I've heard about these needle drops, but sometimes I've been surprised. Apparently the Roku reissue of 'Topography of the Lungs' is a needle drop, but that sounds fantastic to me. I thought the recent Emanem 'Karyobin' sounded a bit flat compared to the early CD, but I must admit I've hardly listened to it. Must give it another go.
Thanks for alerting me to Summer 1967, which I've never heard! I've been following Evan Parker since the mid 90s and seen him play more times than is reasonable, but there are still lots of gaps in my knowledge; I've never been a good completist.
On
Topography of the Lungs, I have both the psi CD (which I think is from the original tapes), and the Otoroku LP (definitely a needle drop). The CD is excellent, and unfortunately the LP is (to my ears) flat and disappointing in comparison. Perhaps it's the pressing I have. I'll probably listen to both again this coming weekend to confirm - I might even bring them to Cranage, in fact, to bring something different to liven up some of the rooms ;-)
On
Karyobin, I have both the Chronoscope CD, and the remastered Emanem reissue. They sound very different, with the Emanem being much brighter, particularly with percussion (to the point of being aggressive at times). I'm assuming that the Chronoscope CD is similar to the original Island LP, but I'm unlikely to have the opportunity to make a comparison. I have heard the Japanese reissue from a needle-drop, and didn't rate that highly at all.
Summer 1967 is very good indeed, and I think I have read somewhere that the idea of
Karyobin did come from these Stevens / Parker duets. You can really hear the music being stretched and explored.
I was really looking for vinyl decent vinyl copies of Karyobin and Challenge and have completely overlooked these Enamen CD's. Are they a Spanish label? I note Andrew's comments above, but I may give these CD's a go at that price. Do you have Challenge?
Most memorable (well not very it's a long time ago) venue for SME was Bedford College by Regents Park, now consumed by UCL and the building is now Regents University, London apparently. The Students Union had a Jazz Club, a bar and a small lounge (part of a passage way really), but it was ideal for small British Jazz groups and great for the audience as you were up close. I think performances were about once a month. I saw some good performances there.
Edited to clarify present status of Bedford College.
Thanks, poco a poco. I think the person who runs Emanem emigrated to Spain a few years back, and he distributes Emanem and psi CDs from there. I did order both the reissued
Karyobin and
Challenge from Spain;
Challenge is more traditional than free jazz, but is worth listening to, especially if you're interested in understanding how SME started.