Tyft

If you can't tell, I've been on a jazz kick lately. Even if you're not into jazz, give this and Dragon's Head a listen!

Then BUY THEM!

Icelandic guitarist Hilmar Jensson formed this trio with his downtown New York pals Jim Black and Andrew D'Angelo, to create a sonic environment filled with jagged grooves, unpredictable improvs, and live electronic transformations. A provocative atmosphere hovers over the musics: nothing goes on for very long, and there are frequent change-ups of tone and style. D’Angelo’s acerbic alto sax and bass clarinet sounds combine with Jensson’s stringent lines and Black’s slashing attack, but equally there are moments of disquieting reverie, and it’s all performed with composure and conviction. Although quite free in part the music is highly organized; if Webern were alive today and into avant-jazz/rock this is the road he might be taking.

Meg Nem Sa
1. Led Tyftelin
2. Shooshabuster
3. International Four
4. Ain't No Waltz
5. Tumble Bugs
6. Meg Nem Sa
7. Okkar
8. Ouch
9. Flutter
10. Hilsner
11. Bloq
12. Sets Nidur
13. Amena

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Mary Halvorson Trio

Dragon's Head is acclaimed Brooklyn-based guitarist/composer Mary Halvorson's debut recording as a bandleader. Recorded at Firehouse 12's state of the art studio in New Haven, it features ten new original compositions written specifically for her working trio with bassist John Hebert and drummer Ches Smith. She has previously composed music for recordings with her chamber music duo with violist Jessica Pavone and the avant-rock duo, People, with drummer Kevin Shea, but this is her first release alone at the helm of her own ensemble.

Dragon's Head
1. Old Nine Two Six Four Two Dies (No.10)
2. Momentary Lapse (No. 1)
3. Screws Loose (No. 8)
4. Scant Frame (No. 2)
5. Sweeter Than You (No. 4)
6. Sank Silver Purple White (No. 5)
7. Too Many Ties (No. 6)
8. Totally Opaque (No. 7)
9. Dragon's Head (No. 9)
10. April April May (No. 3)

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John Coltrane

Meditations was released in 1965. It features Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders as soloists, both playing tenor saxaphones. Much of the recording features extensive passages in free rhythm and extended saxophone techniques such as honked and overblown notes, as well as multiphonics. Alternative versions of tracks 2-5 had been recorded in September 1965 by the same musicians minus Sanders and Ali.

Meditations is about cleaning the mirror into the self, going as far through
the looking glass as is possible each time.
Making music as naked as the self can be brought to be.

-Nat Hentoff (1966 original liner notes to Meditations, A-9110)

Meditations

1. The Father, And The Son, And The Holy Ghost

2. Compassion

3. Love

4. Consequences

5.Serenity

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