ART ENSEMBLE OF CHICAGO – Live In Paris 1969 (Get Back Rec. / 2LP-2002)

Label: Get Back – GET 2017

Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Reissue, Gatefold Sleeve / Country: Italy / Released: 2002

Style: Free Jazz, Free Improvisation

Recorded On October 5th, 1969 in Paris, France.

Liner Notes – Brian Case

Photography By – David Redfern

Producer – Jean-Luc Young

Original BYG recordings (Japan) – Live Part 1/BYG Records ‎– YX-2040

                                                        Live Part 2/BYG Records ‎– YX-2041

The LP was issued on the Arista Freedom label in the United States in 1974.

© 2002 Get Back - Manufactured and marked by Abraxas srl - via Aretina, 25 - 50069 Sieci (Firenze) Italy. Issued under license from Charly Licensing Aps

Matrix / Runout: GET 2017 DLP 1 A 33RPM

Matrix / Runout: GET 2017 DLP 1 B 33RPM

Matrix / Runout: GET 2017 DLP 2 A 33RPM

Matrix / Runout: GET 2017 DLP 2 B 33RPM

A - Oh Strange (Part 1) ………………………………………………….....…. 23:37

B - Oh Strange (Part 2) ………………………………………………….....…. 25:38

      Written-By – Joseph Jarman, Lester Bowie

C - Bon Voyage (Part 1) …………………………………………….……....... 21:50

D - Bon Voyage (Part 2) …………………………………………….……....... 24:08

      Written-By – Lester Bowie

Personnel:

Lester Bowie – trumpet, fluegelhorn, bass drum

Roscoe Mitchell – soprano sax, alto sax, bass sax, logs, bells, siren, whistles

Joseph Jarman – soprano sax, alto sax, clarinet, oboe, flutes, marimba, vibes

Malachi Favors – bass, fender bass, banjo, logs, drums, percussion

Fontella Bass – vocals

Recorded in 1969, Live in Paris follows two studio albums that the Art Ensemble cut for BYG/Actuel during the same year -- A Jackson in Your House and Message to Our Folks. What Parisian audiences must have made of the band with its wild makeup and costumes can only be debated, but the music contained on this double-LP, original double album is stellar (the LP was issued on the Arista Freedom label in the United States in 1974). Each LP features one composition, divided into two parts. "Oh, Strange," by Joseph Jarman and Lester Bowie, begins with a very short, bluesy jazz theme that is augmented almost immediately with all manner of percussion instruments, which multiply until they literally take over, leaving Jarman and Mitchell, who knottily play a folk song variation on the opening theme that is articulated over moans, groans, and droning baritone and tenor saxophones. Dynamics and tension begin to gradually shift as notions of tempo, and even striated harmonics, are laid waste in the din. But this far from unlistenable noise; in fact, perhaps now in the 21st century more than ever before, the freewheeling improvisations of the Art Ensemble make a kind of syntagmatic sense. On the other monolithic piece here, "Bon Voyage," written by Bowie, the Art Ensemble is accompanied by the composer's then-wife, singer Fontella Bass, who recorded "Les Stances à Sophie" with them later (Famoudou Don Moye was not yet a member of the ensemble). Bass uses her rhythm and blues grit and gospel dynamics and control to improvise alongside the bandmembers, who have to make plenty of room for her contribution. There is a wondrous tension at play in the oppositional fields of male and female energies here. Bass swoops, glides, hollers, moans, and sings her way into the maelstrom of space. This is the finest live recording by the Art Ensemble, and documents the first tour of a legendary band that created new standards not only for improvisation but for performance as well. Now that Lester Bowie and Malachi Favors Maghostus have left this world, with this double LP, I want to remind listeners how enormous their accomplishments were.

Overall, this is an extremely interesting album for fans, but neophytes should check out a few other entries before coming here. If you do run into this first, moved toward it by some of its following, just remember that this is only one facet of a very talented band.

Enjoy!

If you find it, buy this album!

THE ART ENSEMBLE OF CHICAGO – The Paris Session (2LP-1975)

Label: Arista – AL 1903, Freedom – AL 1903

Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Compilation / Country: US / Released: 1975

Style: Free Jazz, Free Improvisation

Recorded at Polydor Studios (Dames II), Paris, 26th June 1969.

Design [Sleeve] – Hamish Grimes

Photography By – Jan Persson

Engineer – J. P. Dupuy, P. Quef

Liner Notes – John B. Litweiler

Producer – Alan Bates, Chris Whent

Matrix / Runout (Side A runout, etched): AL 1903-SA

Matrix / Runout (Side B runout, etched): AL 1903-SB

Matrix / Runout (Side A runout, etched): AL 1903-SC

Matrix / Runout (Side B runout, etched): AL 1903-SD

At the second LP (side C) the first track misspelled: "Joro", and correctly is "Toro".

Tracklist:

A  -  Tutankhamun ....................................................................................... 18:10

B1 - The Ninth Room .................................................................................. 15:35

B2 - That The Evening The Sky Fell Through The Glass

        Wall And We Stood Alone Somewhere? .............................................. 6:00

C1 - Toro ....................................................................................................... 8:25

C2 - Lori Song ............................................................................................... 3:53

C3 - Tthinitthedalen Part One ....................................................................... 4:24

C4 - Tthinitthedalen Part Two ....................................................................... 4:54

D  -  The Spiritual ........................................................................................ 20:00

Roscoe Mitchell – alto sax / soprano sax / bass sax, clarinet, flute,

                               whistle, siren, bells,    percussion

Lester Bowie – trumpet, flugelhorn, horns, drums [bass drum]

Joseph Jarman – alto sax / soprano sax / bass sax, clarinet, oboe, flute,

                            piano, harpsichord, guitar, percussion

Malachi Favors – bass, bass [Fender], banjo, sitar, percussion

The Art Ensemble of Chicago is an avant-garde jazz group that grew out of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) in the late 1960s. The ensemble integrates many jazz styles and plays many instruments, including "little instruments": bells, bicycle horns, birthday party noisemakers, wind chimes, and various forms of percussion. The musicians wear costumes and face paint while performing. These characteristics combine to make the ensemble's performances both aural and visual. While playing in Europe in 1969, five hundred instruments were used.

Members of what was to become the Art Ensemble performed together under various band names in the mid-sixties, releasing their first album, Sound, as the Roscoe Mitchell Sextet in 1966. The Sextet included saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell, trumpeter Lester Bowie, and bassist Malachi Favors. For the next year, they played as the Roscoe Mitchell Art Ensemble. In 1967, they were joined by fellow AACM members Joseph Jarman (saxophone) and Phillip Wilson (drums) and recorded for Nessa Records.

All of the musicians were multi-instrumentalists. Jarman and Mitchell's primary instruments were alto and tenor saxophone, respectively, but they played other saxophones (from the small sopranino to the large bass saxophone), and the flute and clarinet. In addition to trumpet, Bowie played flugelhorn, cornet, shofar, and conch shells. Favors added touches of banjo and bass guitar. Most of them dabbled in piano, synthesizer, and other keyboards.

In 1969, Wilson left the group to join Paul Butterfield's band. The remaining group travelled to Paris, where they became known as the Art Ensemble of Chicago. The impetus for the name change came from a French promoter who added "of Chicago" to their name for descriptive purposes, but the new name stuck because band members felt that it better reflected the cooperative nature of the group. In Paris, the ensemble was based at the Théâtre des Vieux Colombier and they recorded for the Freedom and BYG labels. They also recorded Comme à la radio with Brigitte Fontaine and Areski Belkacem but without a drummer until percussionist Don Moye became a member of the group in 1970.

The double album "The Paris Session" is a compilation of studio recordings from this period in Paris 1969 which were originally realized in two vinyl editions "Tutankhamun" and "The Spiritual" (both Freedom Records), plus material that was first released on this LP.

If you find it, buy this album!

LESTER BOWIE'S BRASS FANTASY – I Only Have Eyes For You (LP-1985)

Label: ECM Records – ECM 1296 /  ECM Records ‎– 825 902-1

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: Germany / Released: 1985

Style: Contemporary Jazz

Recorded February 1985 at Rawlston Recording Studios, Brooklyn, NY.

Design – Dieter Rehm

Photography By [Cover Photo] – Karl Johnson

Photography by [Insert Photo] – Helmut Frühauf

Photography By [Liner Photo] – Lynne Wilson

Photography By [Liner Photos] – Deborah Bowie

Engineer – Akili Walker

Digitally mixed at Tonstudio Bauer, Ludwigsburg

Engineer [Mixing] – Martin Wieland

Producer – Lester Bowie, Manfred Eicher

Matrix / Runout (Side A): 825 902-1 S1 ECM 1296 320

Matrix / Runout (Side B): 825 902-1 S2=2 ECM 1296 320

A1 - I Only Have Eyes For You .................................................................... 10:30

         By – Al Dubin, Harry Warren

A2 - Think ....................................................................................................... 1:31

         By – Bruce Purse

A3 - Lament (Dedicated To Dr. Ray Copeland) ........................................... 13:50

         By – Malachi Thompson

         soloist, trumpet – Stanton Davis

B1 - Coming Back, Jamaica ........................................................................... 5:17

         By – Lester Bowie

B2 - Nonet .................................................................................................... 14:30

         By – Bob Stewart

B3 - When The Spirit Returns ........................................................................ 7:50

         By – Lester Bowie

Personnel:

Lester Bowie – trumpet

Malachi Thompson – trumpet

Bruce Purse – trumpet

Stanton Davis – trumpet, flugelhorn

Craig Harris – trombone

Steve Turre – trombone

Vincent Chancey – French horn

Bob Stewart – tuba

Phillip Wilson – drums, percussion

Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy’s debut album is a deliberate provocation. The band, a nonet consisting of four trumpets, two trombones, a French horn, tuba and drums, displays Bowie’s love for pop music while clearly being in the jazz tradition, the album is released on ECM Records, a label that is famous for its clean and perfect sound. The band is extremely cool and tight (especially Bob Stewart on tuba, Steve Turre on trombone and Philip Wilson on drums), the sound is full of emotional depth and the selection of the tracks – from The Flamingo’s doo wop classic “I Only Have Eyes For You” to Bob Stewart’s majestic and uplifting “Nonet” – take the concept of Ancient to the Future to the next level because in spite of the pop approach the music breathes the spirit of gospel and blues. Lester Bowie’s “Coming Back, Jamaica”, is one of the best reggae tracks ever, which is dominated by the mother of all tuba solos. One of my all-time-favorite albums!

“I Only Have Eyes For You” it was Lester’s first record with his new group, Brass Fantasy, and for my money, this lineup is my favorite. And of all the subsequent Brass Fantasy albums, this first one is my favorite. The basic (and I know it’s not cool to reduce a great concept down to something so basic) premise for the group seems to have been: take some pop tunes and make arrangements for a brass band of improvisers with the lead role going to the great singer of songs, Lester Bowie. So if that’s the schtick with this band, then maybe why I like this first album so much is the fact that this first album only features one pop tune cover; the other five tracks are originals, two of which are Lester compositions. The cover feature here is obviously the title track which dates back to the early 30’s, but the version everyone today knows is the most popular: the 1959 version of “I Only Have Eyes For You” by the Flamingos. The Flamingos were a classic doowop group and they had their share of hits, but their version of this tune is one of the classic recordings of all time. It’s just magical. Here, listen. Awesome, right? Now, check out the Brass Fantasy version. It’s longer than the Flamingos version but it stays pretty faithful to that 1959 arrangement, even down to those amazing “doo bop shoo bops.” I can hear Lester playing the words and I love how he sings that diminished feel coming out of the bridge each time the bands repeats. So many great sounds of Lester’s ridiculously huge arsenal of amazing trumpet sounds come out in this recording. He’s really a vocalist stuck with a trumpet. And dig Vincent Chancey’s French horn. Perfect.

What a great start to an amazing record. Another gem on this record is “Think” by trumpeter Bruce Purce (never heard of him before or after this record! Have you??). Malachi Thompson’s “Lament” is also pretty special. Lester’s two compositions on this record “Coming Home Jamaica” and “When the Spirit Returns” are also pretty sweet (some classic Lester on these) and indicative of the kinds of tunes he wrote and often played with later versions of the Art Ensemble of Chicago. And then there’s the great tuba monster Bob Stewart who is always the rock of Brass Fantasy albums. His tune “Nonet” is probably the most “avant” on this album. It’s amazing. Wonderful arrangement and spectacular group playing and improvisation. All in all, it’s a really special album from a performance standpoint and fro a compositional standpoint. Although some of the future Brass Fantasy records resort to kinda dialed-in, almost cheesy arrangements of pop tunes, the band never compromises here. There is some adventuresome and powerful playing and writing on this first album.

Have I sold you on this record yet? :)... If you like brass instruments, if you like trumpet, if you like Lester Bowie, if you like The Flamingos, if you like jazz, if you like good music, then you really should consider adding this album to your collection.

(_by Outside Pants)

An almost perfect album.

If you find it, buy this album!

CHARLES BOBO SHAW / HUMAN ARTS ENSEMBLE – Junk Trap (LP-1978)

Label: Black Saint – BSR 0021

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: Italy / Released: 1978

Style: Free Jazz, Fusion

Recorded in May 1978 at GRS Studios, Milano, Italy

Cover [Cover Art], Photography By – Giuseppe Pino

Design [Cover] – "Gigi" Barbieri

Engineer – "Michel" Carlo Assalini

Producer – Giacomo Pellicciotti

Producer [Assistant] – Walter Prati

Matrix / Runout (Side A Runout): BSR 0021-A-78 I △

Matrix / Runout (Side B Runout): BSR 0021-B-78 I △

A1 - Beyond The New Horizon .................................................................. 7:42

A2 - Night Dreamer .................................................................................. 10:57

A3 - Brown Rock City ................................................................................ 7:25

B1 - Skiwee ............................................................................................... 6:30

B2 - Junk Trap ........................................................................................... 9:15

B3 - Electric Two ....................................................................................... 6:25

B4 - Sequence ........................................................................................... 2:29

Luther Thomas – alto saxophone

Joseph Bowie – trombone

James Emery – guitar

John Lindberg – acoustic /electric bass

Charles Bobo Shaw – drums, percussion, bugle

A wonderfully focused record from drummer Charles Bobo Shaw -- a set that shows the new fire his music had gained in the latter part of the 70s! The lineup still strongly shows Shaw's roots -- a creative combo that features Joseph Bowie on trombone, Luther Thomas on alto sax, James Emery on guitar, and John Lindberg on bass -- and there's a nice sense of swing amidst the freedom, a rhythmic pulse that comes especially strongly from the bass and drums, and which reminds us of some of Thomas' best moments in this mode. The set's a great example of the way that 70s groups like this could work with a great sense of freedom, but still keep things grooving too.

(source: Dusty Groove America)

Enjoy!

If you find it, buy this album!

RONALD SHANNON JACKSON and THE DECODING SOCIETY – Nasty (LP-1981)

Label: Moers Music – momu 01086

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: Germany / Released: 1981

Style: Free Funk, Contemporary Jazz

Recorded at: The Hit Factory - New York, N.Y. 23rd to 27th March 1981.

Design [Cover] – Jürgen Pankarz

Photography – Debor

Recorded By – Ted Spencerah Feingold

Mastered By – Axel Markens

Producer – Burkhard Hennen

Composed By, Arranged By – Ronald Shannon Jackson

Matrix / Runout: side A / MoMu 01086-A

Matrix / Runout: side B / MoMu 01086-B

A1 - Small World ............................................................................... 3:20

A2 - Black Widow ............................................................................ 10:18

A3 - Sweet Natalie ............................................................................ 6:01

B1 - Nasty ......................................................................................... 5:53

B2 - When We Return ..................................................................... 11:45

Line-up / Musicians

Ronald Shannon Jackson – drums, percussion

Byard Lancaster – saxophone [alto, baritone], piccolo flute

Charles Brackeen – saxophone [soprano, tenor]

Lee Rozie – saxophone [soprano, tenor]

Khan Jamal – vibraphone

Vernon Reid – electric guitar

Melvin Gibbs – electric bass

Bruce Johnson – electric bass

RONALD SHANNON JACKSON is best known as a jazz drummer of the first rank, having worked with both Ornette Coleman and Cecil Taylor. But he is becoming better known as the leader, composer and arranger for the Decoding Society, one of the most progressive and influential jazz-rock bands now performing and recording. The brand of amplified music the Decoding Society dispenses is derived from the work Mr. Coleman began doing with his own electric band, Prime Time, in the mid-70's; Mr. Jackson was Prime Time's original drummer. But while Mr. Coleman has recorded and performed infrequently, Mr. Jackson has set about the arduous task of building a reputation for his performing group and getting its music on disks.

Two albums by the Decoding Society, ''Eye on You'' (About Time Records) and ''Nasty'' (Moers Music), are fascinating examples of a new direction in electric music that will undoubtedly prove as influential during the l980's as Miles Davis's jazz-rock albums were in the 70's. The Decoding Society is not the only band working in this new area. Mr. Coleman's Prime Time led the way as early as 1975, but the only examples of Prime Time on record date from its first year and are not really representative of how the group sounds now. James (Blood) Ulmer, the electric guitarist who played with Mr. Coleman before forming his own band several years ago, will have his first album for a major label released by Columbia this month, and it will undoubtedly turn a few heads. But at the moment, the state of ''harmolodic music,'' as Mr. Coleman calls it, is best represented by the Decoding Society's two albums.

That word ''harmolodic'' gets hurled around a great deal these days, but Mr. Coleman has never offered a really succinct definition. Basically, it is music that concentrates on counterpoint, with horns,guitars, and even electric basses all playing independent melody lines, often in different keys. The rhythms are similarly dense, but they are driving dance rhythms, and each of the musicians in the band plays rhythmically, contributing to the kinetic force of the music. This is not a sound in which a soloist dominates over a rhythm section. Theoretically, at least, each instrument has an equal voice in the ensemble. And in ''harmolodic'' ensemble playing, each instrument's part remains distinct without getting in any other instrument's way.

Mr. Jackson has a real talent for writing compositions that are both melodic and rhythmically compelling, and his band is at its best when it delivers condensed, punchy performances of these compositions. ''Eye on You,'' which includes 11 of Mr. Jackson's tunes, is the great album. Each piece develops organically, with the written themes seeming to shift prismatically as the player s improvise on them.

''Nasty'' includes only five tunes, and two of them are rambling jams more than 10 minutes in length. The Moers dates (which resulted in Nasty and Street Priest) were well recorded, effectively highlighting the busy, melodic interplay of the two bassists who served less in the traditional/functional bass roles and more in melodic roles that were on par with the horns and guitar. The feel was overall more funky and the melodies more catchy than on Eye on You. Reid was given more room to stretch out, while the saxophones continued to explore the high register, and Jackson continued to embed rhythms and melodies within a polyphonic texture that exhibited Coleman's influence. Nevertheless, this music had rapidly and unquestionably become Jackson's own and the Moers recordings exhibit some of his finest work.

And both albums, establish Mr. Jackson as one of the most provocative band leaders who working on the razor's edge between free-form, fusion and funk.

Review by Brian K. Warren

If you find it, buy this album!

ORNETTE COLEMAN – Body Meta (LP-1978 / Artists House – AH 9401)

Label: Artists House – AH 9401 / Artists House – AH 1

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Gatefold / Country: Canada / Released: 1978

Style: Free Jazz

Recorded at Barclay Studios, Paris, Dec. 1976 / Mixed at Sound Ideas, N.Y.C.,1978

Artwork [Booklet] – Robert Rauschenberg

Artwork [Cover Backside] – Elizabeth Atnafu

Artwork [Cover Front] – Chief Z.K. Oloruntoba

Artwork [Cover Inside 1] – Barbara Hager

Artwork [Cover Inside 2] – Guy Harloff

Photography By [Artwork Booklet] – Wallace Litwin

Photography By [Artwork Cover] – Mike Hoeye

Photography By [Portrait] – James Hamilton

Engineer – Francis Maimay

Mastered By – Bob Ludwig

Mixed By – John Snyder, Kathy Dennis, Ornette Coleman

Composed By, Producer  – Ornette Coleman

Matrix / Runout: side a: AH9401-A AH-1-A

Matrix / Runout: side b: AH9401-B AH-1-B

This release can be found with least two different versions of the booklet. One with the Rauschenberg art and another (later? more commonly found) version with art by David Sharpe.

A1 - Voice Poetry ............................................................................... 8:10

A2 - Home Grown .............................................................................. 7:45

B1 - Macho Woman ........................................................................... 7:30

B2 - Fou Amour .................................................................................. 8:30

B3 - European Echoes ....................................................................... 9:25

Ornette Coleman – alto saxophone

Bern Nix – guitar

Charlie Ellerbee – guitar

Jamaaladeen Tacuma – bass

Ronald Shannon Jackson – drums, percussion

The establishment of Ornette Coleman's self-determining Artists House label and his electric double-trio Prime Time coincided with the release of Body Meta, which changed many of the business and musical contours of jazz in the mid- to late '70s.

It was an indisputable new music amalgam that Coleman could claim as his own, yet which sprang forth into the so-called M-Base music movement of New York City.

This album was the 1st ever to be released on the Artist's House label back in 1978, & that translates literally to the cover of Body Meta, a gatefold featuring 4 works by different artists, that one on the front is by a tribal leader, probably from when Ornette went to Morrocco to see the Jajouka musicians which inspired Dancing In Yr Head...

Staccato drums then guitars open the album on Voice Poetry, & it flows along brilliantly to feature this new band of guitarists Bern Nix & Charlie Ellerbee, bassist [electric that is] Jamalaadeen Tacuma & drummer Shannon Jackson for a couple of minutes before the arrival of the man himself. He is the star & his playing is as pure & soulful as it was back on the Shape of Jazz to Come, & in a way it's unfortunate that everything else gets buried underneath it after this but it works well. The comparisons to the Trout Mask Magic Band do make sense although this is not as cacaphonous & seemingly chaotic [Beefheart although being highly influenced by Coleman, like to only have himself allowed to improvise while his groups must stick strictly to what he composed & his personality is a bit more obsessive too], Body Meta is one of the rare things worthy of being played directly after that in-a-world-of-its-own masterpiece. Each track here is around 8 minutes which is enough time to explore without losing the listening audience. The next 2 tracks move along nicely in a similar vein whilst Fou Amour [i.e. Mad Love] is a ballad & the guitars are playing parts normally designed for a piano. European Echoes if I'm not mistaken was an older tune from the Golden Circle & is rather graceful but thankfully lets loose a bit on the outro, by which time I want to spin the whole platter again which I could do for hours on end. This is music of pure soul expression & deserves a lot of repeated listening, it's highly danceable/funky too. I would highly recommend it to anyone, for the body and the mind.

By Funkmeister G on April 17, 2001

Every track is different, Coleman's vision has a diffuse focus, but it's clear that things have changed. Even his personal sound is more pronounced, unleashed from shackles, and more difficult to pin down.


And of course, HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone!

If you find it, buy this album!

MUSIC REVELATION ENSEMBLE – No Wave (LP-1980 / momu 01072 )

Label: Moers Music – momu 01072

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: Germany / Released: 1980

Style: Free Jazz, Post Bop

Recorded at: Studio 57, Düsseldorf, June 1980, Garmany.

Design [Cover] – Jürgen Pankarz

Photography By – Mario Pelizzoli

Recorded By – Hans Schlosser, Norbert Büllmeyer

Mastered By – Christoph Backhaus

Lacquer Cut By – SST

Producer – Burkhard Hennen

Composed By – James Blood Ulmer

Matrix / Runout (Side A Runout): MoMu 01072 A SST

Matrix / Runout (Side B Runout): MoMo 01072 B

Catalog number "Moers Music 01072" on sleeve, "momu 01072" on labels.

A1 - Time Table ............................................................................ 10:00

A2 - Big Tree .................................................................................. 8:45

B1 - Baby Talk ................................................................................ 9:36

B2 - Sound Check ......................................................................... 8:06

James Blood Ulmer – guitar, vocals

David Murray – tenor saxophone

Amin Ali – electric bass

Ronald Shannon Jackson – drums, percussion

James “Blood” Ulmer may well be the only constant in the Music Revelation Ensemble, or MRE. For over 20 years, the self-professed blues preacher has remained the sole permanent member of this ever-shifting group, known as much for mixing up melodics as personnel. This is not to say the pursuit is a sketchy one: Since its 1980 Moers Music release No Wave, featuring Ulmer on guitar, David Murray on tenor saxophone, Amin Ali on electric bass, and Ronald Shannon Jackson on drums, MRE has been fueling the free jazz torch lit by pioneer and Ulmer mentor Ornette Coleman so adeptly that All Music Guide’s Chris Kelsey was moved to call the group “one of the first and best free jazz/funk bands.”

One of the most innovative electric guitarists since Jimi Hendrix, Ulmer is known for pioneering “harmolodics,” defined by Richard Cook in the Penguin Guide to Jazz, as quoted in materials from Ulmer’s publicist, as “a theory which dispenses with the normal hierarchy of ‘lead’ and ‘rhythm’ instruments, allowing free harmonic interchange at all levels of a group.” Ulmer told , “It’s a unison tuning where every string is tuned to the same note, like a one string guitar… It’s total freedom.”

In 1971 Ulmer left for New York and the following year began working with the legendary Coleman, who introduced him to the concept of harmolodics.

In 1978 Ulmer began performing under his own name, often joined by future MRE members Murray and Jackson, who both share Ulmer’s Coleman influence, along with trumpeter Olu Dara and saxophonist Arthur Blythe. MRE was formed two years later.

Jackson began playing drums professionally in Texas. He moved to New York in 1966, where he worked with such jazz luminaries as bassist Charles Mingus, bop saxophonist Stanley Turrentine, and freejazz saxophonist Albert Ayler. In 1975 he joined Coleman’s group Prime Time and began playing with Ulmer in 1979.

Amin Ali brought an impressive pedigree to the group; his father Rashied, also an Ulmer collaborator, had replaced Elvin Jones as saxophonist John Coltrane’s drummer in the 1960s. The younger Ali, who appears on four MRE albums, has also performed with a host of others including Dara, drummer Samm Bennett, and British saxophonist Django Bates. He appears on three of Ulmer’s solo albums as well.

While much of Ulmer’s solo work practiced harmolodics as rooted in the blues, his work with MRE allowed him to explore different terrain. “The purpose was in creating a sound that doesn’t inhibit. A freedom to play within jazz. It was a job to do,” he told Steven Dalachinsky, who wrote the liner notes for MRE’s fourth album, In the Name of the Music Revelation Ensemble...

Group formed with Ulmer on guitar, Murray on tenor saxophone, Ali on electric bass, and Jackson on drums, released No Wave on Moers Records, 1980.

No Wave was not a universal hit with the critics, however. Graham Flashner and Ira Robbins of the Trouser Press website called it “Ulmer’s most inaccessible work and his least focused.” The band’s rotating lineup had already begun to take shape, with Cornell Rochester replacing Jackson on drums and Jamaaladeen Tacuma, another Prime Time alum, joining Ali on bass. MRE was quiet for the next eight years, until the 1988 release of Music Revelation Ensemble. Jackson returned for this album while Tacuma was the sole bassist...

Review by – Kristin Palm (Encyclopedia.com.)

If you find it, buy this album!