2 weeks swing through the US
This morning I returned to the gray malaise that is the English weather, after two weeks in New York city and new England.
Yuck. Yesterday in New York we had crystal clear blue skies and bright sunshine. It lifts the spirits even if all else is crap. But here, everything can be OK and you’re still wondering where the good times went, and this is bascially because of the constant spitty drizzle of London.
Anyway, one of the things I participated in (sort of) was meeting a bunch of my old friends up in New Paltz New York. On the third day of a sort of event/ritual/recording session, my brothers and a phenomenal bass player and a trumpet/cornet player recorded some absolutely phenomenal free jazz. These four have played together many times, and their rapport is amazing: They all seach and play according to the way the musical wind is blowing, with no real set agendas or defined roles. Any one of the extremely strong players may set out on a musical direction that the others follow, or just as easily listen to some current that is bubbling up in the music and follow that. The resulting sound is quite seemless and amazing, rivally a lot of the free jazz I have heard over the years. My old friend Kol also did the sound, specially miking the instruments so that all four of the players loved the sound. My hope is that they will take the resulting disc around town and get some gigs so that the rest of the world can hear them.
Meanwhile, boy to I envy all of those lucky enough to see the early shows of this latest form of King Crimson. Their music is quite the ineluctable force.
On the way back from New Hamshire yesterday I had to stop the car because there was a line of ab out 15/20 wild turkeys crossing the road.