"I'll Let You Know" c60 crew music mix

Bob Burnett: Kim has created an atmospheric music mix that spans the decades but is connected by threads of subtle genius. So many familiar things here brought together in a revitalized and greatly appreciated manner. As one comment on mixcloud stated--this is the wonderment of Kim that used to fill the airwaves of Washington, DC on WGTB in the '70s and WAMU and WHFS in the '80s. Included with the classics are a few surprises too---like a completely fresh and invigorated dub version of '70s popwave group Martha and the Muffins as well as William S. Burroughs murkily creeping in the borogroves.

I'Ll Let You Know by C60crew on Mixcloud

Jazz on a Summer's Day

Bob Burnett: I have a Roku box connected to my TV. If you have one, you know how great it can be. If you don't, I suggest getting one; especially if you have Netflix. A Roku box allows you to play Netflix-based films via your computer's internet connection as well as a number of other options. (MLB TV for baseball games, Amazon pay per view rentals, Pandora for music as a few examples) For the most part, I use Roku to watch documentary films and once screened remove it from my queue. I rarely go back and re-watch films--except for one: Jazz on a Summer's Day--a visual tapestry of the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival in newpoer, Rhode Island. It resides permanently in my queue. Summer's Day is in theory a "music film" about the performances that took place at Newport but for me it offers much more. For one thing it's done in film verite--the "fly on the wall" technique (in this case the "cats in the crowd" technique) where the cameras capture the events, the people, the place and let the pictures and the music performances carry it. No interviews, no descriptions just pure moment in time perfection. The performers offer a wide range of possibility too: chamber jazz (The Jimmy Giuffre Trio onstage, The Chico Hamilton Quintet late one sweaty evening in a small room someplace) contemporary (Thelonious Monk with Roy Haynes and the recently re-discovered Henry Grimes, Gerry Mulligan w/ Art Farmer) classic (Louis Armstrong and Jack Teagarden, Big Maybelle belting blues, Chuck Berry playing rock'nroll--and fitting right in)

One performance in particular steals the show for me: Anita O'Day. She performs a slow, percolating and beautifully scattered version of Sweet Georgia Brown as well as creates bopspeak prosody with her playful version of Tea For Two. She hits the stage (as legend goes ripped on heroin) in a black dress, white heels and gloves and an incredible lampshade of a hat--a favorite moment is when she delicately goes up the steps and the visuals cut-away to a guy popping his head up from the stage in a puzzled double-take.

As important as the stage is to the film the audience and general festivity shots take it to another level. The clothes, the expressions, the moments of ecstasy and boredom, people eating, smoking, drinking---and living passionately. The people create their own performance in this beautifully captured moment by moment ballet. The simple act of eating ice cream becomes satori; a yawn or head bob tell 1000 stories of unmatched vibrancy.

In addition to the music and people there are shots from the America's Cup yacht race happening just offshore as well as the common thread of a roaming-throughout-Newport Dixieland band made up of Yale students--including the young trombonist Roswell Rudd.

The film was directed by noted commercial and fashion photographer Bert Stern. I looked up getting a high quality copy on DVD however I was troubled to see it's either out of print or very expensive used. The Netflix version, while being an exemplary viewing experience, is rather lacking in quality. The copy is highly compressed and the transfer from film wasn't done with loving care. That said, in 1999 Jazz on a Summer's Day was selected for preservation by the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. That fact at least gives me hope there's the possibility for a nice copy being available in the future.

Anita O'Day's Performance:

When It's Cold I'd Like to Die

Bob Burnett: Kim has put together When It's Cold I'd Like to Die, a soothing and beautiful c60crew mix featuring a wide range of classic to current electronica, (Four Tet, Rizzo, Adam F, Arovane, Bowery Electric to name a few) one of the highlights of Krautrock (Cluster & Eno) as well as a smattering of rock and contemporary glossolalia (Dead Can Dance) mixed to a level of perfection that makes the art of watching snow fall in feet--not inches-- an excellent pastime.

When It's Cold I'D Like To Die by C60crew on Mixcloud

Photo by Kim Kirkpatrick

The Who

Kim Kirkpatrick: In lieu of The Who's 12 minute mash up appearance at the Superbowl, and the fact "My Generation" has been stuck in my head for three days now, I thought I'd share my recollection of seeing The Who for the first time on May 25th,1969. I was sixteen when I drove around the beltway to Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia Maryland*. I was excited to have seats perfectly located, in the center and level with the performers on stage. From the start I was locked in on the performance, it was captivating seeing and hearing Tommy played straight through in it's entirety. Having been released just two days earlier, I had heard it once prior to this concert. Tommy was soon to be declared the first rock opera, and said to have set a new standard for Rock music. The Who also performed another whole set of now classic songs from their past releases, though I can't say I remember them individually anymore.

The band presented as electric and intense a performance as I'd ever seen. Pete Townshend's guitar playing was full of expressive energy, felt as much as heard. His arm-swing motions across his guitar were violent strikes, dramatically on target, and a visual timing device for his bursting, exploding guitar chords, as well as just plain cool. At some point he was bleeding from these sweeping actions, a common occurrence for him it turns out. (Their are accounts of him ripping fingernails off, blood flying throughout the rest of the painful performance. Once he impaled his hand on the whammy bar of his guitar, roadies taped it up and he continued to perform). His playing was an attempt to break through boundaries on a personal and musical level, and a shot across the bow of society. He persistently pushed for something new through his use of volume, dynamics, and ringing open chords. Yet with all the power his playing projected it was also precise, defined, and dead on target. His playing served the music, the story telling qualities of his songs, and though he was the leader, the songwriter, he never stepped on his bandmates performances. Unlike say, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, or Jeff Beck, Townshend never stepped up for a flashy solo, and there was never a touch of "look at me" in his playing.

Clad in a suede, fringed vest, bare chested, swinging his microphone in a huge windmill fashion, Roger Daltry was bold, dramatic, and up to the task of stepping in front of the massive, powerful sound that was The Who. He also had one of the better, more versatile voices of rock at the time. John Entwistle's bass playing was not merely about keeping time, it was a counterpoint and a push to Townshend's playing. Keith Moon, the relentless, volatile, blast furnace of a drummer, was battling the songs while keeping precisely on the beat. The Who ended the evening with the destruction of their equipment, at the time it felt like freedom, a denial of possessions, indicating the performance was the point and now it was gone forever. Finally amidst all the scattered drum parts, smoke, and feedback,Townshend stepped to the front of the stage and threw his guitar into the audience. It landed right next to me, everything stopped for a moment, and then the person with the guitar on his lap disappeared underneath the attacking audience.

Amazingly, eight years later, while working in a record store I struck up a conversation with a Who fanatic while we stood in front of a rack of bootleg vinyl. Turned out he was at the show, he also happen to have taken that guitar home with him.

The opening band that night set the bar incredibly high for The Who, I remember commenting that The Who could never top that performance (though they did in my mind). Led Zeppelin was the opening act, on their first U.S. tour supporting their first album released in January of 1969. I later learned that night was the only time led Zeppelin ever shared the bill with The Who.

*

Merriweather Post Pavilion was built in Symphony Woods, on a forty acre wooded lot. it was part of the planned community of Columbia Maryland and a facility intended to be the summer home of the National Symphony Orchestra. The structure opened in 1967 and was designed by architect Frank Gehry.

"Once you're old enough to have a medley," Roger Daltrey confides with a perceptibly uneasy laugh, "you know you've 'ad it."

from interview by Matt Resnicoff for guitar player September 1989

Enrico Rava: New York Days

Bob Burnett: One of the takeaway memories for me of the Washington, DC area/eastern seaboard Snowmageddon of 2010 will be it gave me ample opportunity to listen to Enrico Rava's New York Days. Enrico Rava approaches the trumpet in a manner which I find most pleasing: as an atmospheric instrument that accents space, time and introspection within the format of a small ensemble. While Rava has had an accomplished career spanning many decades with people such as Steve Lacy, Don Cherry and Roswell Rudd (see full bio here on his webpage) I feel he's been at a particular high water mark over the last handful of years. (2005 "Tati" (ECM 1921), 2007 "The Words and The Days" (ECM 1982), 2007 Enrico Rava / Stefano Bollani "The Third Man" (ECM 2020) to offer a few examples) With that said I must add the crowning glory for me is New York Days due specifically to the open and loose compositional approach as well as the incredible group put together for this recording. In addition to Rava's trumpet and Rava protege Stefano Bollini's piano there's the always remarkable (and beyond description at this point) Paul Motian on drums, Larry Grenadier on bass and the beautifully understated sounds of Mark Turner on tenor sax. (note: Grenadier and Turner are also in the FLY trio) New York Days represents for me why ECM remains an important label to stay in touch with. ECM can be an exasperatingly "ECM-ish" experience at times but when albums like this are made it's worth it. I found a very nice write-up of this album that goes into much greater depth than I could ever do. For me, the pace, tone and floating beauty on display reflect the interplay I find important in music.

New York Days is available on www.lala.com so I suggest listening to it there to get a taste of what I'm talking about.

Michael Hurley:Ida Con Snock

Kim Kirkpatrick: My path to Michael Hurley's music started with Easy Rider (1968). Rock music, alternative tunes, have been common in movies for decades now but at the time this movie's soundtrack was radical, selections chosen by Roger McGuinn of The Byrds. His selections were a first for cinema and my generation, using musical tracks that were part of the here and now, the rock music of the counter culture and underground music scene. One truly alternative song from the movie,"If You Want To Be a Bird (Bird Song)" was performed by The Holy Modal Rounders. I was familiar with them from my early folk interests but this track was not like anything I'd heard before, it was something else - deranged, warped, and psychedelic*.

I picked up The Moray Eels Eat The Holy Modal Rounders LP (1968), "Bird Song" being the first track on it, along with many other amazing tracks that truly defined "far out" at the time.

A few years later a musical offshoot appeared, called The Unholy Modal Rounders. This short lived band released Have Moicy! in 1975, credited to Michael Hurley/The Unholy Modal Rounders/Jeffrey Frederick & The Clamtones. Several reasons led to my purchasing Have Moicy! and thus brought Michael Hurley to my attention. First, Have Moicy!'s connection to The Holy Modal Rounders, second, it was on the Racoon label (formed by The Youngbloods), and third, the cover art drawn by Michael Hurley. A funny cartoon drawing style, with folk art elements. His drawing fit in with the times, relatable to R. Crumb's work as well as numerous childhood TV experiences, cartoons made in the 40's and 50's.

I drifted away from Hurley's music after Snockgrass (1980), due to my expanding musical interests and also the spotty nature of his releases. Seeing Hurley's art work again, and a review by Other Music that mentioned Ida backing him up was all I needed to rejoin Hurley's music. I was eager to hear what was to me a logical and potentially perfect union between Michael Hurley's relaxed, eccentric folk songs, and the slow, introspective, beautiful music of Ida.

Ida Con Snock (Snock is Hurley's nickname) is a mix of cover songs and classic Michael Hurley's material from past decades. This is a relaxed, friendly performance and the recording captures the connection and affection felt between these performers. All manner of acoustic instruments surface from song to song, including fiddle, harmonium, mandolin, and guitar. It was nice to hear Hurley's voice again as well as his loping guitar style. Ever playful and often absurd, he even adds faux-trumpet solos (using his lips) to several songs. "Hoot Owls" gives us more of Hurley's humor as he "hoots" on the song with Ida joining in with background "hoots". The beautiful vocals of Elizabeth Mitchell and the crystal clear, crisp guitar playing of Daniel Littleton really enhance these songs and confirm the perfect addition of Ida to Hurley's music. This release brought to mind the Aristotle quote, " The whole is more than the sum of it's parts". Michael Hurley's humor and loose performing style benefits from the steady, precise playing of Ida. And Ida has the opportunity to kick back and relax with Hurley, giving us a friendly, fun, and informal performance.

*

Turns out The Holy Modal Rounders are credited as the first to use the word "psychedelic" in a song, their version of "Hesitation Blues" from 1964.

c60crew music: Before Destruction+

Bob Burnett: This edition of the c60crew music mix has a few samples from recent reviews and listens: Spoon, for instance, from their very impressive album Transference. There's also new music from Pikelet, who (according to Chapter Music) is Evelyn Morris, a 24 year old musical wunderkind from the outer suburbs of Melbourne who began life as a hardcore-obsessed drummer, and still currently serves on sticks in such heavy-hitting Melbourne institutions as Baseball and True Radical Miracle. But a couple of years ago, something tickled Evelyn’s brain in a funny way and she felt compelled to grab an old accordion, a guitar and a delay pedal, and launch a decidedly un-hardcore solo career. I've just spent a few quick moments with the Pikelet album but am finding it to be an interesting listen. There's new music from Tindersticks and Thrill Jockey's Pit Er Pat too--as well as sonicscapes from old c60crew stand-bys (well, old c60crew on my side of the c60 juniper tree) like Bill Laswell, Machinefabriek--joined this time by Steven Vitiello. Machinefabriek (Rutger Zuyderveldt from Arnhem, The Netherlands) makes electronic (non-laptop) music ranging from drones to melodica songs and from classical ambient to harsh feedback noise. Rutger was highlighted as one of the most interesting new experimental musicians by the Wire magazine.

Dean & Britta (former members of Luna, a c60crew lifetime achievement award winner) and Fennesz also make appearances. Thanks for listening and enjoy!

Before Destruction+ by C60crew on Mixcloud