Silenzi Osceni - Live In Roccella Jonica 1986 with Palle Mikkelborg by request, plus the 1984 Live Roccella Jonica

A one-off from this particular grouping of luminaries of humanity, see the credits:

Alto Saxophone – Charlie Mariano
Bass, Cello – Paolo Damiani
Drums – Tony Oxley
Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Palle Mikkelborg
Vocals – Tiziana Ghiglioni

Mostly written by P. Damiani, with a contribution from Oxley and a raga from someone else. So there's no voice for our old fave, Mikkelborg, except in his improvs.

Although there are great composed beginnings to these tracks, they inevitably get bogged down in the long improvisations I've mentioned before I find tedious and unnecessary.

The start of side b has a song with lyrics which are printed in both Italian and English on the inner record sleeve, a poem that I conclude Paolo was quite proud of:

Ed Thigpen's Action-Reaction 1974

Another request that came seemingly out of nowhere--I mean in the sense I would never have expected much from an album with drummer Thigpen, except that it includes our beloved Palle Mikkelborg, who seems to pop up roughly yearly on these pages with a hand in just about everything that came out of Denmark that was jazz-related.  (You can use the label at the bottom I think to search all the posts with him.)

On the credits page of discogs it's hard to tell that he wrote almost all of music on this LP, as well as plays trumpet.  Note that Mads Vinding contributed one too (recall he's famous for 1974's Danish Drive).  But if you look at the reissue, the requested CD Thigpen in Copenhagen, you can see there were actually two albums made in this period, the missing one is Asmussen Thigpen Quartet - Resource, from 1974 and that one does not include Palle.  Two different artists I guess were combined on one CD which probably blew the minds of the discogs database basement dwellers, because I would think the CD should have been included as a reissue rather than a separate compilation. But of course, I'm not one of those discogs vinylographical experts and happily I never will be.

The music is great and recalls such bordering on free jazz fusion as the earlier posted Contraband album, Aussie band Quasar (one of the best in the genre actually), Horacee Arnold's Tales of an Exonerated Flea, etc.

Here's the first track, called Le Matin which you'll agree has some wonderful composition in it, perfecting suited to the energetic fusion:

Again, thanks for suggesting this, anyone have the 'other' album, Asmussen Thigpen Quartet's Resource? (which appears to be a bit more disappointing, lacking Palle, & including some standards).

By request, Bo Stief's Hidden Frontiers, Denmark 1987

Note the involvement of the great Palle Mikkelborg, covered in the past on our blog here, and again here with Entrance.  (I really loved that Ashoka Suite / Concert from 1970, it's just stuffed with beautiful and intelligent modern composition.)  Palle is credited on this LP with mixing and production.  The full credits are here on this page.  It comes as a bit of a shock to see the number of bands and other big artists (Don Cherry, Buddy Tate, Eddie Harris) Bo Stief was associated with, to be found here.  First Alpha Centauri, a strongly recommended one-off fusion band with a smooth sound perhaps most similar to the Atmospheres album or Napalis.  Then the Apocalypse with Jasper I posted long ago, the aforementioned Entrance band, certain Peter Herbolzheimer bands, Jasper's Pork Pie band, Rolf Kuhn's Band, another band called String Summit I posted here, and that's probably enough for the time being, isn't it?

The music is most congruent with the later Entrance, for example this one.  Bo Stief has written everything, and at times he really stretches his imagination to take it in the Palle Mikkelborg university direction, witness the Hidden Frontiers title track which does require a bit of patience with its minimalist digressions:





Surprisingly this is not all instrumental but features a wordless sung track called 'Miss Julie.'
The addition of Palle's trumpet is quite winning:





Keyboard duties are from Jorgen Kaufmann and 'additionally' by Palle.

The missing Entrance: 1984's Palle Mikkelborgs Journey To...

When I saw this one was missing from the Entrance discography I had to get it.
Compositions here are all by Palle.  I will refer you back to this post for some of his lengthy story.  There is obviously less fusion to dig into, more slapstick 80s digitalese, given the late year, but here and there flashes of the old brilliance:





The last track, which turned out to be quite gorgeous with its choir plus orchestra ambition (remember Thijs Van Leer's Pedal Point?\) is called A Simple Prayer and it's based on words by St. Francis.  Rereading them today it all seems so outrageously quaint considering the mores of our more advanced times:

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace...
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon,
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope...

I believe that for the millenial twitterati today, if you replace everything the Saint said with its opposite ("opposite talk" as my kids call it with their friends) then everything works out perfectly:

Grant that I not console as much as be consoled [by professional disaster specialists]
to understand as to be understood [anti-vacciners especially]
to love as to be loved [like the Kardashians]
for it is in receiving that we give [right Jeff Bezos?]
and it is in being born that others die [in faraway wars]
to eternal life [those life extension pills should be here any day for those silicone valley venture capitalists who will be able afford them]

Yes, we have come a long way from those Christian prayers, haven't we?  It's amazing what progress we make, as a society.

Palle Mikkelborg - Ashoka / Guadiana / Concert Dedicated To Torolf Mølgaard from 1970

Mr. Mikkelborg was for some time in my favourite fusion band from Denmark of course, Secret Oyster (on the album Sea Son mostly, but also my favourite Astarte) whose sax player Karsten we've been following closely this last while.

Obviously he is famous and well known in Denmark as a jazz artist and composer.  The bio from discogs:

Danish trumpet player, composer, conductor, band leader. Born in 1941. 
He plays trumpet and flugelhorn since 1956, claiming to be an autodidact. 
Professional musician since 1960. Also known for his usage of electric trumpet.

This early work from 1970 is interesting for its very advanced composition.  He wrote the music, conducted the big band, and played trumpet on track B1.

He also played on the following amazing records: the 3 Entrance LPs, the one-off Alpha Centauri from 1981 (recommended), the two libraryish light fusions of the Iron Office franchise, plus many other LPs in conjunction with other jazz artists, in this period and following.
I think the 70s Entrance albums were the best of that lot.

The Fourth Movement from the Ashoka suite, called Peace:





The whole reminds me a lot of the advanced jazz composition we've heard before from Teo Macero or Charlie Mingus in his more creative and inventive sixties period.

Tons of stuff to admire in here.