#Daitya Distorts

[avatars-of-many]

Ah, we have visitors, Daitya.

𓅓

Visitors, you say? Why, Vegas?

Well, then, greetings, everyone. You may call me Daityahan. Dait or Daitya, for short... Why are you here? Why are you here?

Awkwardly,

𓂀𓂅

Hello, the mod here; This blog is simply an askblog, unfortunately. This does not have any random posts nor do they follow/like others, as for being ran by just one person and not the main blog they own. This may have spoilers for the Magnus Archives, you have been warned.

Now, we can type actual stories if we do roleplay and you can request the story format with a simple book emoji of any colour. "📕📘📗📔" If you wish to free-write like an author, I will be eliminating the coloured text for convenience purposes.

This is how this is going to work, you can specify who you wish to speak to. We can play any character, yet not completely accurate. If you do not have any specific character listed, we will either choose based on a wheel or whoever seemed more suitable for answering.

Vegas speaks like this and they are an avatar of the Vast. They are also the "unhinged Hermes" on this blog, according to @Preportal-Fiddleford.

𓅓

#Vegas Falls #Birdcall - NSRS

Daityahan is more difficult to type as, there is a lot going on for him. They are an avatar of the Spiral... supposedly. We believe..

𓂀𓂅

#Daitya Distorts #Spiralling - NSRS

[avatars-of-many]

Oh goodness, not the CO2. Whatever shall I or they do?

Mockingly,

𓂀𓂅

Worms?

Randomly,

𓂀𓂅

Someone get the CO2.

[jazzviewswithcjshearn]

In depth gig review: ECM at 50: Jazz at Lincoln Center, Rose Theater, November 1, 2019

In 1969, the landscape of music was changing greatly-- Woodstock was a cultural force, the Beatles released Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the first Santana album ushered in  a sort of Latin, jazz-rock hybrid, and Americans were reacting strongly to the senselessness of the Vietnam war.  The culture was changing, Eastern religions became a fascination as were mind altering drugs  which helped Westerners gain new perspectives into the universe.  Jazz and improvised music as a whole were changing with the seismic shifts of Miles Davis' Bitches Brew and Emergency by the Tony Williams Lifetime, which preceded the groundbreaking Davis recording by several months.  Jazz-rock, soulful Hammond organ based jazz, and free jazz had all carved their unique paths.  That same year, a new label out of Germany founded by a trained classical bassist named Manfred Eicher, who also had worked at Deutsche Grammophon made waves on the scene.  Edition of Contemporary Music, it's initials commonly mistaken for Eicher Creative Music, or European Classical Music, has arguably changed the face of boundary pushing music more than any other label over the past fifty years. ECM is known for a crystalline recording clarity, frequently found in classical music, a chamber music like focus, and a cinematic bent to albums, akin to film, one of Eicher's passions.

Contrary to popular belief, as journalist and ECM scholar John Kelman has noted, there is not really an “ECM sound”.   Critics of the label have frequently cited the heavy reverberant quality of many recordings as being distant and icy-- rather it would be more appropriate to say that while there are traits and a certain aesthetic that contributes to the label's recordings, there are plenty such as Jan Garbarek's Afric Pepperbird that have a very present immediacy with a fairly dry sound.  ECM helped establish through the recordings of Paul Bley, Chick Corea and especially Keith Jarrett, a new way of looking at solo piano, that has permanently changed the jazz landscape.  ECM brought attention to an entire generation of post Wes Montgomery guitar innovators: Ralph Towner, John Abercrombie, Terje Rypdal, a then relatively unknown prodigy from Lee's Summit Missouri with wild, shoulder length hair and a winning smile named Pat Metheny, sound sculpturist David Torn and Bill Frisell. The label also helped expand on an approach to ride cymbal playing that blended the intricacy of bebop, with a straight eighth note feel that allowed the rhythm to somehow swing and float simultaneously popularized by Norwegian Jon Christensen and Jack DeJohnette.  The label has also explored many cultures from Brazil, North Africa, and most recently Israel.  And last but not least, the label set a new precedent with album art the same way Blue Note, Impulse and CTI had.  Striking text only  or covers with evocative landscape photos with uniform fonts are art pieces in themselves. The sometimes startling 5 seconds of silence that begins each CD, demands that the listener pay close attention to the music within.

On November 1st at Jazz At Lincoln Center's Rose Theater, in the first of two days in New York City, ECM celebrated it's past, present and future.  The two and a half hour concert packed  a dizzying array of ECM and ECM associate artists that provided a concise snapshot of everything that has made the label enduring.  The evening's roster was studded with an impossible array of all stars and label newcomers: Egberto Gismonti, Ravi Coltrane, Larry Grenadier, Avishai Cohen, Enrico Rava, Bill Frisell, Joe Lovano, Shai Maestro, Nik Bartsch, Andrew Cyrille, Anja Lechner, Wadada Leo Smith, Meredith Monk, Vijay Iyer and  Jack DeJohnette among others.  Unlike some retrospective concerts which are quick summations of hits the musicians, allowed between one and three selections in specific configurations, used the pieces as launching pads for exploration, keeping with the label ethos.  There were some notable absences, Pat Metheny, Terje Rypdal, Manfred Eicher himself who could not make the trip, the recently retired Jarrett, Jan Garbarek, and Gary Peacock to name but a few who had such a major impact, but those who were there, more than made up for it.  

Egberto Gismonti, non pareil Brazilian pianist and guitarist who has been a major figure in Brazilian music and guitar, opened the concert on piano and seemingly fit an entire history of Brazilian music styles in relative brevity. Recent label signee, saxophone veteran Joe Lovano, pianist Marilyn Crispell, and drummer Carmen Castaldi who appeared on Trio Fascination earlier this year, gave a spirited rendition of “The Smiling Dog” that found Lovano's breathy, woody, impassioned tenor phrases framed by Crispell's tone clusters and jabs, Castaldi's spattering cymbals, rim clatters, and painterly snare and tom strokes building to a slow burn.  The elongated interpretation added considerably more heat than the version that appeared on the recording.  Vijay Iyer and Wadada Leo Smith built upon their fascinating and excellent duo album A Cosmic Rhythm Within Each Stroke by engaging in an enthralling duet blurring the line between new music and improvisation.  Iyer probed with  a variety of textures from acoustic piano and Fender Rhodes, grounded eighth note pulses freeing the legendary trumpeter, hunkered over in a near squat, bell in microphone to roam with signature legato lines, and carefully considered asides.  Smith straightened from his bent position, and stood stock still with his horn, making the silence count as much as the notes, as Iyer continued to mine abstract shapes and textures, returning from Rhodes to piano.  Smith reached for a golden Harmon mute on the floor, and utilized some amusing wah wah trumpet effects that traveled back to the earliest history of jazz trumpet through a thoroughly post modern prism.  

Bill Frisell and Thomas Morgan reprised Paul Motian's “It Happened A Long Time Ago”, Frisell's trademark neck bending of notes veered them off into space as his solo contained much thoughtful meditations.  Morgan's rich tone and backing brought to mind the sorely missed late Charlie Haden whose label contributions were immeasurable.  Wadada and legendary drummer Andrew Cyrille joined them on stage for two tracks from Cyrille's Declaration of Musical Independence, and besides Smith's sparkling trumpet, and an incredibly attuned Frisell, Cyrille showed exactly why he has been one of the most important figures in jazz with his unmistable ability to color and orchestrate on the drums as if the cymbals and drums were a large canvas.

Over the past few years, ECM has  had a huge Israeli contingent with important albums coming from Avishai Cohen, both in quartet and duo with pianist Yonathan Avishai.  Though the  duo just released the wonderful Playing The Room, the pair appeared as a quartet with bassist Barak Mori and drummer Ziv Ravitz, who replaced Nasheet Waits (playing later in the evening) for an aggressive, power packed “Shoot Me In The Leg”.  Cohen's composition  burst with the energy of New York jazz; it was the kind of performance that could only exist in the post Wynton Marsalis, Young Lions era.  Cohen played with whalloping energy and purpose, occasionally pointing the bell of his horn into the piano to add extra reverberation and resonant qualities.  Ravitz added further heat with well timed explosions.

As mentioned a bit earlier, ECM frequently draws the  line between new music and improvisation.  For those who may be curious reading this review unfamiliar with the term, new music refers to classical music composed by living, modern composers.  Though the pieces can be composed in styles such as romantic, baroque or classical styles, very often new music challenges listeners pushing at the boundaries of form, instrumentation or what music is.  Swiss pianist Nik Bartsch and his bands Ronin and Mobile specialize in a minimalist influenced form called ritual groove music.  Bartsch carries on a tradition of minimalism at ECM most famously espoused by Steve Reich and (to an extent) Meredith Monk,.  With Ronin or Mobile it is updated with grooves that attract newer listeners. There is a heavy African element to the intense, precise metronome like grooves, which change over time through the pianist's shouted verbal cues. Bartsch, coming to the stage dressed in all black, looking like a cross of a martial arts master with something out of The Matrix played a solo version for the first time of “Modul 5”. The concentrated performance  captured the essence of his main band, nothing was missing.  Craig Taborn also offered a spikier take on solo piano in the avant garde realm making for refreshing contrast.

Ravi Coltrane, Matthew Garrison and Jack DeJohnette took to the stage to close the concert's first half for a searing “Serpentine Fire”, the Earth, Wind and Fire classic the trio collective recorded on their 2016 In Movement. DeJohnette, who has been the most recorded drummer on ECM (first appearing with Keith Jarrett on Ruta And Daitya in 1971) has a synergy with Coltrane and Garrison that is magical.  They can  literally go anywhere with the level of trust and camaraderie, and they certain went everywhere on “Serpentine Fire”.  Garrison bolstered the lengthy rubato introduction with Hendrixian distorted bass, fuzzed out leads traipsing atop looped backgrounds set for himself.  DeJohnette, behind his slick camouflage finish Sonor kit, added a shower of well placed cymbal work, punctuating with loud crashes on his Sabian Encore model China, and crash cymbals.  His patented rumbling tom free falls adding a beautiful tension underneath Garrison and Coltrane's sopranino saxophone.  By the time the drummer entered into a groove, things moved from a slow burn to an ecstatic frenzy, DeJohnette engaging in his love of rock and funk with displaced brilliance, the tune brought Rose Theater to it's feet.

In the second half, Ethan Iverson and Mark Turner  explored more of their chamber duo camaraderie found on Temporary Kings with Iverson proudly displaying his ECM shirt to the audience at tune's end.  By far, as excellent as all the music was, the most touching of the music all evening was Meredith Monk's rendition of “Gotham Lullaby” first heard on her masterpiece Dolmen Music, her ECM debut from 1980. As a vocalist, performance artist, and new music composer, the soon to be 77 year old Monk is singular and has influenced a legion of vocalists who employ extended technique, including Bjork, and label mate Theo Bleckmann, a Meredith Monk Vocal Ensemble alumnus that appeared on two recordings.  The poignancy of “Gotham Lullaby” was made all the more poignant when she dedicated the piece to the healing of the earth and when one considers the context of the piece. Understanding the context of Monk's pieces can greatly aid in appreciation and sparking the listeners imagination for their own mental images.  The piece was originally written in 1979 for a stage adaptation of Fear and Loathing adapted by long time collaborator, Ping Chong titled Fear and Loathing in Gotham.  Chong, one of the most important and influential figures in interdisciplinary performance, and one of the leaders in providing a forum for Asian American artists, based the non narrative play on a white officer tracking down an Asian serial killer.   Though Monk has since revised some of the wordless syllables that appeared on the original recording, the warmth of her rich alto range had lost none of it's emotive power.  Knowing the theme of the original play, her wild, intense, frightened ululations were even more chilling. Besides Anja Lechner, she represented the ECM New Series side of the label, focusing on groundbreaking works of classical and new music.  

Ravi Coltrane returned to the stage donning tenor saxophone with Ralph Alessi on trumpet, Andy Milne on piano, Drew Gress on bass and Mark Ferber on drums for “Iram Issala” from Alessi's Imaginary Friends.  This is a great quintet, and the rapport Alessi and Coltrane have dates to the latter's lone Blue Note recording Spirit Fiction in 2012 where the trumpeter appeared on several numbers.  Their soaring perfect fourth based line at the end of the piece was magisterial as they became one.  The piece shifted through several moods during the solos, and by the time they reached the unison phrase it was purely cathartic.  To finish the evening, Joe Lovano returned with Enrico Rava who had flown in from Italy with pianist Giovanni Guidi, and the group was completed by Dezron Douglas, one of New York's bass A listers, and Nasheet Waits on drums.  The band looked at “Interiors” and Lovano's “Fort Worth” heard on their dynamic new album Roma.  Waits, who replaced Gerald Cleaver for the concert was a marvel on the hard swinging Ornette Coleman inspired Lovano composition.  Rava brought a very interesting texture on flugelhorn, much different than Tom Harrell, who recorded an earlier version of the tune on Quartets: Live At The Village Vanguard  in 1996.  Rava and Lovano were quite playful in collective dialogue, and Waits unbreakable strength ride beat spurred them on.  Giovanni Guidi as he does on Roma revealed himself as an improviser of remarkable depth, as the two pieces tapped into a blusier, hard swinging side of his musical personality.  His Avec Les Temps from earlier this year showed a richer compositional voice and orchestrative acumen with tenor saxophone and guitar added to the ensemble.

With it's 50th Anniversary gala, ECM provided something of a rarity in the modern concert era.  Very rarely do people get to see so many of the label's legends and stars in such a carefully organized event. ECM had presented festival nights as did CTI and Blue Note in the 70's, but a label concert package today is not often found. The November 1 concert was truly special.  ECM showed just how enduring of a cultural institution it is, and how focused it is on bringing public attention to great musicians today.  The label modus operandi, though it has released some fantastic archival releases and presented long out of print titles in high resolution digital for streaming, is mainly concentrated on the present.  Manfred Eicher,  as label founder, producer and visionary keeps moving forward providing an embarrassment of consistently excellent music. The ECM at 50 celebration was a way to honor the past, and present of a juggernaut in recorded music.

[vizhakat]

Ancients of Greater Bharat

Profound secrets about origins of humanity lay hidden within the ancient scriptures called Vedas, even while planet Prithvi is edging towards Pralay…

Long after Ramāyan and Mahābharat, but well before sages like Valmiki and Vyasa actually scripted them into epics, an ancient, dark and sinister entity threatens to subjugate the world, using mind as an effective weapon of war…

Who is this immortal nemesis from prehistoric times? Will spiritual warrior Haŕa be able to overcome his personal crisis and stand up against this grave threat to humanity? Will Hanumān help him wield Rama’s legendary kundalini weapon called Shārang? Will Uma be able to free herself from Mahisha’s clutches?

This fast-paced and action-packed mythological science fiction takes you through many exotic ancient civilisations, including a distant planet with milky-white oceans known as Vaikunth…  Prologue and Background Theme :- Ancient epics like Mahābharat and Ramāyan describe of a prehistoric age which was far more advanced in the technological, sociological and spiritual perspectives when compared to many millennia that followed - till the advent of 20th century. We’re often fascinated and surprised by the level of sophistication evident within these mythological records in terms of their complexity and philosophical insights. Some parts of these epics seem almost like science fiction, even by contemporary standards. What if, by the time these ancient epics were written, many millennia had already passed since their actual occurrence? What if by then, humanity had gone through an extreme catastrophe, when most knowledge or records about their distant past had been lost? What if, after enduring such a worldwide calamity, when nearly all of the humanity was annihilated, remaining survivors were forced to re-start their lives from the very basic agrarian levels? What if, after yet another few generations, almost all connection with their glorious past got severed, except in the form of few surviving records and oral tales? Perhaps the epics and scriptures as we know them today are mere interpretations by sages like Valmiki and Vyasa, based on what they’d gleaned from fragmentary cultural memories during their times, about our distant prehistoric past. Perhaps they were also compelled to make them plausible to a retrograde level of social and cultural reality or scientific knowledge, prevalent then…. This could have led to their overall historic theme being substantially distorted or derogated…. For example, it’s well known that one of the oldest scriptures of humanity known as ‘Vedas’, contain only a few traces of their original content. On the other hand, is it possible that our ancient myths do have some elements of truth behind them? Maybe a highly advanced civilisation with ethnic groups like Devas, Daityas, Rākshas, Manavs etc did exist during our distant prehistoric past. Maybe the Lokas, Talas and other exotic places where they lived were geographical land masses that used to exist during ice-age. Could there be a common lineage to ancient myths of many cultures across the world? For example, could Indian and Greek legends, about triple cities of ‘Tripura’ and ‘Atlantis’ or about mount ‘Merū’ and ‘Olympus’, have originated from lame attempts to reconstruct the same pre-historic records, and in that process got coloured from different cultural perspectives… Very little is known today about human history before 5000 BCE. But that needn’t mean that those were the times of stone-age cave dwellers. Possibly, all major archaeological evidences of earlier era were lost during a cataclysmic worldwide deluge or Pralay that ancient scriptures of almost all cultures across the world describe of. Probably, the heavy tectonic and volcanic activity, in addition to inundations across the world during Pralay, ensured that all such evidences got buried  underground or beneath deep oceans. More about the book at following link... Ancients of Greater Bharat

[avatars-of-many]

Most, if not everything, has been going surprisingly smooth. So, I believe I've been doing fairly decent. Better than usual at least. Thank you for asking.

Good evening/night/day, have you been well?

Out of nowhere,

𓂀𓂅

@avatars-of-many

Hello! Yeah, I’ve been well!! Besides the asthma and hospitalization lol! How about you??

[architecture-lover-ash]

Uh. Yeah! Woohoo! Um. Who are you, exactly?

Good evening/night/day, have you been well?

Out of nowhere,

𓂀𓂅

@avatars-of-many

Hello! Yeah, I’ve been well!! Besides the asthma and hospitalization lol! How about you??

[avatars-of-many]

Welll, I'm glad to hear that!

Good evening/night/day, have you been well?

Out of nowhere,

𓂀𓂅

@avatars-of-many

Hello! Yeah, I’ve been well!! Besides the asthma and hospitalization lol! How about you??

[architecture-lover-ash]

Oh sure! That sounds awesome!

Good evening/night/day, have you been well?

Out of nowhere,

𓂀𓂅

@avatars-of-many

Hello! Yeah, I’ve been well!! Besides the asthma and hospitalization lol! How about you??

[avatars-of-many]

Yeah, I understand how that is. I, too, enjoy making friends most of the time.. Perhaps, we could be, if you ever wanted to.

Good evening/night/day, have you been well?

Out of nowhere,

𓂀𓂅

@avatars-of-many

Hello! Yeah, I’ve been well!! Besides the asthma and hospitalization lol! How about you??

[architecture-lover-ash]

I definitely think so! I like making friends!

Good evening/night/day, have you been well?

Out of nowhere,

𓂀𓂅

@avatars-of-many

Hello! Yeah, I’ve been well!! Besides the asthma and hospitalization lol! How about you??

[avatars-of-many]

Ahh, my apologies for not introducing myself earlier. You may call me Daitya.. I came here because you seemed like an inviting person.

Good evening/night/day, have you been well?

Out of nowhere,

𓂀𓂅

@avatars-of-many

Hello! Yeah, I’ve been well!! Besides the asthma and hospitalization lol! How about you??

[avatars-of-many]

At least it appears you're getting better at being more inviting though, that's important!

Good evening/night/day, have you been well?

Out of nowhere,

𓂀𓂅

@avatars-of-many

Hello! Yeah, I’ve been well!! Besides the asthma and hospitalization lol! How about you??

[architecture-lover-ash]

I am so so happy about that! I used to be really bad at being inviting, so I’m trying my best!

Good evening/night/day, have you been well?

Out of nowhere,

𓂀𓂅

@avatars-of-many

Hello! Yeah, I’ve been well!! Besides the asthma and hospitalization lol! How about you??

[architecture-lover-ash]

Oh! Nice to meet you! I’m Ash, and I am so glad I’m inviting! I try! Haha. Yeah. Um. Nice to meet you!

Good evening/night/day, have you been well?

Out of nowhere,

𓂀𓂅

@avatars-of-many

Hello! Yeah, I’ve been well!! Besides the asthma and hospitalization lol! How about you??

[avatars-of-many]

Hmm, yes, it is a pleasure to meet you as well, Ash! And, you're doing a extraordinary job at being so, if you're simply trying, as you put it.

Good evening/night/day, have you been well?

Out of nowhere,

𓂀𓂅

@avatars-of-many

Hello! Yeah, I’ve been well!! Besides the asthma and hospitalization lol! How about you??