| HK's 10 Best Recordings of 1992 East Bay Express Well this seems to have been a great year both for new releases and also fancy CD reissue packages. Rather then spend a lot of time philosophizing or summing up the year let me provide you with a holiday shopping list of many of the recordings that have excited me this year. Most of my ten best recordings are pretty hard to find and you'll probably need this long list of alternates to find something that I suggest for you listen to. Any of the recordings listed below could substitute of any of the ten best that I've selected. I just happened to feel like writing about about the particular ten that I selected today. On another day I would probably have selected a different ten from this list: - THE TAHITIAN CHOIR: Rapa Iti, (Triloka)
- MILES DAVIS: Two Miles Live, (Discarios)
- RAVI SHANKAR: Farewell, My Friend, (EMI)
- ROBBEN FORD & THE BLUE LINE, (GRP/Stretch)
- DEREK BAILEY: Solo Guitar Volume 2, (Incus)
- VARIOUS ARTISTS: Roots n' Blues The Retrospective 1925-1950, (Columbia)
- KARAKATAU: Volition, (ECM)
- ENRIQUE CORIA: The Guitar Artistry of Enrique Coria, (Acoustic Disc)
- JOHNNY OTIS AND HIS ORCHESTRA: Spirit of the Black Territory Bands, (Arhoolie)
- TUKUL BAND & ETHIO STARS: Amharic Hits and Experimental Traditions from Ethiopia, (Piranha)
- BYUNGKI HWANG: Mountain Rhyme, (Arcadia)
- DAI XIAOLIAN: The Art of the Qin Zither, (Ethnic)
- JAOJOBY: Salegy!, (Rogue)
- THE GRATEFUL DEAD: Two from the Vault, (Grateful Dead Records)
- IANNIS XENAKIS: Phlegra/Jalons/Keren/Nomos Alpha/Thallein, (Erato)
- NEIL YOUNG: Harvest Moon, (Reprise)
- ANTHONY BRAXTON: Composition #165, (New Albion)
- BLACK ACE: I Am the Boss Card in Your Hand, (Arhoolie)
- JANET & JAKESIM & ENSEMBLE: Sefardim 1, Songs of Spanish Jews from Turkey, (Feuer und Eis)
- DEREK BAILEY, LOUIS MOHOLO & THEBE LIPERE: Village Life, (Incus)
- MILES DAVIS QUINTET: Paraphernalia, (JMY)
- BUCK OWENS: Collection (1959-1990), (Rhino)
- CECIL TAYLOR UNIT: Spring of Two Blue J's, (Jazz View)
- JERRY GRANELLI: A Song I Thought I Heard Buddy Sing, (ITM)
- VARIOUS ARTISTS: Roots of Rumba Rock, Zaire Classics 1953-1954, (Crammed Discs)
- ROOM: Hall of Mirrors, (Music & Arts)
- VARIOUS ARTISTS: New York Stories, (Blue Note)
- BOUBACAR TRAORE: Kar Kar, (Stern's)
- ALI FARKA TOURE: The Source, (World Circuit)
- ANTHONY BRAXTON: Duets Hamburg 1991, (Music & Arts)
- PASCAL DIATTE & SONIA MANE: Simnade + 4, (Rogue)
- SUPER RAIL BAND DE BAMAKAO, (Indigo)
- MARILYN CRISPELL AND GERRY HEMINGWAY: DUO, (KFW)
- SUN RA AND HIS ARKESTRA: Holiday for Soul Dance; Jazz In Silhouette; Monorails and Satellites; Sun Sound Pleasure; Supersonic Jazz, (Evidence)
ANTHONY BRAXTON: Willisau (Quartet) 1991, (hat ART) I, for one, sorely miss Mr. Braxton's presence in the Bay Area. My favorite music of his has always been the quartet music. This 4-CD (!!!!) set documents my favorite quartet (Braxton, Marilyn Crispell, Mark Dresser and Gerry Hemingway) at their creative best. Marilyn Crispell once again demonstrates that she is one of the most stunning piano talents alive today. Braxton's music seems to get both more exciting and more difficult to find each year. This wonderful and expensive recording is some his greatest work.
ROY BUCHANAN: Sweet Dreams: The Anthology, (Polydor) Since his mysterious death in a Virginia jail in 1988, Roy Buchanan has become a somewhat forgotten guitar hero. Perhaps because his recording output during the last ten years of his life was somewhat undistinguished and lacking in commitment. This 2-CD compilation features his very best work from the beginning of his solo recording career in 1971 until 1978. The excellent selection and production here gives a very complete and inspiring portrait of this unique guitar visionary at the height of his creative powers. There are several unreleased tracks including an intimate, ten minute, solo electric guitar masterpiece, Dual Soliloquy.
CAPTAIN BEEFHEART: I May Be Hungry But I Sure Ain't Weird, (Sequel) Here are some "lost" 1967 master tapes by one of America's most innovative and unusual blues-rock bands. Unfortunately the lengthy and well-meaning CD booklet notes are full of misinformation and misconceptions about these recordings. It even gets the personnel and recording dates wrong. This was actually recorded in November of 1967 and was intended to be one-half of a 2 LP set with the material that was released as the single LP, Mirrorman. Since this was recorded before Van Vliet began to to revisionally cultivate his autuer image, in the days that the band members were recognized for their major role in creating the music, this release should have been credited as was the Mirrorman album, to: Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band. Amazing drumming, wildly innovative slide guitar and bass, plus cleverly crazy lyrics. These are youthful recordings are from a band and a singer who still retained their senses of humor. A power and a passion that the 80's Beefheart albums sadly lack. This music is the missing link between The Magic Band's earlier blues stylings and their innovative Trout Mask Replica period.
FOREVER EINSTEIN: Opportunity Crosses The Bridge, (Cuneiform) I value originality and power of personal expression most highly in my personal evaluation of any kind of music. This three-piece instrumental rock group avoids the mindless derivative approach that most alternative rock today (whether it be the "Emperor's New Clothes" music of the Knitting Factory "avant" practitioners or the sort of retro fashion music(?) that Gina Arnold writes about in these pages) has degenerated into. Led by C.W. Vratacek on guitar and based in Connecticut, Forever Einstein is something rare and different. Since the music is quite original it's difficult to describe in this brief space. The instrumental aspects of Beefheart's Magic Band would be one strong reference point, though. At any rate, this CD is a lot of fun.
AMJAD ALI KHAN: Arpad (Audiorec) After the Bay Area's own Ali Akbar Khan, Amjad Ali Khan is probably the greatest living exponent of the North Indian sarod. This wonderful Cd features the more sober and deep aspects of his musical artistry as he performs in an instrumental style based upon dhrupad vocal tradition. You also might want to look for two new releases by another great and lesser-known sarod maestro, Buddhadev Das Gupta.As a public service, I'd like to mention again that the absolute best and most economical place to purchase this and virtually all other current releases of Indian music is at Shrimati's Ltd., 2011 University Ave., Berkeley, telephone: 548-6220. Cassettes of Indian music are amazingly cheap here. They are a most economical way to get some great music for automotive listening.
JOACHIM KUHN, MARK NAUSEEF, TONY NEWTON, MIROSLAV TADIC: Let's Be Generous (CMP) This is a truly strange and unexpected recording. It sounds as if the original Tony Williams Lifetime and Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica Magic Band both learned an Eric Dolphy tune independently and then met for the first time and played the tune together without any discussion. I suppose that this is some kind of 90's jazz fusion album? If it is jazz, than it's certainly the most daring, original and innovate jazz recording that I've heard this year. Mark Nauseef's Tony Williams Vs. John French drumming, Miroslav Tadic's John McLaughlin meets Zoot Horn Rollo guitar stylings, Tony Newton's bass virtuosity and Joachim Kuhn's incredibly peculiar unfashionable and distorted keyboard sounds all unite and create something that nobody has ever heard before.
GLENN PHILLIPS: Echoes 1975-1985, (ESD) The obscure, Atlanta-based Glenn Phillips is my favorite among currently-practicing American rock guitarists. He's sort of a thinking and feeling person's Vai or Satriani. Glenn possess enormous innovative technique as a soloist and yet it is always employed in the service of the feeling and passion that he burns so brightly to express. His compositions are great. True songs without words. This historical compilation documents the first decade of Glenn's releases on his own label. I'd nearly worn out my scratchy old copies of these EPs; so it's great to have all of this on a well-mastered 2-CD set. I've always thought that of all the unknown guitar greats in America, Glenn Phillips has the most to say with his axe.
JOSEPH SPENCE AND THE PINDER FAMILY: The Spring of Sixty-Five, (Rounder) Thanks to Ry Cooder most American roots guitar fans are well aware of the genius of the late Bahamian guitar master, Joseph Spence. On these recordings from May and June of 1965 he's featured both solo, with his own grumbling polyrhythmic vocal stylings, and with the incredible richness of the Pinder Family, which, in the CD's excellent booklet, Jody Stecher likens to a big old living pump organ. This is one of the very best Spence Cds, one of the very best vocal group Cds, and one of the best holiday gifts for almost anyone. Go buy a copy, now.
VARIOUS ARTISTS: Madagaskar 3, (Feuer und Eis) Last year when David Lindley and I went to Madagascar to make our A World Out of Time recordings, our engineer arrived two weeks early to prepare things. During this period he recorded this anthology of the finest valiha players in Antananarivo. The valiha is the tubular bamboo harp that is considered to be the national instrument of that remote island nation. These are the best and most beautiful recordings ever made of this wonderful instrument. You won't find this obscure German release in local stores. If you want one, you can contact Feuer und Eis, Fuldastr. 40, D-4130 Moers 1, Germany. This has my very highest recommendation and is the ideal Christmas gift for any music lover.
IANNIS XENAKIS / ARDITTI STRING QUARTET / CLAUDE HELFFER: Chamber Music, (Disques Montaigne) This Greek composer, along with Takemitsu, Nancarrow, Brant, Braxton, Stockhausen, Ligeti, Scelsi and Riley, creates the modern "classical" music that I enjoy the most. The sheer tactile physicality and the almost real images in space that I experience when I listen to this music is truly moving to me. It moves me into another place that I have never been to. An that's what I think that music should do. This is Xenakis' complete chamber music for strings and piano. If you like crazy experimental jazz or rock, but have never experienced some of the more recent composers listed above, then you definitely should give some of them a listen. The transcendent playing of the Arditti string quartet really enriches this music. Arditti has released quite a few excellent CDs lately, notably Kagel and Webern quartets, but you''l probably never see their CDs. A sad result of the great promotion and success of our local Kronos String Quartet is that Kronos now dominates most Classical New Music sections and it's difficult or impossible to find a recording such as this one in American record shops nowadays. While Kronos may be a fine quartet it's not a healthy situation when the muscle of Nonesuch records intentionally forces other great music out of the stores.
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