The Windham Hill sound was inviting and warm, but nonetheless idiosyncratic, a hallmark of a moment when mainstream commercial success and the lack of traditional pop forms didn’t negate each other.
Category: Jazz
Charles Mingus :: Jazz in Detroit / Strata Concert Gallery / 46 Selden
In 1973, Charles Mingus’ career was on the upswing. After a few years out of music, some band squabbles , and even getting evicted while being filmed by a documentary crew, he was finally getting something approximating his due. There […]
Aquarium Drunkard Guide To ECM Records: Second Installment
Welcome to the second installment of the Aquarium Drunkard guide to ECM Records . Marked by an attention to sonic space and a distinct visual aesthetic, since 1969 ECM has released a wide amalgamation of jazz, fusion, […]
Bitter Funeral Beer Band :: Live in Stockholm, 1984
In anticipation of the second installment in our Guide to ECM Records , we share a live performance by one of our favorites from the catalog. Bitter Funeral Beer Band . Led by percussionist, ethnomusicologist, and frequent Don Cherry collaborator Bengt […]
Eric Dolphy: The Expanded 1963 New York Studio Sessions
Eric Dolphy enthusiasts take note. November 23rd sees the release of Musical Prophet: The Expanded 1963 New York Studio Sessions , via Resonance Records. Spread over three discs, the set includes both the Conversations and Iron Man studio albums, along with 85-minutes of previously unreleased studio recordings. […]
Playing Changes with Nate Chinen :: The AD Interview
Spiritual Jazz Sunday
The following began as a set I compiled on CD-R for personal listening on – as the title suggests – Sundays. Over time I shared it with a few friends who then shared it with […]
Don Cherry & The Organic Music Theatre: RAI Studios, Italy, 1976
Transcendental. Spiritual. Ritual. Supernatural. Recorded in 1976, live at RAI Studios in Rome, Italy, we find the chameleonic Don Cherry with the Organic Music Theatre as they run the voodoo down. At forty minutes, the […]
Alice Coltrane :: Jaya Jaya Rama
The humidity continues to linger, so we’re choosing to sweat it out with this fierce slice of late night free jazz. “Jaya Jaya Rama,” the closing number to Alice Coltrane’s 1969 lp, Huntington Ashram Monastery , is pure, […]
Abstract Truths: An Evolving Jazz Compendium – Volume Six
Volume Six of Abstract Truths, An Evolving Jazz Compendium . If unfamiliar with the series, please first read here per its genesis and intention. We return with Los Angeles selector Phil Cho, who can most readily be found in the real world playing around the […]
The Aquarium Drunkard Guide To ECM Records
Founded by Manfred Eicher in Germany in 1969, ECM Records (Editions of Contemporary Music) has spent nearly 50 years assembling one of the strongest catalogs in musical history. Marked by an attention to sonic space […]
Mattson 2 Play ‘A Love Supreme’ :: The AD Interview
John Coltrane’s vaunted A Love Supreme is a record with baggage. And while almost none of it is negative, the price of absolute reverence can be untouchability, or worse, mass appeal. And while the record may be Starter […]
Charles Mingus :: Live at Montreux, 1975
These days, when Charles Mingus is remembered, it’s primarily for records like Mingus Ah Um, Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus or The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady. All great records, but Mingus kept recording and […]
David Darling :: Cycles
Last year witnessed the opening of the hallowed digital vaults of the ECM label. Long a holdout from digital platforms, the Berlin based ECM (Edition of Contemporary Music) was founded in 1969 by Manfred Eicher in […]
Sun Ra :: Springtime Again
The spring equinox is upon us – track one to the stratosphere in a silent way. Via Sleeping Beauty , 1979. Sun Ra :: Springtime Again