From: Seth Tisue <s-tisue AT nwu.edu>
Date: Thu, 01 Jan 1998 14:11:04 -0600


As usual most of the new stuff I hear the same year it comes out
has some Chicago connection:

  Bailey, Derek & Haino, Keiji - Drawing close, attuning - the
    respective signs of order and chaos (Tokuma Japan)
  David Grubbs - Banana Cabbage, Potato Lettuce, Onion Orange
    (Table of the Elements)
  Ellery Eskelin & Andrea Parkins - Green Bermudas (Eremite)
  Evan Parker - Chicago Solo (OkkaDisk)
  Fred Anderson - Fred Anderson/DKV Trio (OkkaDisk)
  Jandek - I Woke Up (Corwood)
  Jim O'Rourke - Bad Timing (Drag City)
  Jim O'Rourke - Happy Days (Revenant)
  Joe McPhee/Ken Vandermark/Kent Kessler - A Meeting in Chicago
    (Eighth Day)
  John Fahey - City of Refuge (Tim/Kerr)
  Kevin Drumm - Kevin Drumm (Perdition Plastics)
  Le Quan Ninh - Ustensiles (For 4 Ears)
  MEV - The Original MEV (no label)
  Mats Gustafsson - Impropositions (Phono Suecia)
  Morton Feldman - Durations I-V/Coptic Light (CPO)
  Noto - Infinity (Noton)
  Smog - Red Apple Falls (Drag City)
  Squarepusher - Big Loada (Warp)
  Tony Conrad - Early Minimalism: Volume One (Table of the Elements)
  various - Sonance Quarry (Tautology)

Great year for reissues:

  Cecil Taylor - Nefertiti, the Beautiful One Has Come (Revenant)
  Charlie Parker - Yardbird Suite (Rhino)
  Folke Rabe - What?? (Dexter's Cigar)
  Fred Anderson - Missing Link (Nessa)
  Jimmy Giuffre - The Complete Capitol and Atlantic Recordings (Mosaic)
  Jimmy McGriff - Electric Funk (Blue Note)
  John Cage - Variations IV (Legacy)
  John Fahey - (reissue series) (Takoma)
  John Zorn - The Parachute Years 1977-1980 (Tzadik)
  Ken McIntyre - Completed United Artists Recordings (Blue Note)
  Miles Davis - (70's live reissue series) (Columbia)
  Paul Rutherford - The Gentle Harm of the Bourgeoisie (Emanem)
  Red Krayola - (reissue series) (Drag City)
  Silver Apples - Silver Apples/Contact (MCA)
  Spontaneous Music Ensemble - Quintessence (Emanem)
  Steve Lacy - Scratching the Seventies (Saravah)
  Trouble Funk - Early Singles (Infinite Zero)
  Yoko Ono - (reissue series) (Rykodisc)
  various - Crime Jazz (Rhino)

And here's the best live music that I heard in Chicago in 1997:

  out-of-towners:
    Peter Brotzmann Octet  AT  Unity Temple, Empty Bottle
    Polwechsel  AT  Empty Bottle
    Steve Beresford & Paul Lovens  AT  Empty Bottle
    Fushitsusha  AT  Lounge Ax
    Arnold Dreyblatt  AT  Lounge Ax
    Mats Gustafsson, Lotte Melin, Raymond Strid et al  AT  Lunar Cabaret
    Georg Graewe/Ken Vandermark Large Band  AT  Bop Shop
    Joe McPhee & Jeb Bishop  AT  University of Chicago
    Steve Lacy  AT  Unity Temple
    Helmut Lachenmann  AT  Arts Club, Museum of Contemporary Art
    The Ex  AT  Lounge Ax
    Fred Van Hove  AT  Unity Temple

  all-local:
    DKV Trio  AT  Lunar Cabaret, Heartland Cafe
    Fred Anderson, Fred Hopkins, Hamid Drake  AT  Empty Bottle
    Jeb Bishop solo & trio  AT  Myopic Books, Empty Bottle
    Jim O'Rourke, Kevin Drumm  AT  Museum of Contemporary Art
    Ron Dewar, Josh Abrams, Robert Barry  AT  Empty Bottle
    Michael Zerang, Hamid Drake  AT  Link's Hall

  special nostalgia award:
    Naked Raygun  AT  Metro
 
== Seth Tisue <s-tisue AT nwu.edu>         http://www.cs.nwu.edu/~tisue/
"I sit at my computer and stare out at a building." - Chantal Akerman