DOCSLIB.ORG

Jall and All That

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

Jose Feliciano: A Bag Full of Soul RCA Victor Stereo LSP 3503 Folk-rock singer -guitarist José Feli- ciano combines a rock-blues style with a flashy guitar technique in a collection that is strong in terms of sheer noise and energy, but is rather deficient in and all that variety. Whether Feliciano is singing JAll about love, work, or war, he manages to enunciate the words with clarity, Bertram Stanleigh but everything comes out sounding pretty much the same as everything else. The collection includes Bob Dylan's Masters of War, Jimmy Rushing's Go- ing to Chicago Blues, and the Beatles' Help! It is all wrapped up in a brash, might be more material to come from in The Asch Recordings, Volume 1 Blues, Gospel, juke -box -stereo sound that is tubby and Jazz, 1939-1947. this recording session? the bass, noisy on both sides, and empty Asch Mono AA1/2 in the center. Jazz All -Stars: A two -disc collection of material Franz Jackson and the Original culled from 78's issued on the old Asch Good Old Days. and Disc labels. Samuel Charters, who Pinnacle Stereo PLP109S Albert Ayler: Spirits Rejoice. selected the material and contributed ESP Stereo 1020 to cover Here's a group of lively traditional the booklet notes, has managed performed by a stylish band a great deal of ground on the 23 sides standards "You never heard such sounds in your of real old timers. The collection in- is the new slogan of ESP records, that have been brought together on these Maple Leaf Rag, After life," include Lead - cludes Snag It, and it's an apt one. ESP is a label that new platters. The artists Hours, Asleep in the Deep, Lassus Trom- new belly, Champion Jack Dupree, Josh specializes in the far out, and this bone, and Under the Double Eagle, as the Ayler brothers is pretty White, Lonnie Johnson, Brownie Mc- items. The release by Gospel Keys, well as a few less familiar far ahead of the mainstream. But for all Ghee, Sonny Terry, The consists of Franz Jackson, clar- Sister Ernestine Washington with the group of their highly adventurous experi- Spanier, inet, Bob Shoffner, trumpet, John ments, the strained sounds that result Bunk Johnson Band, Muggsy Thomas, trombone, Bill Oldham, tuba, Pee Wee Russell, Omer Simeon, James from pushing their instruments beyond Lawrence Dixon, banjo, Richard Curry, natural limits, and the frenzied P. Johnson, Joe Sullivan, Sidney Bechet, Claxton, piano. On their Art Tatum, Coleman Hawkins, Stuff drums, and Roselle intensity that the Aylers impart to their three numbers, Rostelle Reese, Arthur performances, their work makes for Smith, and Mary Lou Wiliams. And the and Herndon take over the performances range from excellent to Reese, James easy and enjoyable listening. At the trumpet, trombone, and drum assign- core, these compositions are rooted in superlative. It's fine to have all of this is real foot tapping, happy back again, particularly on these ments. This melodic material that is interesting and music New Orleans jazz, recorded in clean, although they have new transfers that offer a substantial real easy to follow, and, A spacious stereo, and it's played by renounced the concept of strict time, improvement over the old surfaces. solid performers. second volume of reissues is announced they maintain a rhythm envelope that in the booklet for volume 1. It will be ties everything together in a unified devoted to folk and country releases, an manner. In addition to Albert Ayler, The Three Sounds: Today's Sounds. Don Ayler, trumpet, the area where Asch was an important pio- Limelight Stereo LS 86037 tenor, and several additional quintet consists of Charles Tyler, alto, neer. Let's hope that and Henry volumes are in preparation. Kalil Madi on drums is the new in- Sonny Murray, drums, Grimes or Gary Peacock, bass. Call gredient on the latest offering from this is a addi- Attilla Zoller Quartet: The Horizon Beyond. more Cobbs' harpsichord charming lively trio. His manner is a bit The disc's major com- Emarcy Stereo SRE 66013 than that of former member tion to Angels. reserved position is its title tune, Spirits Rejoice, Bill Dowdy, but it must be reported that in a man- Attilla Zoller, guitar, Don Friedman, he fits neatly into the group, and his a hymnlike melody presented and Daniel ner that brings back memories of the piano, Bruce Phillips, bass, brushwork is not only a subtle delight, bands and Humair, drums, add up to a very serious but it has been recorded with particular old New Orleans marching quartet of questing, deeply introspective Andrew evokes a mood of childhood nostalgia. success. Gene Harris, piano, and in Judson Hall by experimenters. This is highly intellectual Simpkins, bass, are up to their usual The recording, made with deep emotional David Hancock, is bright, resonant, and experimentation exhuberant standard, and the live re- This is a involvement, but with no commitment to cording, made in Chicago's London has excellent separation. style. Strict rhythm record that is likely to remain a classic a single performance House, has a bright, fresh, well-balanced garde has and precision unison phrases alternate sound. when most of today's avant with free improvisation as these young become old hat. musicians build their highly personal manner of expression. The brilliant re- The Fugs First Album cording, crisp transients, and exception- ESP Mono 1018 ally fine stereo separation make this The Marimba from Oaxaca, Mexico. FW 8865 release a worthwhile sonic experience. The Fugs Folkways Mono ESP Mono 1028 A fascinating document that offers Louis Bellson: Thunderbird. of Impulse Mono A9107 Down on the lower east side of Man- two fine groups playing old melodies hattan, where the most beat of the this south-eastern Mexican state. Two This album serves to document the country's younger generation congre- different instruments and sets of per- exceptional rapport achieved by drum- gates, one folk-rock group dominates the formers are heard. A large instrument, mer Bellson and the band with which scene. They are the Fugs, and their about 12 feet in length, is played by nine he played at the Thunderbird in Los message is one of protest. In most cases musicians, and a 5 foot model is played con- impart ideas with more fervor by a trio. The recordings, made in Vegas sometime in 1963. The group they their were sisting of Carl Fontana, trombone, Harry than style and taste. But they have a Oaxaca by Lillian Mendelssohn, deal to say, and they manage to produced under somewhat primitive Edison, trumpet, Arnold Teich, piano, great band was Jim Cook, bass, Jim Mulidore, baritone, project their message with a degree of conditions. The three man leaves the rest of the f olk- taped in a hut in the outskirts of Ed Scarazzo, tenor, and Sam Most, alto, impact that and was so pleased with its achievements rockers far behind. In addition to re- Oaxaca, and the sounds of chickens that they recorded these performances leasing a new album that includes the children may be heard in the back- is Fugs' big hit, Kill for Peace, ESP has ground. The larger group was recorded at their own expense. What emerges on the local some highly polished. keen -edged musi- reissued the group's earlier platter that both in a garage and fast, set by leader was previously out on Broadside. There Alameda. All of the performances are cianship. The pace is of superior musi- Bellson in top form, and it reaches its have been a couple of personnel changes lively, clearly the work second waxings, but cians, and the music itself is delightful. ultimate in an exciting version of Elling- between the first and lE ton's Cottontail. Is it possible that there the sound has the same rough vigor. 92 AUDIO AUGUST, 1966 .
Recommended publications
  • Temporal Disunity and Structural Unity in the Music of John Coltrane 1965-67

    Temporal Disunity and Structural Unity in the Music of John Coltrane 1965-67

    Listening in Double Time: Temporal Disunity and Structural Unity in the Music of John Coltrane 1965-67 Marc Howard Medwin A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Music. Chapel Hill 2008 Approved by: David Garcia Allen Anderson Mark Katz Philip Vandermeer Stefan Litwin ©2008 Marc Howard Medwin ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT MARC MEDWIN: Listening in Double Time: Temporal Disunity and Structural Unity in the Music of John Coltrane 1965-67 (Under the direction of David F. Garcia). The music of John Coltrane’s last group—his 1965-67 quintet—has been misrepresented, ignored and reviled by critics, scholars and fans, primarily because it is a music built on a fundamental and very audible disunity that renders a new kind of structural unity. Many of those who study Coltrane’s music have thus far attempted to approach all elements in his last works comparatively, using harmonic and melodic models as is customary regarding more conventional jazz structures. This approach is incomplete and misleading, given the music’s conceptual underpinnings. The present study is meant to provide an analytical model with which listeners and scholars might come to terms with this music’s more radical elements. I use Coltrane’s own observations concerning his final music, Jonathan Kramer’s temporal perception theory, and Evan Parker’s perspectives on atomism and laminarity in mid 1960s British improvised music to analyze and contextualize the symbiotically related temporal disunity and resultant structural unity that typify Coltrane’s 1965-67 works.
  • The Avant-Garde in Jazz As Representative of Late 20Th Century American Art Music

    The Avant-Garde in Jazz As Representative of Late 20Th Century American Art Music

    THE AVANT-GARDE IN JAZZ AS REPRESENTATIVE OF LATE 20TH CENTURY AMERICAN ART MUSIC By LONGINEU PARSONS A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2017 © 2017 Longineu Parsons To all of these great musicians who opened artistic doors for us to walk through, enjoy and spread peace to the planet. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my professors at the University of Florida for their help and encouragement in this endeavor. An extra special thanks to my mentor through this process, Dr. Paul Richards, whose forward-thinking approach to music made this possible. Dr. James P. Sain introduced me to new ways to think about composition; Scott Wilson showed me other ways of understanding jazz pedagogy. I also thank my colleagues at Florida A&M University for their encouragement and support of this endeavor, especially Dr. Kawachi Clemons and Professor Lindsey Sarjeant. I am fortunate to be able to call you friends. I also acknowledge my friends, relatives and business partners who helped convince me that I wasn’t insane for going back to school at my age. Above all, I thank my wife Joanna for her unwavering support throughout this process. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. 4 LIST OF EXAMPLES ...................................................................................................... 7 ABSTRACT
  • Recorded Jazz in the 20Th Century

    Recorded Jazz in the 20Th Century

    Recorded Jazz in the 20th Century: A (Haphazard and Woefully Incomplete) Consumer Guide by Tom Hull Copyright © 2016 Tom Hull - 2 Table of Contents Introduction................................................................................................................................................1 Individuals..................................................................................................................................................2 Groups....................................................................................................................................................121 Introduction - 1 Introduction write something here Work and Release Notes write some more here Acknowledgments Some of this is already written above: Robert Christgau, Chuck Eddy, Rob Harvilla, Michael Tatum. Add a blanket thanks to all of the many publicists and musicians who sent me CDs. End with Laura Tillem, of course. Individuals - 2 Individuals Ahmed Abdul-Malik Ahmed Abdul-Malik: Jazz Sahara (1958, OJC) Originally Sam Gill, an American but with roots in Sudan, he played bass with Monk but mostly plays oud on this date. Middle-eastern rhythm and tone, topped with the irrepressible Johnny Griffin on tenor sax. An interesting piece of hybrid music. [+] John Abercrombie John Abercrombie: Animato (1989, ECM -90) Mild mannered guitar record, with Vince Mendoza writing most of the pieces and playing synthesizer, while Jon Christensen adds some percussion. [+] John Abercrombie/Jarek Smietana: Speak Easy (1999, PAO) Smietana
  • Albert Ayler – Legendärer Und Umstrittenerer Free Jazzer

    Albert Ayler – Legendärer Und Umstrittenerer Free Jazzer

    Jazz Collection: Albert Ayler – legendärer und umstrittenerer Free Jazzer Dienstag, 13. September 2016, 21.00 - 22.00 Uhr Samstag, 17. September 2016, 22.35 - 24.00 Uhr (Erweiterungssendung) Redaktion: Beat Blaser Moderation: Annina Salis Es war eine kurze Karriere, die dem Saxophonisten Alber Ayler vergönnt war: 1962 stand er erstmals in einem Studio, 1970 wurde er leblos aus dem New Yorker East River gezogen. Dazwischen lagen rastlose acht Jahre, die bis heute nachhallen. Kein Exponent des Freejazz der 1960er-Jahre war so umstritten wie der Saxophonist Albert Ayler. Für die einen hatte seine Musik nichts mit Jazz zu tun, für die anderen war er der Verkünder eines neuen Zeitalters. Ein musikalischer Prediger war er in jedem Fall: Mit hymnischem Gestus, obertonreichem und expressivem Klang und frei fliessendem Rhythmus schrie er seine Botschaft in die Welt. «We play peace!», betonte er immer wieder, - wie das zu hören ist, diskutiert Annina Salis mit der deutschen Saxophonistin Silke Eberhard. Albert Ayler: My Name Is Albert Ayler Label: Debut Track 01: Introduction by Albert Ayler Track 03: Billie’s Bounce Albert Ayler: Spiritual Unity Label: ESP Track 01: Ghosts (First Variation) Albert Ayler: In Greenwich Village Label: Impulse Track 01: Truth Is Marching In Albert Ayler: Love Cry Label: Impulse Track 02: Love Cry Albert Ayler: Holy Ghost Label: Revenant Track VI/1: Thank God for Women Albert Ayler: Music Is The Healing Force Of The Universe Label: Impulse Track 01: Music Is The Healing Albert Ayler: Nuits de la Fondation Maeght 1970 Label: Albert Ayler Estate Track 01: In Heart Only Bonustracks – nur in der Samstagsausgabe Albert Ayler: Meditations Label: Impulse! Track 01: The Father And the Son And the Holy Ghost Archie Shepp – Live In San Francisco Label: Impulse! Track 01: Keep Your Heart Right Track 02: Lady Sings The Blues Don Cherry – Complete Communion Label: Blue Note Track 01: Complete Communion .
  • The News Is Next | Publishing: Essay

    The News Is Next | Publishing: Essay

    The News Is Next “The times they are aaaa-chaaangin’.” But Bob Dylan never really said whether the changes were for better or for worse. Then again, when the song was written it was hard to tell, probably because it was neither or both. The sixties, chronologically near at hand but just distant enough to qualify as a chapter in history, have become the subject of both critical assessment and rampant nostalgia. Take as examples the wealth of Vietnam films produced a few years ago, Oliver Stone’s The Doors, and JFK, the Public Broadcasting System’s sober miniseries analyzing Lyndon B. Johnson’s presidential term, the recently released Forrest Gump, and the soon to be released Panther. These are all proof that the first media-saturated era is being resurrected. The sixties however, already understood itself largely through the televised image, and it is through these images, whether re-broadcast or incorporated into film, that the era is being re-presented. In short, the sixties is the first era whose historical events are able to be mediated almost entirely through television. But our historical perch is a privileged position. Footage used to revive the past is curated with historical and statistical hindsight. Events as reported at the time, particularly by way of nightly news broadcasts, lack a relationship to one another or a sense of causality to give them a broader context. As a series of media milestones, the sixties presented a genuine challenge to the nightly news broadcasts. The myriad sensational events required a style of reporting, which could comfortably modulate information regardless of content.
  • The Avant-Garde 15

    The Avant-Garde 15

    CURRENT A HEAD ■ 407 ORNETTE COLEMAN lonely woman CECIL TAYLOR bulbs CECIL TAYLOR willisau concert, part 3 ALBERT AYLER ghosts DAVID MURRAY el matador THE AVANT-GARDE 15 Forward March T e word “avant-garde” originated in the French military to denote the advanced guard: troops sent ahead of the regular army to scout unknown territory. In English, the word was adapted to describe innovative composers, writers, painters, and other artists whose work was so pioneering that it was believed to be in the vanguard of contemporary thinking. Avant-gardism represented a movement to liberate artists from the restraints of tradition, and it often went hand-in-hand with progressive social thinking. T ose who championed avant-garde art tended to applaud social change. T ose who criticized it for rejecting prevailing standards couched their dismay in warnings against moral laxity or political anarchy. In the end, however, all art, traditional or avant-garde, must stand on its merit, inde- pendent of historic infl uences. T e art that outrages one generation often becomes the tradition and homework assignments of the next: the paintings of Paul Cézanne and Pablo Picasso, music of Gustav Mahler and Claude Debussy, and writings of Marcel Proust and James Joyce were all initially considered avant-garde. Two especially promi- nent twentieth-century avant-garde movements gathered steam in the decades follow- ing the world wars, and jazz was vital to both. Sonny Rollins combined the harmonic progressions of bop with the freedom of the avant-garde and sustained an international following. He appeared with percussionist Victor See Yuen and trombonist Clifton © HERMAN LEONARD PHOTOGRAPHY LLC/CTS IMAGES.COM Anderson at a stadium in Louisiana, 1995.
  • 18. the Far-Ranging 19605

    18. the Far-Ranging 19605

    18. The Far-Ranging 19605 n the 1960s, rock ' n roll sought to create jazz that had and Motown were more to say. I monopolizing popular He was a world leader in music. The big jazz bands of the free jazz movement ofthe the 1930s and '40s and the 1960s, but Ayler's early singers of the '50s had faded influences offered little or no from the public consciousness. indication of his eventual It was a critical time for jazz. experiments in unstructured Jazz had not been the world's music. most popular music for almost Born in Cleveland July 13, two decades and seemed to be 1936, Ayler was raised by almost lost in the cross-fire of Edward and Myrtle Ayler in other forms of musical Shaker Heights. He grew up entertainment. in a very musical atmosphere. Some artists, who viewed Cleveland Press I CSU Archives He said his father played jazz as an almost straight-line Albert Ayler violin and a Dexter Gordon- evolutionary process, tried to style saxophone. "When I extend it in a variety of directions, sometimes with was two," recalled Albert, "I used to blow foot stool. disastrous results. Others, rejecting the need to expand, My mother told me I'd hold it up to my mouth and blow reverted to earlier styles of jazz. The result was a as if it were a horn." When his father played Lionel fragmentation of jazz which, in turn, diminished its Hampton records, Albert would mimic the musicians. general popularity. Jazz had moved from the Edward decided to teach his son to play alto sax.
  • UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Making

    UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Making

    UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Making Jazz Space: Clubs and Creative Practice in California, Chile, and Siberia A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Ethnomusicology by Alex Warner Rodriguez 2018 © Copyright by Alex Warner Rodriguez 2018 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Making Jazz Space: Clubs and Creative Practice in California, Chile, and Siberia by Alex Warner Rodriguez Doctor of Philosophy in Ethnomusicology University of California, Los Angeles, 2018 Professor Steven J. Loza, Chair Drawing from anthropological fieldwork in three jazz clubs, this dissertation explores the global scale of contemporary jazz practice through an examination of the communities that sustain them in Los Angeles, California; Santiago, Chile; and Novosibirsk, Siberia. These spaces, which bear striking similarities to one another both in terms of architectural aesthetics and community practices despite the vast distance between them, are investigated as instantiations of jazz space informed by logics of jazz listening, and as sites of jazz practice—a process that I call jazz anthropology. It argues that to understand why jazz practices continue to manifest anywhere, we must understand what they mean to people elsewhere—that is, beyond the music’s geographical centers of production on the U.S. East Coast. By attending to these peripheries, we can hear the music as a manifestation of jazz consciousness, as tendrils of black radical modes of thinking transposed to far-flung geographies—even ones that very few black people inhabit. To situate these practices in a longer genealogical timespan, the dissertation also includes brief historical ii sketches of jazz practice in each of the three locations in 1917, 1959, and 1990, demonstrating the long local histories that inform the music in each locale.
  • As Serious As Your Life

    As Serious As Your Life

    AS SERIOUS AS YOUR LIFE val wilmer is an internationally acclaimed journalist, author and black music historian who has been documenting African- American music since 1959. In that time, she has interviewed and photographed almost every significant figure in post-war jazz, blues and R&B, from Louis Armstrong and Thelonious Monk to Sun Ra and Albert Ayler via Muddy Waters and Aretha Franklin. As a photographer, her work features in the permanent collections of the British Library, the V&A Museum and the National Portrait Gallery; as a writer and historian, she has contributed to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and the New Grove Dictionary of Jazz. She lives in London. As Serious as Your Life.indd 1 18/01/2018 15:19 VAL WILMER AS SERIOUS AS YOUR LIFE BLACK MUSIC AND THE FREE JAZZ REVOLUTION, 1957–1977 with a new foreword by richard williams Photographs by the author As Serious as Your Life.indd 3 17/01/2018 18:52 A complete catalogue record for this book can be obtained from the British Library on request The right of Val Wilmer to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 Copyright © 1977, 1992, 2018 Val Wilmer Photographs © Val Wilmer Foreword © 2018 Richard Williams First published in 1977 by Allison & Busby Limited First published in this edition in 2018 by Serpent’s Tail an imprint of Profile Books Ltd 3 Holford Yard Bevin Way London wc1x 9hd www.serpentstail.com ISBN 978 1 78816 071 1 eISBN 978 1 78283 458 8 Typeset in Garamond by MacGuru Ltd.
  • Kathy's Genius

    Kathy's Genius

    Berkeley Barb, July 4 - 10, 1975 Page 13 Kathy's Genius writer this far into the seven­ Kathy addresses herself to the that schizophrenia is a more ties, and it's too strong to ever problem of truth and fabrica­ valid way for me to reach an­ be popular. tion in the most direct and other person, than the rigidity Kathy's publisher sent me her challenging way I've come of identity, the rigid mind-iden­ book with only one promotional across. She takes a character tity structures, I have some­ quote, by Fielding Daw son. created by another writer, and what non - consciously been 'There is a young woman writ­ retells the story imagining her­ dealing with and through." ing on the West Coast who has self as the main character, until Contemporary writing is in a received noi attention at all. Her the line separating her life and stage of upheaval, and writers name is Kathy Acker....She is, the character's becomes blurr­ literally, the wildest writer go­ must be judged by how well they ed virtually beyond recognition. destroy and reinvent language, ing...Her prose is direct, fast, In Andrei's book, he is osten­ character, and reality itself. sexy, hot, horny, furiously sibly presenting us with an edit­ In Life & Times, Andrei's honest,' tender and very, very ed version of his memory ."Con­ language is straightforward and / funny ... Insofar as I can see, sequently, every thing he pre­ unambiguous, with an occa­ she's the dark horse in Ameri­ sents comes to the reader with sional ejaculation in upper case.
  • The Jazz Avant-Garde of the 1960S, the Black Aesthetic, and the Black Arts Movement

    The Jazz Avant-Garde of the 1960S, the Black Aesthetic, and the Black Arts Movement

    Critical Studies in Improvisation / Études critiques en improvisation, Vol 1, No 2 (2005) The Challenge of the Changing Same: The Jazz Avant-garde of the 1960s, the Black Aesthetic, and the Black Arts Movement Jason Robinson, University of California, San Diego On March 28, 1965, a benefit concert for the newly formed Black Arts Repertory Theatre/School was held at the Village Gate in New York City.1 Arranged by LeRoi Jones, founder of the organization and influential Black Arts Movement writer who later changed his name to Amiri Baraka, this event represents an historic confluence of dominant figures in the so-called “avant-garde” jazz movement of the 1960s. The concert brought together diverse voices from the experimental fringes of the jazz community, many of whom were entrenched in improvisatory methodologies that challenged traditional assumptions about jazz. In addition to performances by John Coltrane and Sun Ra, two of the primary innovators of the new music, a number of "first wave" experimentalists, like Archie Shepp and Albert Ayler, also appeared. Baraka was an outspoken black critic and supporter of the music sui generis; his essays frequently appeared in Down Beat and other music magazines; in 1963 he published Blues People, a landmark socio-political history of African American music; and his 1968 anthology of music criticism entitled Black Music analyzes the emergence of the jazz avant-garde in broad detail. This new music, or "New Black Music" as Baraka branded it, became the soundtrack to a developing black nationalism in literature. The Black Arts Movement looked to black musical expression as a site of authentic artistic "blackness." By exploring the conjuncture of music and literature, we see the emergence of a discursive critical space that generates a number of questions about “meaning” in music, and that is centrally constructed around improvisation, experimentation, and new musical vocabularies.
  • Ayler and Conspiracy Theories

    Ayler and Conspiracy Theories

    Unholy Ghosts — conspiracy theories and Albert Ayler Foreword Had my blindness not occurred I would probably have included a version of the following account in my recently published memoir: An Uncommon Music for the Common Man. Although dire, my sight-impairment is now relatively sta- ble. I feared losing it completely. Hence, a certain rush to finalise the man- uscript. However, in relation to the following text, this enforced hiatus has gifted unanticipated material, which illuminates, and gives a further twist, to the underlying sub-text, i.e. an examination of how conspiracy myths take hold. * Conspiracy theories are all the rage. But, they are nothing new. Like gossip they have flourished for as long as human-kind could converse. In more re- laxed times they seemed harmless enough — and, quite entertaining. Bill Bryson’s book Shakespeare is one such diverting and informative source, for it offers a bewilderingly comprehensive list of candidates —as ‘a better class of person’— to have written Shakespeare’s plays; from nobility to some of the better educated new men of the age, like some of his playwright contempo- raries.1 As Bryson’s acute (and at times bemused) observations reveal, peo- ple clutch at comical straws in their search for a more comforting social or cultural explanation of their preferred world. It is just that, at the moment, conspiracy theories feed into a particularly sen- sitive aggregation of social unease. But, even in the small world of improvised music there has always been a penchant for uncommon or outlandish expla- nations. This, of course, may be a reflection of a particular mindset required of the enquiring, or experimental, disposition of such music-makers.