Errors-To: admin at elephant-talk dot com Reply-To: newsletter at elephant-talk dot com Sender: newsletter at elephant-talk dot com Precedence: bulk From: newsletter at elephant-talk dot com To: newsletter at elephant-talk dot com Subject: Elephant Talk Digest #464 E L E P H A N T T A L K The Internet newsletter for Robert Fripp and King Crimson enthusiasts Number 464 Friday, 20 February 1998 Today's Topics: KC and Vinyl Half Speed Mastered Catalogue Fripp on cover of Down Beat tour-dates He RuNs A LiTtLe ShOp P2 in Los Angeles Fascinating Fripp-bit of information... Re: (off topic) maclughlin.... KC and the Sunshine Girls Serial Killers and Fripp A question for Mr. Fripp-Is this true? Nightwatch complaint LARKS TONGUES Cows Anonymous Ewww re: Pat Mastelotto's previous groups 80's Crimso Comments re: The Night Watch Re: "Skipping tracks" ProjeKCt 2 Tour Dates? '73 Crimso The Noise? rossalino and ladyprogs and greed, oh my gates of paradise Oddities Review: Bill Bruford's Earthworks -- Amsterdam -- 9 Feb 98 Need to sell my ProjeKCt Two at House of Blues ticket Department Of Redundancy Department ------------------ A D M I N I S T R I V I A --------------------- POSTS: Please send all posts to newsletter at elephant-talk dot com To UNSUBSCRIBE, or to CHANGE ADDRESS: Send a message with a body of HELP to admin at elephant-talk dot com, or use the DIY list machine at http://www.elephant-talk.com/list/ to ASK FOR HELP about your ET subscription: Send a message to: help at elephant-talk dot com ETWEB: http://www.elephant-talk.com/ You can read the most recent seven editions of ET at http://www.elephant-talk.com/cgi-bin/newslet.pl IRC: Regular get-togethers at #ElephantTalk on Undernet Sundays at Noon PST / 3pm EST / 8pm GMT Mondays at 6pm PST / 9pm EST / 2am GMT THE ET TEAM: Toby Howard (Moderator), Dan Kirkdorffer (Webmeister) Mike Dickson (List Admin), and a cast of thousands. The views expressed herein are those of the individual authors. ET is produced using John Relph's Digest 3.0 package. ------------------ A I V I R T S I N I M D A --------------------- Date: Tue, 17 Feb 1998 13:40:13 EST From: TyphoonPro at aol dot com Subject: KC and Vinyl Half Speed Mastered Catalogue Greetings, all.... A first time post from a loyal ET reader: I''ve been going through all my old LP's, and I rediscovered my collection of King Crimson half speed remasters (black center label, Collector's Edition). The only title of the series I don't have is "Earthbound". If my memory is correct, I believe that Earthbound was included on the print ad campaign that ran in Musician Magazine, among others. Is my memory deceiving me? The catalogue number should be EGKC5. Does anyone actually own a copy of this version? Is the audio any improvement over the original edition I have (Polydor Special 2343 092)? Thanks. Tim Longfellow Typhoon Productions TyphoonPro at aol dot com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 Feb 1998 23:24:57 +0000 From: Orn Orrason Subject: Fripp on cover of Down Beat Hi there Now that ET has covered almost anything that Fripp and KC have ever done and said over the last 29 years I find it surprising that the most unusual photograph of Fripp ever published has not been digitized and securely planted on ET web servers. I am referring to the cover of Down Beat ( an american jazz magazine) june or july edition 1985. Fripp is there pretending to be the opposite of his character, a cowboy, with a smile the goes all over his face. Very funny and quite unlike those "intellectual with Lennon glasses" pictures we all know. My copy of this magazine is lost but someone out there must have it and SHOULD scan the picture and send it to the ET web editors. bye -- Orn Orrason Network manager Icelandair ossi at icelandair dot is ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 Feb 1998 15:55:10 -0800 From: "robinson at bnbcomp dot net" Subject: tour-dates Dear elephant-talk, I'm looking forward to seeing the trio in a month her in S.F. and I'm searching to find out about more dates/complete tour list if available. [ see http:// www.elephant-talk.com -- Toby ] Thanks in advance, Mark Robinson ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 Feb 1998 21:52:11 -0800 From: cosmic at home dot com Subject: He RuNs A LiTtLe ShOp + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + Indeed. A truly tasty treat is surfacing from our heroes at DGM... A sensory feast like never before? Announcing, the first ever in the history of mankind, ( at least in your region of the cosmos ) >> T H E K I N G C R I M S O N D V D << - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - (...well, that's not exactly what the beast is called yet) [Gasp! Could this be a hoax? (says Toby)... Nay, 'tis a fine Truth] - + T H E S C O O P + - Although you've seen a portion of this footage before (Live in Japan '95), the highly slick digital video medium combined with cool all new camera angles and freshly remixed sound (by Adrian Belew) provides us with a bit more intimate representation of this recent piece of Crimson history. But, my friends... the fun has only just begun. Okay, so you're sitting there watching this phenomenon of a band, when all of a sudden...*CLICK*: You're watching Bill... Hey it's Bill!... ...It's Bill, and only Bill... for the entire song!!) Get the idea?? Grab your drumsticks. (7 simultaneous video streams!) ...Want to know which track? Anyone for roulette? Rumor has it there will be sights and sounds and surprises beyond those of our collective imagination. More info when it reveals itself... He's a one in a million, -Cosmic- + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Feb 1998 01:10:34 -0800 From: abhiman at juno dot com Subject: P2 in Los Angeles hi, just wondering if any ETers would like to meet before the Projekct Two show at the L.A. House of Blues on March 24th. also, thanks to Toby for holding together an incredible newsletter. truly, Abhi _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Feb 1998 13:26 +0000 (GMT) From: Alan dot Maguire at CERT dot IE Subject: Fascinating Fripp-bit of information... Kind of on a tangent to the re-mastered Islands debate... skantere wrote: >I suppose he (Fripp) doesn't check KC sections of record stores too >often. The one and only time I saw Fripp was in a record shop, whereupon he not only inspected the KC section, but purchased 2 CDs from it, one of which was Lizard (couldnt see the other one). So there! ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Feb 1998 16:11:53 +0000 From: Malhomme Olivier Subject: Re: (off topic) maclughlin.... "What's wild about the first Mahavishnu is that even though other guitartis have copped McLaughlin's fusion riffs, none ever had his intensity, even when the played near the same speed. Al Di Meola "borrowed" Mclaughlin's stuff and played it fast, but always sounded sterile" Funny I always found McLaughlin pitifully sterile, and Di Meola able to show a passion the former never had (except in the Shakti days...) A good example is the recentridiculous Guitar Trio were one can see that in no way De Lucia and McLaughlin style has evolved in the what? 10 years? and Di meola is the only one trying to construct melodies in solos. Funny enough you can clearly see in videos of the concerts he says to himself when making melody contruct that the two others don't follow and they continue lighnin' borin picking. Several times you can see on his face a "Oh Darn, that goes nowhere" and he goes then into shredding... Clearly, feelings can differ a lot! olivier Malhomme ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Feb 1998 10:51:45 -0500 From: Patrick Johnson Subject: KC and the Sunshine Girls > Some people just don't get it, do they? Besides, The Sunshine Boys are in > no condition to tour anymore. Au contraire, I just caught them "live" on a Talk Soup all-music highlight show. Though they're now KC and The Sunshine Girls. (For non-US residents, Talk Soup is a hilarious daily TV show on E! with "highlights", or lowlights, of American talk TV shows, a la Jerry Springer, Ricki Lake, even Leno, Conan O'Brien, etc., interspersed with purposely badly acted skits) The segment with this KC singing an ode to Talk Soup was side-splittingly funny. Does humor belong in music? ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Feb 1998 11:01:40 -0500 From: ganderso at notes dot cc dot bellcore dot com Subject: Serial Killers and Fripp David Lynch (not the director, or so he claims) said.... I find the proposition that listening to music can by itself completely change someone's personality fairly bizarre. I can only say for my part that I was a cynical bastard long before I heard of Zappa, and I will further note that you are fundamentally in control of your own identity. Actually, I to a large extent agree, although I would also say that music seems to magnatize those of like minds. But this is kind of my point: it is possible for someone to have character flaws and yet produce meaningful music. We ETers seem to spend a lot of time dissecting Fripp's actions, in an attempt to determine if he has done right or wrong towards his fans. And although i am willing to agree that Fripp's actions at least seem fairly resaonable, self-consistent, though perhaps unusual, I would also like to submit the idea that this may be unimportant. Perhaps even if we assume the worst, realizing that we might not actually "like" Fripp (or any other performer) on a personal basis, does that mean we have to stop listening to the music he creates? We seem to need to believe "he's basically a good guy". Take that original incident that prompted fripp himself to write in--"pudgy-handed" Fripp at the soundboard of a Living Colors (ok, Colours for you anachronistic Brits), perhaps literally running away from a young (?) fan who just wanted to shake his hand. No, I don't necessarily disagree with Fripp's actions there, but my point is that it seems odd that it even matters! Look, Fripp didn't stab the guy, he just didn't shake his hand. Interpreting it in a light most unfavorable to Fripp shouldn't really impact our enjoyment of his music, or decision to emit income in the direction of his efforts. Or should it? Just stirring the pot. -Emory ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Feb 1998 08:28:56 -0800 From: ptozer at UVic dot CA (P. Tozer) Subject: A question for Mr. Fripp-Is this true? Hello all, this question is directed to Robert in particular, however any insight is welcome: Dear Mr. Fripp, Recently I saw an advertisement on CBC Canada for an upcoming show about Yo-Yo Ma. In a clip of an interview, he says something to the effect that most people, when they choose a piece to play, choose something that they find beautiful. He says that the question that should be asked is not "Is this beautiful?" but "Is this true?" I have a magazine from a few years back in which you discuss this very topic. What is the relationship between yourself and this musician? Have either of you influenced the other or do you share a common philosophy? When I read the article about (or is it by?) yourself, I had thought that this was your concept. However now I wonder if it is something far more widespread. Thanks for your time, I am very interested to hear the answer... Patricia Tozer ---------------------- Graduate Student Dept. History in Art University of Victoria Victoria, BC Canada ptozer at uvic dot ca ---------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Feb 98 14:58:00 EST From: "Brown, Ken" Subject: Nightwatch complaint No I am not going to complain about the music. Its amazing. Nor am I going to complain about the CD ROM stuff. While I have little use for, (lets be honest how many times are you going to access it? ), it still is interesting. No, my problem is that after the incredible SABB I have to switch CDs to hear Trio. The natural 'progression' from one to the other is lost. Even in my changer the seconds that it takes to change discs loses the mood for me. I think the juxtaposition between the noise and chaotic SABB and the quite and somber Trio is important. It must have been an incredible experience to be assault be the first piece and then chilled out by the second. Of course I could be wrong! Keep the Faith (in the Music) Ken ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Feb 1998 21:44 +0100 From: ALVARO VALLEJOS GRANT Subject: LARKS TONGUES Q: What does "Larks' Tongues in Aspic" mean ? [ Private email to Alvaro, please. Alvaro, you might like to check the ET archives for this topic. -- Toby ] Alvaro Vallejos ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Feb 1998 09:51:23 GMT From: crimson at blackcat dot demon dot co dot uk (Mike Dickson) Subject: Cows Anonymous > "Sasha Wolf" > > p.s. Anyone every dream of a double trio - Henry Cow/KC ? Two pretty different bands, I'd say. Henry Cow are a sort of 'Canterbury Beyond' experience. I could imagine Lindsay Cooper and (at a push) Fred Frith fitting into the KC scheme of things, but Chris Cutler and John Greaves? Dunno about that... > MH > > "My name is Mike and I like 'Dig Me.'" Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the opening meeting of 'Three Of A Perfect Pair Anonymous'. My name is Mike and I like 'Industry'. > "Philippe Toudic" > > Does anybody remember Magma? Bring back the '70s, man. I recall Magma and would recommend them to anyone who likes their music on the edge of the bizarre, although they aren't KC, that's for sure. I don't know about bringing back the seventies, though. Would you have us all walking about with David Cross-a-like gold suits? Then again, maybe some people would. Mike Dickson, Black Cat Software Factory, Scotland : Fax 0131-271-1551 crimson at blackcat dot demon dot co dot uk : ET Administrator : Columnated Ruins Domino ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Feb 1998 15:48:42 -0700 From: Eb Subject: Ewww >From: "DJM" > >...it seems to this one that in >a repertoire as that of KING CRIMSON, when it comes to digesting (or as can >be said "digging") an album, the notion of "skipping tracks" seems >absolutely blasphemous. > >From: Ben Goldwasser > >How could anyone deny that King Crimson is the greatest band on Earth or >elsewhere? Pardon me while I shake off my heebie-jeebies. Rechecking my Fawn filter, Eb ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Feb 1998 23:13:05 -0600 From: "Kevin O'Connor" Subject: re: Pat Mastelotto's previous groups In Issue #463 the Trocc-Master inquired: "Hi I was wondering if Pat has played in any other groups than Mr Mister before joining the double trio. Plus if anyone knows what Pat endorsed,then and now." Before Pat joined Fripp and Co. he drummed on XTC's Oranges and Lemons, which you can find in budget racks from time to time. Worth the expenditure, not just for Pat's drumming, but for some of Andy Partridges's quirkey pop tunes. Another must have recording of Pat is the Sylvian/Fripp Damage cd, a live recording from their tour several years ago. As much as I love King Crimson, I think that the band on Damage would tie the current KC line-up in a battle of the bands. Strength, energy, and ripping Fripp solos. Good luck finding a copy. Regards, Kevin ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 98 14:56:12 PST From: Mark_Jordan at roadshow dot com dot au Subject: 80's Crimso Hi All I must write to address the incorrect preoccupation with the supposed TECHNO bent of 80's Crimson. The question is "Was 80's KC any more technological than any of the other versions?" I think not. The line-up was Drums, Bass, Guitars and Vocals. Sure, a guitar synth was used, but this is just a different controller (guitar instead of keyboard) for a tone generator. Was a Mellotron not Technology? Was a Moog not Technology? Is a Flute not Technology? Yes BB incorporated Simmons drums into his kit but, guess what, you hit them with a stick and they make a percussive noise (albeit, it can be a tuned one). Pretty much sounds like a drum to me. Oh yes, I forgot The Stick. Hmm... metal strings stretched between two points that are then plucked, hit or scraped to make a note. Could be anything from a Violin to a Double Bass to a Bass Guitar. I think people are mistaking technology for a different approach to playing. You need to listen with your ears and not your eyes. Robert Fripp playing a distorted Les Paul or a Roland Guitar Synth is still Robert Fripp. It is the musicians personality, style and musicality that shines through no matter what instrument is played. As far as improvisation is concerned, I've heard some awesome playing on bootlegs of the 80's band. Bring on the live 80's box set ASAP. Kind Regards to All Mark ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Feb 1998 22:43:12 -0800 From: "Matt George" Subject: Comments re: The Night Watch Hello all readers! A few brief observations re: the new King Crimson release "The Night Watch" 1. Has anyone noticed that, although the remaster job by Fripp/Singleton is excellent overall in terms of clarity and crispness esp. in the vocals and mellotron, the extremities (i.e the "treble" and "bass" responses on either end of the spectrum) are mixed too high such that one must decrease one's T-bass and BBE accordingly to adjust for the "Monstrous"-ness of the tones, thereby alleviating the excruciating pain to one's tympanum? 2. Has anyone noticed that this concert isn't a particularly "blowing" event, given that Easy Money seems abbreviated by more than two minutes, technical difficulties all but destroy the title track (which Cross salvages quite well actually by resorting to a unfortunately-underused Hohner piano, which we should hear more of in later releases (it sounds quite pretty doesn't it?), and Fripp's solo efforts are bland on most tracks compared to those on TGD among numerous unreleased concerts (hint hint "Central Park"...."Asbury Park"...etc.) with the exception of 21stCSM, which is a real "blow"? (Whatever happened to USA II????) 3. Has anyone noticed the addition of a monster of a distorted piano rumination on the Fright Watch which wasn't in the original mix on disk 4 of Frame by Frame. Either Fripp wanted to accentuate Wetton's bass or he wasn't happy with it in 1991, because it isn't there (or it's buried). However, with the proliferation of new digital mixing devices, he may have recorded that little piano bit in July 1997 and re-mixed it in for this release. Remember that he once said that he considers ALL Crimso material past, present and future "malleable and subject to modification" (or something to that effect) 4. Has anyone noticed that, if one really wanted to and has ample time at hand, one could seek out and find Rembrandt's real "Night Watch" painting on the Internet, download it, print it out in size proportionate to a CD booklet (4.75" x 4.75"), and insert it into the jewel case, thus overriding the interesting, colorful, though seemingly unexceptional new painting by PJ Crook. After all, The title track is indeed based on this "dark", noble masterpiece. Of course copyright infringements would prohibit this act and render it impossible unequivocally. Anyway, happy listening Brian George "The intellect strikes up the tune, and the will must dance to it...." --|| Schopenhauer bmgeorge at pacbell dot net ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 00:14:32 -0600 From: "Damon C Capehart" Subject: Re: "Skipping tracks" "DJM" writes: >This one has been most alarmed by the number of posts that refer various >"favourite albums" and how such "listeners" will "skip tracks". Not to >undermine the value of selective scrutiny, but it seems to this one that >in >a repertoire as that of KING CRIMSON, when it comes to digesting (or as >can >be said "digging") an album, the notion of "skipping tracks" seems >absolutely blasphemous. >Does it not? It does not. King Crimson are not gods, nor is their music holy scripture. Blasphemy, then, is not an appropriate word, even as an exaggeration. I don't really like "Book of Saturday". I skip it. "Nuages" and "No Warning" ain't my thing. I skip them. (Come to think of it, I haven't listened to 3oaPP in about 2 years!) I don't listen to the superfluous "B'Boom/Thrak" on _B'Boom_. "Heartbeat", as Belew has admitted, is not KC enough for me. Heck, it isn't even Belewwy enough for me. Gimme Inner Revolution or Op Zop any day, though. "Hi; My name is Damon Capehart, and I sometimes skip tracks when listening to King Crimson." ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 05:15:00 -0500 From: Michael Peters Subject: ProjeKCt 2 Tour Dates? Does anyone have ProjeKCt 2 tour dates for Europe? Private email pleeze. [ http://www.elephant-talk.com does -- Toby ] michael peters mpeters at compuserve dot com http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/mpeters.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 15:18:31 -0500 From: Ben Goldwasser Subject: '73 Crimso Three '73 Crimso questions: 1) Where did the phrase "This night wounds time" come from? 2) What's John Wetton saying instead of "Cadillacs, blue jeans" in the last line of The Great Deceiver? 3) Who wrote the lyrics to One More Red Nightmare? ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 19:55:08 -0500 From: djdowling at earthlink dot net Subject: The Noise? Hello, Just got the two concert videos from the 80's line-up. These videos are both potentialy awesome. What puzzles me: why Fripp's guitar is almost silent throughout The Noise and most of 3oaPP?? Were the originals mixed so badly that they could not be restored or is there a reason why the blazing lead on LTiA part3 (which, I might add, Fripp girates and twitches during) should be quieter than all the other instruments? Robert? D ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 20:54:22 EST From: Mikewyz at aol dot com Subject: rossalino and ladyprogs and greed, oh my One of my teachers studied under Frank Rossalino. Some stories say FR killed his family, too, but my source said it was just a suicide. But the big story about FR was that he was a very nice, warm, gentle man who was overcome in a bout with intense depression and killed himself. It apparently took everyone by surprise when it happened. To answer Emory's question, I don't think listening to Fripp makes on antisocial, but reading Fripp's liner notes could make one pithy. <<1. If I found a girl who was a dire-hard crimson fan, I would marry her on the spot! How many women subscribers are their of ET?>> I think I see another reason female Crim fans are so scarce. Or maybe they simply lay low so their mailboxes don't become flooded w/ proposals. I can't say I blame em. But I admit, good musical taste makes a woman very attractive to me. mtownsend at earthlink dot net: >>"Music is it's own reward." > >That's fascinating advice coming from the man who always complaining >bitterly about how he was financially ripped off by his former >company...and for the past five years or so has been relentlessly cranking >out PRODUCT AFTER PRODUCT for us to BUY. Of course, Gurdjieff was a >big-time hypocrite too... 1) Theft is theft. 2) Where on earth do you get "relentlessly"???? I don't think the KC tours made him a mint, nor the Soundscapes shows, nor the Guitar Craft courses, etc. Like the man says, "I don't play music for money, but I take money for the music I play." Music is its own reward, the money is compensation. /\/\ \/\/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 14:34:22 +1100 From: j dot keens at rmit dot EDU dot AU (Jeremy Keens) Subject: gates of paradise when i heard the rumour of the paring back of gates, i emailed DGM, who informed me that the change was made due to logistics - too much to do (probably with the latest craze - projeckts). this is a pity as far as i am concerned - the gate we have is a precursor to 1999, and is interesting as a document of robert in the studio making early soundscapes. but it would be great to hear more (than just the sometimes god hides track) of the soundscape which moved robert so much that he felt the gate had opened. ah well - DGM must move on, as must we - its not as if we are hard up for soundscape albums. also in the same email they did say too that they were talking to bill nelson! jeremy ps sneaking (?) something in past toby: a while ago someone tried to start a 'who have you got multiple cds by' thread which for some reason got stopped :) it actually struck me at the time as an interesting idea - who else do KC/Fripp fans like. but thought that a cd only survey would only tell you new groups or those who collectors had converted vinyl to cd. my KC cd collection is relatively small (epitaph, nightwatch,TGD, the 90s version) because i still play the rest of the catalogue on vinyl. so to be really useful, the list would have to include multivinyl, which a writer would have to own up to (for example, i have all elton john's albums up to blue moves, but i wouldn't admit to it). [ Nothing gets past me. I have nothing against knowing what else ETers listen too -- in fact it would be very interesting. But having the information appearing piecemeal in ET was tedious, expecially for those not interested in the thread. So, how about someone organising a survey, collecting private email replies, collating, and sending a summary to ET? -- Toby ] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 23:54:25 EST From: DanKirkd at aol dot com Subject: Oddities Although I should bite my tongue I can't hold back... ...In ET #463 TJ wrote: "I saw Fripp on "Showbiz Tonight" on CNN a couple days ago, and I was wondering why. Do you know?" I can think of various one liners such as, "You saw him on the show because he was on the show!", but either you had the volume turned down and are asking us what might have been said, or else I'm absolutely clueless as to why others would know any better than you yourself, the one who actually did the seeing, would know. Later John Barnas, writing about the upcoming ProjeKct Two shows, said: "Be careful you don't approach the show with prejudice... I believe that you will receive more than you expect if you are watchful about your expectations. I know one thing. This P2 show is going to be wonderful. We will carry the chords with us for days, months...." Ummm..., John, there you go now. Overly positive expectations are no different than prejudiced ones. And what if the show isn't "wonderful", and the chords don't carry with you "for days, months"? Will you then be dissappointed? Oh, another thing. Neal Patrick Brown in ET #461 mentioned the similarities between Three Of A Perfect Pair and THRaKaTTaCK. Its interesting this hasn't been mentioned more often. If you haven't heard this similarity, I suggest you listen to Nuages and No Warning again. Given that it's basically the same band this isn't so surprising, but then again not many people credit TOAPP as a stepping stone to something else, but instead think of it as an end in itself perhaps (remember, it was Disciple that wasn't an end in itself :^). Finally, I'd like to encourage anyone who can, to give Matt Walsh some help in the Tribute thing. No one person should have to do all this him or herself. Its been about a year since he took this on and we don't want it to take another do we? Springtime in February? It's going to be a glorious day! Dan ET Web ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Feb 1998 21:41:46 +0000 From: Russell Whitworth Subject: Review: Bill Bruford's Earthworks -- Amsterdam -- 9 Feb 98 Because I usally work away from home, I often I miss gigs I'd really like to see. But on this occasion I struck lucky -- Bruford was in Amsterdam at the same time as me. So along with two colleagues from work (both musicians, but with no prior knowledge of Crimson or Bruford), we set off for the Paradiso, Amsterdam. An odd cavernous venue in central Amsterdam (off Leidseplein), with stained-glass windows. Perhaps it used to be a church. Only a couple of hundred people there, which made it a lot more casual and intimate than the previous six times I've seen Bruford perform (with Yes, Crimson and Earthworks). Things didn't start well. The band walked onto stage to gentle applause, but the house music kept playing. They shuffled around nervously, but the music played on. The bass player started playing "Air on a G string" in an obvious reference to the British "Hamlet" cigar TV advertisements, but the joke was perhaps lost on the mainly Dutch audience. Bill Bruford steps forward, asking "Could we have someone on the mixing desk, please?". Eventually the music fades down, and we're ready to go. Although Bill Bruford introduced his band meticulously, I wasn't taking notes and the names meant nothing to me. Apart from Bill, the band comprised a young keyboardist, saxophonist (tenor and soprano), and bass player (upright and electric). All very fine musicians, but not related to earlier incarnations of Earthworks. The set consisted mainly of recent material from the Bruford/Towner CD, as well as older Earthworks favourites. Also some new material, including an excellent piece that was being played for only the second time (claimed Bill). As far as I could tell from Bruford's explanations, these four musicians have not recorded together. The style, throughout, was what I would call "mainstream jazz". Melody, one or more improvised solos, return to the melody and out. Very professionally executed, but (to me) not very exciting. It wasn't helped by the bass-heavy sound system, which seemed to entirely lose the upper register of the tenor sax, which was the main lead instrument of the evening. The soprano sax was better miked, but wasn't used as much. Bruford was playing a conventional drum kit -- very well, of course -- but I felt sadly cheated hearing Earthworks numbers that were written around his electronic drum kit. It was sort of "Earthworks, Unplugged". Highlights: - the new piece, called "Original Sin" if I remember correctly - some very nice interaction and improvisation between Bruford and his bass player - watching Bruford at work, from close-up - four very fine musicians Low points: - none of the excitement and experimentation that I tend to associate with Earthworks. In summary, if it had been billed as "Bill Bruford's Main-stream Jazz Ensemble", I'd probably have enjoyed it more. But billed as "Earthworks", I felt disappointed. -- Russell Whitworth http://www.anchorag.demon.co.uk/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 07:49:17 PST From: "Larry Snead" Subject: Need to sell my ProjeKCt Two at House of Blues ticket Ah, a stab to the heart. I got a ticket for ProjeKCt Two on March 24 at the House of Blues in LA thru Ticketmaster in Phoenix last week. Unfortunately I just found out I have to work on the 24th. Being a poor grad student, I would really appreciate it if anyone could help me out and buy my ticket. It cost me $31.65, but I would be willing to sell it for $25, the cost before all those extra fees. Thanks to Elephant Talk for giving me the possibility of working something out. Now I just gotta get a ticket for the Ventura show on the 18th (my 25th Fripp/KC concert I hope). Thanks, Larry Snead lsnead at hotmail dot com ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Feb 98 11:45:00 PST From: Matt Walsh Subject: Department Of Redundancy Department My apologies for the short, meaningless post, but this may have to be the funniest line I've ever read in the 2 1/2 or so years I've been subscribed to ET, and to think it was unintentional... >>It has been a few years since since I last posted, so forgive me if I get repetitive . . (from ET #463) Just thought I'd bring it up again in case it went by unnoticed ;) Later, Matthew Walsh Software Engineer - Strategic Management Group mattw at smginc dot com mattmonkw at aol dot com Matt's personal CD jukebox - Currently playing and annoying co-workers with: Wayne Horvitz & Pigpen - "Miss Ann" ------------------------------ End of Elephant-Talk Digest #464 ********************************