Martial Solal, En Solo (side A)

I first encountered Solal playing a duet with Lee Konitz at the Chicago Jazz Festival.  I was unaware that they'd been regular collaborators for many years, nor that Solal composed the soundtrack for A bout de souffle.  While I think of him as a lyrical player, En Solo, a 1971 concert recording, reflects a nice breadth to his performance and composing.  He often uses his melodic foundations as a base for more abstract explorations of interlocking rhythms, and pieces often evolve in unexpected ways from these foundations.  He employs a consistent  approach to his original compositions and the two standards found here.  En Solo sounds great for a live recording, with a nice natural space around the piano.  The bright tinting of the cover photo and distinctive orange font make the layout memorable without compromising the classic pianist portrait on the cover.

Sun Ra, Atlantis (side A)

1960's Atlantis, which dates from Sun Ra's time in Chicago, was reissued with much broader distribution, and an excellent mastering/pressing job, in 1973.  The album is divided among 3 styles.  The first two styles appear in short tracks on side A.  Atlantis begins wtih complicated instrumentals of interlocking tones and foreground keyboards that remind me a bit of Henry Cow, with their slightly awkward use of syncopation.  These are followed by tracks with densely layered, African-style percussion, a bit like Olatunji or Famoudou Don Moye's solo album.  Finally, side B consists of the long, droning, and slowly-evolving title track.  It would sound logical alongside Pelt, Double Leopards, or Robedoor.  Both the painting and design on the reissue cover, while cool and tasteful, are a bit too professional and polished for the album's clumsy and occasionally naïve contents.

The Ornette Coleman Trio, At the "Golden Circle" Stockholm volume one (side A)

The trio here, from 1965, features Ornette with David Izenzon and Charles Moffett as his rhythm section.  It's one of his more conventional, or at least less daring, ensembles.  The pulsing rhythms bring Ornette further into the tunes, and bring his focus more on rhythm and repetition than some of his more lyrical excursions from the era.  Izenzon sometimes seems to be laying a bit behind the rest of the group—it's hard to tell if this is purposeful.  Ornette stays only on alto here, though vol. 2 of At the "Golden Circle" Stockholm does include a track with trumpet and violin.  The front cover photo and design are beautiful, with the trio fashionably dressed to survive a Scandinavian winter.  The sound of the recording is great, especially for such an old concert document.  I do wish the introductory announcer had been omitted.

Willem Breuker Kollektief, William Breuker Collective (side A)

The strangest thing about this LP is the translation of Breuker's first name in the album title!  While Breuker's early albums are stylistically more diverse and conceptual, by 1984, the Kollektief's style and line-up were more clearly defined.  The obvious antecedent here is Mingus's The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady, with a swinging rhythm section behind swirling horn charts, that is occasionally interrupted by breakdown sections.  Rob Verdurmen's drumming is more precise and less fluid than Dannie Richmond, and the horn solos tend to be more cerebral than Mingus's leads.  The sound of William Breuker Collective is overly bright and modern, with the bass sounding especially thin.  The explosion drawing on the front cover is tasteful, but the surrounding design makes little sense.  I appreciate the title "Women's Voting Rights" for an instrumental track.

Globe Unity, Improvisations (side A)

1977's Improvisations is purposely a cleaner studio recording than Globe Unity's earlier work, with more isolation, and even compression, for each instrument.  At times, some of the subtly detailed playing stands out nicely.  The loud parts, with less blending and space, sound confusing and messy, rather than emphasizing the glorious cacophony.  Paul Lovens's percussion is a bit buried in the mix, which reduces the propulsion that the group can create.  Minor complaints aside, Improvisations captures the magic of a large group of incredible musicians playing together, and their years of collaboration really show through.  Peter Brötzmann's simple cover design looks great too.

Guided by Voices, Bee Thousand: The Director's Cut (side C)

I listened to Bee Thousand countless times on its release in 1994, so it's hard to think of the album in a totally different structure, much less without some of its most memorable songs!  This 2004 reissue begins with a proposed double-LP sequence that preceded the final version.  The final two sides contain songs from the album that were not on this sequence, two 7"s from the era, and more.  The stylistic consistency between the group's countless songs from the era is remarkable, and songs that ended up on Bee Thousand sound very different when placed in a new context.  Hearing songs in this style that are not so familiar to my ears reminds me how surprising and fresh the juxtaposition of heavy rock and incredibly primitive recording/arrangement can still sound today.  The front cover is similar in style to the classic Bee Thousand cover, if less memorable/iconic, and the liner notes and accompanying images are informative.

Fred Frith, Gravity (side A)

The two sides of 1980's Gravity, which were recorded separately and with different line-ups, have similarities and differences.  Both sides couple Frith's intricate instrumental music with a new wave production style, and Frith's personality and levity appear throughout.  Side A, recorded in Sweden with Zamla Mammas Manna, contains more abstract compositions that reference Balkan folk and circus music.  Side B, where Frith collaborates with Aqsak Maboul, draws more overtly on rock music, and it includes a particularly demented instrumental cover of "Dancing in the Streets".  The recordings on both sides are clean, sterile, and professional.  The almost surrealist quality of the front cover emphasizes Frith's combination of humor and craftsmanship.