In a message dated 7/3/02 1:28:44 PM Pacific Daylight Time, dan.given@ualberta.ca writes: <<

Ken Vandermark:

I used to try to like Vandermark, bought a few of his early recordings and then gave up after the first Vandermark 5 album. Then a couple of years ago a friend gave me the newest, at the time, V5 disc (Burn the Incline, I think) and the DKV Wels/Chicago set. I kinda liked them, which inspired me to recently fork over the cash for the new DKV (Trigonometry). I shelved it without ever listening to the second disc. Hopefully I'm over the idea that I like Vandermark for good this time. Dan

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Wow! I've been waiting a couple of months for someone to talk about avant jazz created within the last 10 years and it finally winds up under the category of things we don't get. I appreciate your views but in this case I think differently. Vandermark for me would be in my top 3 favorites, along with Tim Berne and Michael Moore. His compositions and improv work for me is about as good as it gets. He also surrounds himself with others who also play at a very high level. The only cds he released that I found disappointing were the "No Such Thing" cd with Karayorgis and McBride or "Like Rays" w/ Joe Morris And Poppel. I think Vandermark and Morris both work better in a band setting than in Duos or ad hoc groupings. "Deep Telling"( DKV and Morris} I thought was brilliant and engaging. I would highly recommend the School Days band, NRG Ensemble, Vandermark 5, DKV, or just about anything else. Cheers, John Threadgould