Notices by Black-Eyed Katydid (bek97@shakedown.social)

John Fahey - Volume 1 / Blind Joe Death (Takoma, 1967 reissue; first released 1959)

3rd version of Fahey's independent debut, rerecorded and converted to stereo. Fahey was a complicated figure but there's no denying his influence on generations of guitar players from Leo Kottke to William Tyler.

#NowPlaying #JohnFahey #folk #AmericanPrimitiveGuitar #vinyl #BEKrecords @vinylrecords

Playing respect to two giants we lost this week.

1. Lou Donaldson, who was a formidable bop alto sax player but I'm partial to his late 60s run of funky (and heavily sampled) soul jazz records w/ young Idris Muhammad (then Leo Morris)

2. Roy Haynes, elite and prolific dummer who released dozens of his own albums and recorded with just about everyone over 7 decades: Prez, BIrd, Bud, Miles, Sassy, Sonny, Monk, Dolphy, the Coltranes, Pharoah, Corea, and many more

#jazz #LouDonaldson #RoyHaynes

haven't done much record shopping lately but I stopped by the local spot and scored these for a good price today

@LittleTokyo wouldn't surprise me (and would earn him cred with my pre-teen daughters)

Vassar Clements, John Hartford, Dave Holland (Rounder, 1985)

Holland reunites with Hartford, who first recruited the jazz bassist to play grass on Morning Bugle, and Vassar, from the similarly loose 1975 jam session w/ Norman Blake & co. I was stoked to discover this in the wild without knowing it existed. Till something better comes along... https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFpCUftR8sQfEjX80anQli8psEWtxOdCY&si=K9m7CPGBIhTv-VNK

#NowPlaying #VassarClements #JohnHartford #DaveHolland #bluegrass #jazz #vinyl #BEKrecords @vinylrecords

Bill Callahan - Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest (Drag City, 2019)

A pastoral record I associate with the pandemic, when I first started buying new records online after years of only used crate digging in the flesh (still my go-to method).

#NowPlaying #BillCallahan #folk #vinyl #BEKrecords @vinylrecords

Don Cherry & Dollar Brand - Musikforum Schloss, Viktring, Austria - July 20, 1972 (WHP)

Back to real time, though this one is taking me somewhere else, and now I'm having a hard time typing, so will just sign off and listen.

#NowPlaying #DonCherry #DollarBrand #jazz #vinyl #BEKrecords @vinylrecords

Beachwood Sparks - Desert Skies (Alive, 2013)

Long-delayed debut by the indie cosmic alt-country-pop-rockers, recorded in 1997 but not released until 2013. I was even later to the party, coming across a used copy this year after being introduced to Farmer Dave Scher by an interview w/ @rowjimmy on the Brokedown Podcast.

#NowPlaying #BeachwoodSparks #AltCountry #vinyl #BEKrecords @vinylrecords

Robbie Basho - The Grail & The Lotus (Takoma, 1970 reissue, first released 1966)

More worldly than the "American primitive guitar" of contemporaneous label mates Fahey & Kottke, with references to Old Europe, India, and the Far East. An immersive aural journey.

#NowPlaying #RobbieBasho #guitar #folk #vinyl #BEKrecords @vinylrecords

Sunny Ade & His Green Spot Band - The Master Guitarist Vol. 1 (African Songs, 1970?)

Before he was crowned King, a young Ade beginning to reinterpret Nigerian juju music. Relatively sparse compared to his famous 80s productions, with soaring guitar and vocal harmonies propelled by just bass and 8 percussionists. It's on archive: https://archive.org/details/ade-sunny-1970-master-guitarist-vol-1-side-a-archive

#NowPlaying #SunnyAde #juju #vinyl #BEKrecords @vinylrecords

The Celtics' path through the east has been a joke compared to the gauntlet out west. #nba