from him when I was studying in London, actually. A dude I know, who doesn't know anything about improvised music, went to the Brotzmann show and was more impressed with David King's drumming in the set beforehand. He said, "he had more technical ability" or some lame ass shit which means very little to me. Personally, I enjoyed Sanders more, but it seemed like he was over-doing it at points, trying to pack in too much of his bag of tricks, while relying on flash at the expense of musicality. I don't know-- I'm certainly no expert. Possibly he was trying to make up for not showing up to last years 'fest or something. Don't get me wrong, the set was enjoyable, but it was the first time I really felt pretty unemotionally involved with his music. I was pretty impressed by the bassist, however; and I thought he added a really interesting drone quality to it all. I wonder if they'll record together or not.

I guess to be clearer:
Someone like Brötzmann has command of the elements that tie all the arts together. I get the feeling he would have been a great poet, Painter Sculptor or whatever.
What makes it great when Brötzmann is playing warbbly clarinet long tone is a similar thing to what makes Cy Twombly's scribbles great.

Gayle, and most musicians seems to be in comand of specifcally musical elements.

I found this CD in the library. hat energy! I caught him ten years ago in Philadelphia at an art gallery. He played a grand piano only.
He has been a real inspiration, as I play piano, too. I have yet to hear him on viola. I still can't imagine how he was homeless for twenty years. I'm sure he could have found work in Europe, unless there were passport issues.

i like cg "ancient days" it's something sweet about the way it hangs together...like a conversation is happening and the way i interpret his playing that is more of a rarity...he's so out there...when he comes inside a bit you get the underbelly of that raw emotion...the good stuff that grounds him...remember this is my interpretation...when he is hitting those spiritual heights that's okay too. very much so,inside or out... it would be a delight to hear standards tenor or alto...cg is a complex, head strong performer always reaching,,,checking out what he's about... it's anyone's guess as to why the switch...glad someone mentioned the art thing...some regular folks in the jazz community, aren't aware that he does art on his album covers too. his art is bad (good) Plum J

i was supposed to play a gig with charles last week in manhattan, but he has this eye infection and has been missing a lot of gigs lately. hope he's alright.

on a different note, i'm selling the c-melody saxophone that i've played on a bunch of luttenbachers and other records. buy it.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=270237041224

Only if you can guarantee that it's full of dried clotted blood.