Harry Pepl Quartet, N.Y.C. Impressure (Extraplatte, 1992)

A hard hitting and impossibly hard to find album from the ever obscure Austrian guitarist Harry Pepl. Many of the tracks could easily be from one of Steve Coleman's best albums from the same era. Apparently this was recorded the day after a gig at the Knitting Factory. An unusually concise and funky album from the usually outside Pepl with more than the occasional nod to Miles. With Claus Stötter on trumpet and fluegelhorn, Paul Nowinski on bass and Jojo Mayer on drums. When Pepl channels Hendrix on La La La it takes my breath away. My favorite Pepl album and an easy thumbs up.

The Atlantic Family Live at Montreux (Atlantic 1977)

Killer big band jazz funk from the mid seventies. The line up is pretty amazing: The Don Ellis Orchestra, the Average White Band, the Brecker Brothers, Herbie Mann, Sonny Fortune, Klaus Doldinger, Richard Tee, Luther Vandross and well the list goes on and on. How did they get all these guys on the same stage? It's got some cheesy dated synth here and there, but the grooves are rock solid and the playing is intense. The extended "Pick up the Pieces" was edited and released on the rerelease of the Average White Band CD. I picked this up when it came out, and I still love it.

Tracks:
1 Bahia (Na Baixa Do Sapateiro) 16:32
2 Jadoo 10:34
3 Everything Must Change 6:21
4 McEwan's Export 8:58
5 One to One 9:10
6 Pick Up the Pieces 21:40

Personnel (from Wikipedia):
* Ben E. King - lead vocals
* Sonny Fortune - alto sax
* David "Fathead" Newman - alto sax
* Roger Ball - alto sax
* Herbie Mann - flute
* Dick Morrissey - tenor sax
* Molly Duncan - tenor sax
* Klaus Doldinger - tenor sax
* Michael Brecker - tenor sax
* Jaroslav Jakubovic - saxophone
* Don Ellis - trumpet
* Gilman Rathel - trumpet
* Lew Soloff - trumpet
* Randy Brecker - trumpet
* Alan Kaplan - trombone
* Barry Rogers - trombone
* Richard Tee - electric piano
* Jim Mullen - guitar
* Hamish Stuart - guitar
* Rafael Cruz - percussion
* Sammy Figueroa - percussion
* Rubens Bassini - percussion
* Alan Gorrie - bass
* Steve Ferrone - drums
* Onnie McIntyre - guitar


Backing Vocals:

* Alfa Anderson
* Diane Sumler
* Diva Gray
* Krystal Davis
* Luther Vandross
* Peter Cox
* Robin Clark

Elvin Jones, Very Rare (Koch 198?)

There have been several Elvin Jones releases with the title of "Very Rare." This one was on the Koch Jazz label and featured music from both the Very Rare and Love & Peace albums. Both sets are great, but for me the Love & Peace track "Hip Jones" is the stand out. It's a grooving modern jazz track from 1982 with McCoy Tyner, Pharoah Sanders, Richard Davis and Jean-Paul Bourelly. The first 6 tracks are from the earlier Very Rare release with Art Pepper, Roland Hanna and Richard Davis. The last 6 tracks are from "Love & Peace."

Tracks:
1. Sweet Mama
2. Passion Flower
3. Zange
4. Tin Tin Deo
5. Pitter Patter
6. The Witching Hour
7. Little Rocks Blues
8, Hip Jones
9. Korina
10. For Tomorrow
11. Sweet And Lovely
12. Origin

Sonny Sharrock, Dance With Me Montana (Marge 1982)

I just came across this rare and nice early 80s (pre Bill Laswell) Sonny Sharrock recording at lascintasrecuperadas.blogspot.com. Brian Olewnic's allmusic.com review leads one to think it will be unlistenable with "astonishingly leaden drumming" and how it has "one of the very worst covers in the history of recordings." Well, to start with, I don't think the cover is that bad. This is a rare treat and a pleasant surprise. I'm enjoying the recording, more than some, maybe even most, of Sharrock's later recordings with Bill Laswell. It's an easy thumbs up.

Be sure to remember to leave an appreciative comment when visiting lascintasrecuperadas.blogspot.com. Also remember the website lascintasrecuperadas.blogspot.com when prompted.

My current (modest) home hi fi

Back when myjazzworld was still up, Smooth use to occasionally post about gear, so in the spirit of Smooth (we miss you!) here's a quick rundown on the setup I'm happy with.

Back in the day, it was the speakers and the turntable phono cartridge that made the most difference, and now I'd say little has changed. The only thing new in the equation is the DAC, or digital to analog converter. Unless you listen primarily to vinyl, the DAC has replaced the phono cartridge in importance.

I listen to most of my music in mp3 form off my iPod. While some audiophiles may cringe, it's not that bad. I'm using a $400 Wadia i170i digital transport to get the digital signal out of the iPod. From there I'm using a lovely but inexpensive Muse DAC with 4 parallel Phillips TDA1543 chips. It's commonly available for around $60 on ebay. I've tried other DACs using the more respected PCM1793 chip, but I always come back to the Muse. I don't really understand the theory behind parallel non-oversampling DACs, but my ears are sold.

For years I used the highly acclaimed (and rightfully so!) Trends TA-10 digital amp. It really sounds lovely, though other digital amps using the same Tripath TA2024 chip (commonly available on ebay for well under $100) have sounded equally good when I've hooked them up to my system. The Trends got booted out though on visual appeal. I'm now using the $200 Qinpu A3 mini hybrid tube amp. Even though it's only rated 8.5 watts per channel, it's got (as they say) more "real world" power than the 10 watt Trends amp. Audiophiles will rightfully note that it's not a "real" tube amp as the tubes are run at low wattage and just color the sound of the preamplifier. I think it sounds great, as good as the Trends T amp, and it looks a lot more impressive on my book shelf. I've used a cheap low wattage "starved plate" design pre-amp for years to record microphones and guitar, so I've got no issues with low wattage tubes in the pre amp section.

My minuscule system needs highly efficient speakers, even though my living room is a boat like 9 feet wide. I'm very happy with my $330 Axiom M3ti bookshelf speakers. I think the 92spl rating is optimistic, but they have enough efficiency to fill my small room with sound and thumping bass well before the 12 noon mark on either of my low wattage amps volume controls.

I'm not going to pretend to be an audiophile. My small system cost less than most individual audiophile components, but it makes me happy.

Sonny Simmons, Mixolydis (Blue Marge 29, 2002)

A great CD that has somehow escaped the blogosphere so far. It's in the spirit of the two awesome Quest recordings "Ancient Ritual" and "American Jungle," if a bit mellower and more melodic at times. As you might already know, in the early sixties Simmons went to NYC and was one of the most promising avante garde players. In 1965, he moved back to the San Francisco east bay area and married trumpeter Barbara Donald, a double whammy that pretty much ended his musical career. He spent much of the 70s and 80s destitute and occasionally playing on the streets. He reemerged in 1994 with the killer Ancient Ritual, and his playing since has never been better. This one was recorded July 27 & 28, 2001 at Studio Sysmo, Paris, France.

1. Echoes Of Eric Dolphy (Sonny Simmons) [5:21]
2. Mixolydis (Sonny Simmons) [8:04]
3. The Lady From Trinidad * (Sonny Simmons) [8:14]
4. Benedictina (Sonny Simmons) [6:00]
5. Reverend Church ** (Sonny Simmons) [8:21]
6. Blues In The Pocket (John Hicks) [5:37]
7. The Voodoo Stomp (Sonny Simmons) [8:08]
8. The Promise (John Coltrane) [9:00]

Sonny Simmons : alto saxophone, English horn
Eddie Henderson : trumpet
John Hicks : piano
Curtis Lundy : bass
Victor Lewis : drums

producer : Gérard Terronès

Jef Lee Johnson, The Sigularity, (Dreambox Media, 2000)

This one pushes it in many directions; electric grooves, blues, funk, noise, psychedelia, and soul. It's reminiscent at times of Jean-Paul Bourelly and Hendrix, but it's consistently rewarding and original. Features Charles Baldwin (bass) and Ted Thomas Jr. (drums). Gotta love the super funky, cerebral and angular cover of Al Green's "Love and Happiness." Jef Lee Johnson is the consummate guitarist. Just a great record.

This is Stewart Mason's review at allmusic.com:

"The Singularity is as good a description as any of guitarist Jef Lee Johnson's multi-hyphenated stew of rock, blues, jazz, soul, and noise. Recorded live (mostly during a two-night stand at New York's Knitting Factory, but also with some in-studio workouts), the 17 songs range from minute-long snatches of atmosphere to extended tracks like the ten-minute wiggly funk groove "Ain't Seen Irene" and the almost Hendrix-like space rock of "Communion." A point of similarity would be Material, the early-'80s kings of New York art-funk, but nothing on The Singularity is as precious as Material's over-studied music could often be. Even on those songs where Johnson risks overplaying, his gritty and direct vocals, along with his seldom-hidden knowledge of solid rock and soul riffs, are enough to make The Singularity an immediately accessible but far from simple collection."