Doom & Gloom Dispatch #25: Grazing In The Grass
Ulaan Passerine, Ahmad Jamal, Jim Hall, Lou Reed & The Tots, Tortoise
More stunning sounds from the Steven R. Smith / Worstward Recordings universe — Hala Strana, Ulaan Uhol, Ulaan markhor, Ulaan Passerine, etc. Smith is a craftsman; his instrumental compositions over the years haven’t undergone major stylistic shifts, they’ve just evolved naturally, differing colors and textures added to sturdy backdrops. Maybe someday he’ll achieve perfection, but that may not be the point — the process is the point. On Dawn, clarinet, French and English horn and trumpet contribute to a misty, moody atmosphere, the songs patiently building and coalescing into magnificent shapes. Superb.
Ahmad Jamal Trio - JAZZ Session 1971
Farewell to the amazing pianist Ahmad Jamal, who passed away a few days ago at the age of 92. We were lucky to have him for as long as we did — and it’s great that he was sounding great up to the end. His 2021 (mostly) solo record Ballades is a total pleasure. Jamal was an impeccable, pristine player, his lines always graceful and balletic. He sculpted space, leaving wide-open moments in his music, keeping listeners on the edge of their seats. Breezy as can be often, but also capable of surprising moments of intensity. This 1971 broadcast on French TV is great for its closeups of Jamal’s hands dancing across the keys. What a gift.
Ahmad Says: The fact is that all Pittsburghers are uniquely different. No one plays piano like Erroll Garner. No one plays bass like Ray Brown. No one plays piano like Earl Hines. No one plays drums like Art Blakey. No one plays saxophone like Stanley Turrentine. We all have ushered in a different era that’s just one of the unique phenomena of Pittsburgh. No one danced like Gene Kelly. No one interpreted Liszt quite like Earl Wild. Lorin Maazel, the conductor, is from Pittsburgh too. Andy Warhol is from Pittsburgh. It goes on and on. It’s very difficult for me to exhaust the list but all of us are different and unique so it’s just a phenomenon that all of us have a different approach. This is a thing that happened to me as a result of growing up there; I followed that same pattern.
Jim Hall - McCabe’s Guitar Shop, Santa Monica, California, March 6, 1982
You just know that when a dude who looks like this walks onstage, shit is about to get real. And things do get real on this audience tape of Jim Hall at McCabe’s … real nice! Throughout his long, varied career, Hall rarely made a misstep — no exception here. Accompanied by bassist Don Thompson and drummer Terry Clarke, Hall kicks things off with a long, lovely “My Funny Valentine” that explores every contour of the song’s timeworn melody and changes. Relaxed, yeah, but transfixing all the same.
Jim Says: The form of a building maybe—it has some logic to it. And your brain, and with any luck, the brain of the audience, the listeners, you can see this thing start and then build—just one idea anyway—build someplace and then come back and resolve. And it seemed logical; it seemed like a composition to me. And it is. And for some reason, that’s sort of the way I imagine music, and that’s the way I hear it. And even when I’m practicing I sort of work on that sort of thing.
Lou Reed & The Tots - Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, California, April 20, 1973
The Tots’ Last Stand??! As far as I can tell, this was the final Lou Reed & The Tots gig, 50 years ago this week, bringing to an end the first phase of Lou’s solo career. Just over a week later, our hero would be in Kansas City with an entirely different band — Moogy Klingman’s band, to be exact.
But you wouldn’t know that the Tots’ days were numbered from this recording. The (soundboard?) tape is a little crispy, the mix a little wonky, but the rambunctious spirit of the band comes through quite nicely all the same, with Vinny LaPorta (guitar), Eddie Reynolds (guitar), Bobby Resigno (bass) and Scottie Clark (drums) all sounding as confident and cohesive as ever. Lou sounds confident, too — he’s leaning much more heavily on Transformer as opposed to old VU numbers at this point. As such, we get rare outings for “Make Up,” “I’m So Free” and “Andy’s Chest.”
The Santa Monica Civic Auditorium was, of course, where Bowie and the Spiders From Mars brought the house down a few months prior; one can only imagine that many of the same Los Angelenos were in attendance for Lou’s debut there. Did Reed walk out on the pier afterwards, contemplating his past, present and future? More importantly, did he ride the Ferris wheel?! “Why not get high, high, high?”
Lou Says (1973): I dig the gay people and the glitter people. I make up songs for ‘em, so I have to. It’s just that I was doing that in '66, except people were a lot more uptight then. They weren’t into it. Now they are, so I drag them out of the dingy little clubs they go to, and I can get them into a concert hall where they can go do any fucking thing they want, and the straight people are getting as off on it as anybody else.
Photo: Jeff Albertson
Tortoise - Bimbo's 365 Club, San Francisco, California, May 25, 1996
At some point last month, Drag City made Papa M's Live From A Shark Cage its "Item of the Day" — and I realized that I had somehow misplaced my copy of this excellent David Pajo-masterminded record. I had to get another, and since it was delivered to my door a few weeks ago, I've been reveling anew in its awesomeness. If you haven't heard it, you gotta.
Shark Cage sent me in various Pajo-centric directions — including towards this incredible tape from his stint in Tortoise. You gotta hand it to David, he really had an outstanding 1990s, from Slint to Tortoise to Will Oldham to Stereolab (plus many more solo works and side trips).
On this evening in San Francisco, Tortoise starts out soaring with a gorgeous "Gamera" and pretty much stays at a beautiful elevation for the rest of the show. The groove is extremely strong, whether on the vibe-y "Djed, pt. II" or the lovely drift of "Glass Museum." Then there are two very cool covers — the Art Ensemble of Chicago's "Theme De YoYo" and Hugh Masekela's "Grazing In The Grass." The latter tune, which closes things out, shows that Tortoise could transform into a very groovy party band when they felt like it ...
From The Doom & Gloom Archives
Stereolab: The Live Project
Three discs worth of live Stereolab, 1991-2002? Yes indeed. Thanks to Moodles over on ILM for hooking me up with this, so I can in turn hook y'all up too. I feel like Stereolab aren’t quite as highly esteemed as they should be these days. Why is that – did they stick around long enough to be taken for granted? Maybe. It might also have something to do with the fact that in this brave new world where we can dial up any old obscure krautrock/exotica/whatever LP on YouTube, Stereolab’s influences/borrowings are perhaps more apparent than ever. Kind of like seeing the wizard behind the curtain (Not that the band wasn’t always totally upfront about all of that to begin with). But I don’t think this development diminishes the music one bit – in fact, a quarter century after they formed, the records sound as fresh as ever.
Andy Zax nailed it all the way back in 1994: “In some alchemical way, Stereolab have escaped the post-modern cul-de-sac that has left so many other bands with good taste and large record collections choking on their own exhaust while searching for an exit that’s not the same as the entrance…Neither imitators nor ironists, Stereolab are idealists building a better world out of thrift-shop discoveries.”
Anyway! These three extremely entertaining volumes of live ‘Lab will remind you how great a band they were (and how great a live band they were). I don’t have all the details about where/when exactly all of these recordings were made, but there is this slightly terrifying relic of a website devoted to it. Click if you dare!
Currently Reading: On Recording: A Manifesto by Chris Schlarb