Comment on July 19th, 2007.
I like how you've tagged this under "uninteresting posts."
Never, Scraps. Never.
(Oooh! My secret anti-spam word is womble! Remember, remember...)
Comment on July 20th, 2007.
It's a defensive position. I'm posting them for my own record-keeping, so if someone wants to point out that unannotated lists of this sort are really boring, I've already got that covered.
Comment on July 22nd, 2007.
Scraps,
I just stumbled across your blog on a search for something else, and ran across your very kind words about Beauty Based On Science, the Microscopic Septet, Joel & I, et al. Wow, very moving, and thanks for listening.
If you live in New York (as you must since you mention going to see Joel) you probably know that we recently (Nov or Dec 06) got back together and played at Joe's Pub. We are doing a tour in Europe this Nov, and will probably play somewhere in New York.
I have just started a myspace.com page for the Microscopic Septet, and have posted some music there which has never been released on LP or CD, which you might enjoy. It is filled with improvisation.
www.myspace.com/themicroscopicseptet
(This being a reference to the interesting discussion about jazz composition that stresses composition and arrangement more than just head/solos/head. This is a very interesting topic to me. However right now time prevents me from commenting at length. I will say that the references to Raymond Scott are certainly relevant to the Micros - I love Raymond Scott - although I wouldn't describe his music as "jazz" per se. However if you like Raymond Scott - I would recommend the John Kirby Sextet, who combines the wackiness and great arrangements of Scott with more of a jazz feel and great solists. )You may already be familar with his music) It was always our goal in the Micros to have it both ways - interesting form and composition, and good solos, which are carefully integrated into the compositions, rather than just a display of technique which would essentially be the same on any song. (In this, yes, Duke Ellington was one of our gods - Also Jelly Roll Morton, and yes, Mingus, these are the big ones, and Monk of course) Whether we succeeded at this I can't say.
Anyway, thanks for you words, and send me an email at: phillip@phillipjohnston.com if you would like to be on an email mailing list announcing various Micros/PJ related musicial events, including new postings of music on myspace, etc.
Best Regards,
Phillip Johnston
(I don't see any way to email you directly here, so I'm leaving this as a post.)
Comments can contain some xhtml. Names and emails are appreciated but not required (emails aren't displayed).