Olivier Messiaen-Visions de L'amen-1973(Yuji Takahashi-Peter Serkin)RCA ,ARL-0363 LP

 

A slight digression from the usual fare here at 9 Grey Chairs, this is repertoire I like to revisit often, this piece being rather special in that it was the first Messiaen piece i heard many years ago, having acquired many versions over the years , this superb performance by Master Pianist Peter Serkin and Yuji Takahashi (also known to exploratory music aficionados,as a master improviser) has always been a favourite, for one its much less impressionistic , and romantic in treatment than many lauded contemporary performances..(see the Martha Agerich-Alexandre Rabinovitch,version as a prime example of the latter)


 Olivier Messiaen -Visions De L'Amen, For Two Pianos         RCA Red Seal – ARL1-0363,1973          
Tracklist▼
 Visions De L'Amen 
A1  Amen De La Création
 A2  Amen Des Étoiles, De La Planète À L'Anneau
 A3  Amen De L'Agonie De Jésus
 B1  Amen Du Désir
B2  Amen Des Anges, Des Saints, Du Chant Des Oiseaux
  B3  Amen Du Jugement
  B4  Amen De La Consommation
Peter Serkin-Yuji Takahashi Pianos
No Processing of anykind employed, including superfluos track seperation!

Enjoy!!
S                          

Steve Lacy- Yuji Takahashi-Takehisa Kosugi- Distant Voices- 1976, (Nippon Columbia,YX-7085-N lp)

Here as promised to Unshaped among others is a rip of Distant voices.. courtesy of Wightdj.. who sent it to me months ago, sorry its taken so long to post.
the rip is from a fairly scuffed copy , but after spending hours cleaning it spectrally over the last few weeks , i think it now sounds fine... if not completely unblemished , its still crackly though the larger "objects" have been removed.

apparently a cd version was released in Japan some 10 years ago ( long since gone) containing extra tracks from the same sessions but without lacy , i'd love to hear those if anyone cares to share the cd..., there are also rumours of a concert by these three , with Masahiko Togashi added on percussion from the same year... another one for the wish list anyone have it?

This will no doubt not be high priority for those who prefer Lacy's more overtly jazz orientated records.... all three tracks are Free improvisations.
i am a fan of Lacy in free mode , and this is a very fine example!

Both.. Kosugi , and Takahashi are composers in their own right and still alive as far as i know.
Kosugi having been a member of the pioneering free improv cum space rock band Taj mahal travellers.
Takahashi is known to me mainly as an interpreter of Claude debussy's piano music as well as the key piano repertoire of Messiaen Xenakis, Barraque, and Boulez.


DISTANT VOICES:
1/ Distant Voices (TK, SL, YT) 20:39
2/ Flying Off (TK, SL, YT) 10:15
3/ Midsummer Blues (TK, SL, YT) 7:18

Recorded at Nippon Columbia Studio No. 1, Tokyo, June 24, 1975

Steve Lacy: soprano, percussion; Yuji Takahashi: piano, celesta, vibraphone,
percussion; Takehisa Kosugi: violin, flute, voice, percussion.

1976 - Columbia (Japan), YX-7085-N (LP)

appreciation and respect to Wightdj for sharing this!!

enjoy !

BTW
All the Taj mahal travellers stuff is i think back in print ....
august 1974, is amazing .. if a little dated perhaps by the pervasive use of echoplex and other effects, very much worth hearing though ... and not dissimilar to what some of the more exploratory Krautrock bands were doing.. without all the Riffing !

i'd also very much recommend Yuji takahashis xenakis disc on denon.. for those with open ears, it too is apparently still in print..
heres the info
http://www.discogs.com/Yuji-Takahashi-Plays-Xenakis-Evryali-Herma-Messiaen-Quatre-%C3%89tudes-De-Rythme/release/1699763