Sebastian Steinberg <ssteinbe@BBNCCW.ARPA> (11/02/84)
i am in no way a keith jarret fan these days, big deal, he certainly doesn't need my money, however, some of the best electric keyboard work i've ever heard is the stuff he did with miles davis in the early 70's. check out the "live evil" album with john mclaughlin and jack dejohnette (also doing some of the best work that i've heard from either of them.) mingus mingus mingus!! he recorded an amazing record called "charles mingus presents charles mingus" produced by nat hentoff, done as if the band were playing in a club, comeplete with announcements etc. the band is a quartet with eric dolphy on alto sax, bass clarinet etc, ted curson on trumpet, and danny richmond on drums. unfortunately, the album is out of print and very hard to find, but well worth the effort. another classic album of his is "ah um" featuring a bigger band, and such classics as "goodby pork-pie hat" fables of faubus" self-portrait in three colors" etc. more recent stuff that i recommend without reservation is a group from chicago related to the art ensemble, air. this group is a trio, with henry threadgill on tenor, alto and baritone sax, flute and hubkaphone, fred hopkins on bass, and steve mcCall on drums. they have many great records out, i think a good one to start with would be "air lore" on arista. on this record, they perform several ragtime pieces by scott joplin and jellyroll morton, as well as a piece by threadgill. now, if you are like me, you got comepletely burned out by the great ragtime explosion that surrounded "the sting" many years back. well, you haven't heard ragtime till you've heard these guys play it. they are also one of the few true bands in the "jazz" idiom, as well as one of the hardest swinging. has anyone heard james blood ulmer? "james blood ulmer is a hydraulic pumper!"--george clinton, p-funk overlord