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!

ROSCOE MITCHELL – Old-Quartet / 1967 (LP-1975)

Label: Nessa Records – N-5

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: US / Released: 1975

Style: Free Jazz, Free Improvisation

„Old“ recorded May 18, 1967, „Quartet Part ½“ recorded May 19, 1967.

„Solo“ recorded November 25, 1967.

Liner Notes [1975] – Larry Kart, Terry Martin

Producer – Chuck Nessa

Recorded By, Photography – Terry Martin

A1 - Old .............................................................. 8:09

A2 - Quartet Part 1 ............................................ 19:40

B1 - Quartet Part 2 ............................................ 18:03

B2 - Solo ............................................................. 5:34

Roscoe Mitchell – alto/soprano sax, clarinet, flute, performer little instruments

Lester Bowie – trumpet, flugelhorn, performer little instruments

Malachi Favors – bass, performer little instruments

Phillip Wilson – drums, percusson, others little instruments

In the mid to late 60s, saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell was at the center of a group of young Chicago-based musicians who were extending the language of the free jazz revolution, until then largely a New York-based phenomenon. That was about to change. Mitchell led a quartet that also included trumpeter Lester Bowie, bassist Malachi Favors, and drummer Phillip Wilson. By the time the group made its first record. The style of this seminal ensemble was being defined when the rehearsal tapes that comprise Old/Quartet were made in 1967. Mitchell & Co. were not afraid to blow through the roof in the fiery style of their New York counterparts, but they also liked to reach back towards musical roots (“Old” is a 12-bar blues on which the traditional structure is respected, if not overmuch), as well as towards contemporary classical developments, or anywhere else that suited them. The tone can be passionate, ironic, whimsical, or sedate, sometimes all at the same time...

By Duck Baker

Recorded in the year prior to his groundbreaking Congliptious but not released until 1975, Old Quartet captures the Roscoe Mitchell Art Ensemble (which would later coalesce into the Art Ensemble of Chicago) on a clear pathway toward the later album's majestic heights. In fact, it leads off with "Old," which closed the other album, and this performance is arguably superior both in its greater expansiveness and in Lester Bowie's incredibly poised trumpet work. That they slightly flub the ending (and joke about it) only adds to the relaxed air of the piece. "Quartet" is in two lengthy parts, and is a loose, somewhat rambling exploration that anticipates the title track from Congliptious less, perhaps, than it does Mitchell's quasi-narrative epic "The Spiritual" from two year later. The amount of freedom already at hand in 1967 is breathtaking, however. The group never meanders aimlessly; each little sound or moment of silence contributes to the flow. Vocal hums, whistles, harmonica tootles, and struck bells share equal footing with the more "traditional" instruments. Early on, Mitchell had realized that "free jazz" didn't only mean screaming at the top of one's lungs; there was room for quiet. The group would mature greatly over the next year, but all the seeds are clearly here. The album ends with a solo performance by Mitchell, augmenting his alto with bells, harmonica, and percussion. It's almost frightening how he's able to seesaw between delicate, music box-like melodies and the most harrowing slabs of sonic assault possible.

While perhaps a small step below Congliptious, it is nonetheless a beautiful album in its own right and one that ranks very high in Roscoe Mitchell's discography.

50 Years of AACM - Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians

If you find it, buy this album!

ART ENSEMBLE OF CHICAGO – People In Sorrow (LP-1969)

Label: Nessa Records – N-3

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: US / Released: 1969

Style: Free Jazz, Contemporary Jazz

Recorded at Boulogne-Billancourt, France, 7th of July, 1969.

Photos By – Terry Martin

Design By – Schoengrund

Pathe Marconi Recording

Distributed by – Flaying Fish Records

A - People In Sorrow Part 1 .................................. 17:05

B - People In Sorrow Part 2 .................................. 23:05

Roscoe Mitchell – soprano, alto, bass saxophone, clarinet, flute, percussion

Joseph Jarman – alto saxophone, bassoon, oboe, flute, percussion

Lester Bowie – trumpet, flugelhorn, percussion

Malachi Favors – bass, zither, percussion instruments

In 1969, the Art Ensemble of Chicago (which had recorded just one official record, Congliptious, as a group at that point in time), moved to Paris for two years and recorded eight albums during their first year overseas alone.

This is one of those albums that completely shifts thinking about music. The unity of vision on this album is uncanny, offering two sides of a slow, almost a-rhythmic flow of immensely sad sounds, coming from a variety of instruments played by Lester Bowie, Roscoe Mitchell, Joseph Jarman and Malachi Favors (this is still the period before Famadou Don Moye joined on drums). There is no real soloing, just sounds and phrases interwoven in a stream of music that is both welcoming and strange, with a beautiful theme that once every so often becomes explicit when it emerges out of the background on the first side, and becoming more dominant on the second side, guided by Lester Bowie's beautiful trumpet playing, over a background of increasing mayhem and ritual shouts and incantations and little percussive sounds and other tribal goodies. Even after all these years, modern listeners will be surprised at the audacity of the music, as much as for its listening relevance today, and hopefully as emotionally impacted as your servant when listening to this album, again and again.

This is an absolute must-have for any fan of free music. Please also note that the early albums of the Art Ensemble of Chicago explicitly mentioned AACM and/or "Great Black Music".

_ By Stef

http://www.freejazzblog.org/2015/05/50-years-of-aacm-1975-1984.html

50 Years of AACM - Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians

If you find it, buy this album!

LUTHER THOMAS HUMAN ARTS ENSEMBLE – Funky Donkey - Vols. 1/2 (Berea Presbyterian Church, 1973)

Label: Atavistic – UMS/ALP215CD

Series: Unheard Music Series –

Format: CD, Album, Reissue / Country: US / Released: 2001

Style: Free Jazz, Free Improvisation

Recorded at Berea Presbyterian Church in St. Louis, Missouri in the fall of 1973.

Photography By – Jacki Ochs

Cover Design By – Luther Thomas

Recorded By – Steve Fuller

Reissue Producer – John Corbett

01 - Funky Donkey . . . . . . 20:02

        (Written-By – Lester Bowie, Luther Thomas)

02 - Una New York . . . . . . 18:10

         (Written-By – Charles Bobo Shaw)

03 - Intensity . . . . . . 26:11

         (Written-By – Oliver Lake)

alto saxophone – Luther Thomas

bass (fender) – Eric Foreman

drums (trap) – Charles Bobo Shaw

guitar – Marvin Horne

percussion – Abdella Ya Kum, Rocky Washington

reeds – J.D. Parran

trombone – Joseph Bowie

trumpet – Floyd LeFlore, Harold Pudgey Atterbury, Lester Bowie

At the risk of over-simplification, I think it is possible to detect two distinct trajectories within the Free Jazz movement from its beginnings at the turn of the 1960s. One involved the journey of the solo instrument—exploratory, cerebral and often introspective. The other was a more collective project, expressive, energetic and concerned with the dynamics of group sound. The critics tended to prefer the former, the general public was not much interested in either. In recent times interest in the collective sounds—best exemplified by Sun Ra or the Art Ensemble of Chicago—has risen, so this release, which falls firmly in the latter camp, might gain an audience that it undoubtedly did not have at the time of its initial release.

The late sixties saw a number of musicians, writers and artists respond both to the political climate and the various cultural nationalist manifestoes of the period by setting up collaborative projects. A Black Arts Group was established, in emulation of the better known Chicago based AACM, in St.Louis and featured the likes of Oliver Lake and Julius Hemphill. Within that body the Human Arts Ensemble developed, built around drummer Charles Bobo Shaw, saxophonist Luther Thomas and teenage trumpeter Joseph Bowie—younger brother of Lester. This grouping toured Europe and recorded (for Black Lion) under the leadership of Shaw but this 1973 session was led by Thomas and a vinyl copy will set you back $125 or so. For this CD is a re-issue of a rare recording of a concert held in the Berea Presbyterian Church in St. Louis before a small and subdued (cowed into submission?) audience.

Funky Donkey is not smooth jazz. In fact the easiest way to describe it is to think of all the adjectives that stand as polar opposites to that term. Noisy, brash, angry, discordant, uninhibited, imaginative, unhinged, rough, raw. Got the picture? Energy is the keyword and easy listening it is not. However, it is not rarefied in the way a lot of free jazz can be and its gutbucket blowing over rocky beats should not sound so strange to today’s less genre-bound listeners. Should rather than will, I stress.

The two Bowies (trumpet and trombone), Lester already famous for his Chicago connections, Shaw (trap drums) and Thomas (alto) are joined by J.D. Parran (various reeds) and a backing group of two trumpets, two percussionists, guitar and bass. The horns fire about all over the place while the rhythm section lays down a solid funk-rock foundation. This will lead to a lot of nonsense being written about the JBs meet Ornette but it is not like that at all. The funk here is bar-room rhythm and blues rather than the tightness of Fred Wesley’s men. The solos are also less individuated than you would get with Coleman, Shepp or Cherry. It is the whole band sound that is the essence—like one multi-voiced brass instrument that roars and shrieks across the whole album. There is a fierce muscularity about the endeavour and the effect can be somewhat exhausting. Most of the time though, it is invigorating and repeated listening brings out a variety of textures not apparent on confronting the first onslaught. An onslaught it is, be in no doubt, and those of a nervous disposition might well wish to leave the room fairly early on.

There are just three (lengthy) pieces—“Funky Donkey”, “Una New York” and “Intensity”. The first, by Thomas, is the rockiest. The third, an Oliver Lake composition, is the most conventionally avant-garde (if that makes sense). Track two bears Shaw’s name and is a mixture of both. It has a strong melodic sense (in a suitably loose sense of the term) and has a freshness that just about makes it the pick of the three. The guitars and backing horns have a greater fluidity than on the other tracks and a swirling three way conversation develops between rhythm, brass backing and solo ventures. With some strong repeated choruses, it is almost catchy at times.

“Funky Donkey” itself is hard and heavy. Atonal squawking leads into a chugging guitar riff that does not let up for the entire 20 minutes of the piece. Over that trumpets, trombones and saxes fight it out with gusto and an unmelodious glee. If one wanted to cite an example of the much-discussed relationship between free jazz and black militant anger then this would do very well. A left-field rock audience might appreciate this more than many jazz ones as there is a certain common ground here with the work of Zappa or even Sonic Youth. Joseph Bowie, of course, went on to form Defunkt, whose jazz-rock experimental funk found some favour with both audiences in the 1980s. This is where he started.

The Oliver Lake piece is for jazz progressives only, I would guess. It was not part of the initial release and is a long extended improvisation—slightly more meditative than the earlier tracks but still pretty robust. The various reeds and horns range far and wide, making this a very representative example of free form blowing. The electric rhythm is less to the fore here which removes some of the distinctive quality of this particular line-up but may make it more amenable to purists. Purity is however not a word that really suits this type of music, it suggests a formal coherence that was not being attempted.

There is a coherence at the level of mood and emotional register and in its political aesthetics. The historical context is important to understanding that. Yet this is no museum piece. For all its uncompromising “difficulty” and its less than perfect sound quality, it remains a vibrant and oddly joyful experience. If you like exuberance in your music, if you are prepared to give something a little different a second listen and if the words free and jazz don’t give you nightmares then you might find this forgotten concert quite satisfying. There is much to be said for music that avoids the obvious. When it comes in such determinedly visceral guise as this, it literally demands that we take notice.

Some of the musicians here achieved fame elsewhere. Some of them were never heard of again. Both facts are beside the point here, which was to produce an African-American sound that stressed Freedom and a distinct cultural identity. Valuable, therefore, as a little snapshot of some heady times, it is more valuable in that it still sounds daring and dynamic. The unremitting power of the playing is curiously cathartic, if you give it a chance. It deserves that chance.

_ By Maurice Bottomley, 19 March 2001

Buy this album!

LEO SMITH – Divine Love (LP-1979)

Label: ECM Records – ECM 1143

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album; Country: W. Germany - Released: 1979

Style: Free Jazz, Contemporary Jazz

Recorded at Tonstudio Bauer in Ludwigsburg, W. Germany in September 1978.

Artwork By [Design] - Peter Brotzmann

Composed By – Leo Smith

Engineer By – Martin Wieland

Photography [Back] – Dani Lienhard, Signe Mahler, Roberto Masotti

Photography [Front] – Roberto Masotti

Producer By – Manfred Eicher

A1 - Divine Love . . . 21:47

B1 - Tastalun . . . 6:38

        (Trumpet - Kenny Wheeler , Lester Bowie)

B2 - Spirituals: The Language Of Love . . . 15:28

        (Bass - Charlie Haden)

Leo Smith – trumpet, flugelhorn, steel-o-phone, gongs, percussion

Dwight Andrews – alto flute, bass clarinet , tenor saxophone, triangles, mbira

Bobby Naughton – vibraharp, marimba, bells

Charlie Haden – double-bass

Lester Bowie – trumpet

Kenny Wheeler – trumpet

Leo Smith refused the advances of the ECM label for a few years, but eventually created this album for them and continued to record with them sporadically. His working group of the time is largely featured, along with a piece for three trumpets that puts him in the company of both Lester Bowie and Kenny Wheeler. His scores from this time were very well-thought-out and demanded a special type of concentration from the performers, moving into areas quite different than the usual intensity build-up of free jazz or the theme-improvise-theme standards of much that came before. Whether his intentions are best served by the likes of Bowie and Wheeler -- both working in an area that might not be their forte -- was a decision that didn't seem to bother the production staff, and the results are at the very least a memorable meeting of three brass masters. The presence of vibraphonist Bobby Naughton was typical of this period, heralding a new layer of lyricism and romantic beauty in Smith's music, which one would think would be perfectly suited to the ECM treatment. That sympathetic connection was never quite made, however, as the producer was probably busy finding the ultimate reverb setting for Smith's horn. 

(by Eugene Chadbourne)

Bobby Naughton, Wadada Leo Smith, Dwight Andrews - Stuttgart, West Germany, September 1978 (Photo by Fridel Pluff)

"The music I have written since 1970 represents two types of systems that I have utilized in my music; the systems of rhythm - units and ahkreanvention. The rhythm unit concept is one that accepts a single sound or rhythm, a series of rhythm - sound, or a grouping of more than one series of sound rhythm as a complete piece of music and thus need not be so- called developed further to be appreciated as a whole fresh realized work or piece, IMPROVISATION. The correct understanding of each unit is: the value given to an audible unit is followed by the relative equivalence of silence. "Divine Love" and "Spirituals: The Language Of Love" are good representations of the rhythm unit concept.

Since 1971 I have been concerned with creating alternatives for a world music, one which utilizes the fundamental laws of improvisation and composition while retaining a uniqueness of its own. I began to design a notation system for scoring sound, rhythm and silence, or for scoring improvisation, a technique I term ahkreanvention. Ahkreanvention literally means to create and invent musical ideas simultaneously, utilizing the fundamental laws of improvisation and composition, Within this system, all of the elements of the scored music are controlled through symbols designating duration, improvisation, and moving sounds of different velocities. These symbols are depicted on two types of staffs sound staffs divided into low, medium and high, and sound staffs of adjustable sound partials. Since this system was designed, all of the music I have worked on has dealt with the philosophical and technical attitude upon which it is based. "Tastalun" is an ahkreanvention piece scored for three muted trumpets, and it represents my experimentation with this system of notation. In prior years I have been able to record solo ahkreanvention pieces, but this was the first time I have recorded an ensemble ahkreanvention piece. My purpose and mission as a creative musician is to bring about an understanding and appreciation for all the instruments found throughout the world and to advance the concept of equality of both the instruments and their creators in the world arena."

_ By LEO SMITH , 9.23.1978

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ALAN SILVA and THE CELESTRIAL COMMUNICATION ORCHESTRA – Seasons (3LP-1970)

Label: BYG Records – 529.342-43-44
Series: Actuel – 42 / 43 / 44
Format: 3 × Vinyl, LP, Album; Country: France - Released: 1970
Style: Free Jazz, Free Improvisation
Recorded live at Studio 104, Maison de L'O.R.T.F. Paris, December 29, 1970.
Executive-Producer – Jacques Bisceglia, Pierre Lattes
Photography By – Jacques Bisceglia
Producer – Jean Georgakarakos, Jean-Luc Young
Recorded By – Guy Level
Supervised By – Pierre Lattes

Recorded live (three-LP set) at Studio 104/Maison De L'O.R.T.F., Paris, France on December 29, 1970, remarkable gargantuan effort by bassist and composer Alan Silva, for which the term "masterpiece" is not too far a stretch.
This is a magnificent, rambling, chaotic, lavish, and often meandering spectacle that should be heard in one sitting to be completely appreciated. It is a spectacular presentation, with snippets of melodies (or more precisely, riffs) interspersed among the soloists, who include Silva, Steve Lacy, Lester Bowie, Joseph Jarman, Roscoe Mitchell, Robin Kenyatta, Michel Portal, and Joachim Kühn, to cite the more recognizable names. The results are absolutely thrilling, if not always inspiring, and there are many high points. While individual improvisers are difficult to identify, the level of improvisation remains consistently at the highest levels. It is wild and free, and the listener receptive to free improvisation is likely to be held in rapturous attention. Destined to be a classic of its genre, Seasons offers a full-scale radical bombardment from many perspectives, resulting in a smorgasbord of delights. While listening to so much at once is a challenge, the patient listener willing to put in the effort should be fulfilled and rewarded amply.

_ By STEVEN LOEWY



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