This collection is a 2CD reissue of the three albums The Art Ensemble Of Chicago recorded for the BYG Records label on June 23rd, and August 12th, 1969. The sessions were produced by Jean-Luc Young. The reissue is a 2013 release on the Charly Records label.
'Jackson in Your House' is the group’s highly acclaimed debut under the BYG Actuel label, featuring the circus-inspired title track, the marimba-infused spoken-word piece "Ericka", and the lyrical "Song for Charles".
'Message To Our Folks' ranges from gospel ("Old Time Religion") and bebop ("Dexterity") to wild, percussion-heavy funk ("Rock Out").
'Reese And The Smooth Ones' is a relentless, continuous 40-minute odyssey recorded over two parts that blends unchained free improvisation, blues, and avant-garde soloing.
The Art Ensemble Of Chicago are:
Lester Bowie on Trumpet, Flügelhorn, Bass Drum, and Horns.
Roscoe Mitchell on Alto Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Bass Saxophone, Clarinet, Flute, Cymbal, Gong, Congas, Percussion [Logs], Bells, Siren, Whistle, and Steel Drums.
Malachi Favors on Double Bass, Electric Bass, Banjo, Drum, Guitar [Cythar], and Percussion.
Joseph Jarman on Alto Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Clarinet, Oboe, Flute, Marimba, Vibraphone, Congas, Bells, Whistle, Gong, Siren, Guitar.
CD1
A Jackson In Your House
1. A Jackson In Your House
2. Get In Line
3. The Waltz
4. Ericka
5. Song For Charles
Message To Our Folks
6. Old Time Religion
7. Dexterity
8. Rock Out
9. A Brain For The Seine
CD2
Reese And The Smooth Ones
1. Reese And The Smooth Ones Part 1
2. Reese And The Smooth Ones Part 2
You really should listen to The Art Ensemble Of Chicago at least once in your life. Who knows what might happen?
For the freeload tell us about a chance you took on music that really "paid off".
First, this is amazing--I've heard about them but never listened.
ReplyDeleteNot sure this counts, because I grew up hearing it around, shout out to Mr Churchman's radio in his carport up our street, but Cajun music. The old stuff, all the waltzes and the like. There's something "real" (whatever that means) there & I am amazed/disturbed at how much of it I can listen to for how long.
Hi everyone, for decades I was musically stuck in a rut without even realizing it. Psychedelic, hard rock, blues rock, West Coast sound, and so on. I bought music that "everyone" said belonged in every record collection. I always scoffed at 70s disco and disco funk, just like the people who listened to it. Now I've discovered so much diverse and musically sophisticated disco music that it's been an absolute enrichment for me. There are musicians and songwriters in this genre who are so good that they can definitely hold their own against the old, great idols, if not surpass them. I still listen to my old music, but I'm not stuck in a rut anymore. Disco and disco funk have pulled me out of that. And the great thing is: I connect with the music emotionally, not intellectually. And it always puts me in a good mood. I've even added classical music to the mix. So, that Spotify suggestion back then has definitely paid off and enriched my life. Best regards, Mike
ReplyDeleteBuying an Eric Dolphy album as a kid. Zappa said he really dug him so I gave it a try and it really broadened my musical horizons.
ReplyDeleteEric is a musician's, musician.
DeleteDo you remember which album it was?
Except Miles:
DeleteMiles Davis famously quipped during a 1964 Down Beat magazine "Blindfold Test" that when he saw avant-garde saxophonist and flutist Eric Dolphy, he was "...going to step on his foot." Davis despised Dolphy's experimental, angular playing, famously stating, "That’s got to be Eric Dolphy — nobody else could sound that bad!"
Out to Lunch ... Its on my ipod still. Oliver Nelson I liked too. Rahsaan Roland Kirk was on an FM late night interview on underground radio, Columbus, Ohio, when I was 13 and zI conned my father into taking me to see him. It was seriously impressive. Im still hooked. Love the Miles anecdote!
DeleteIn 1961, I went to buy Bobby “Blue” Bland’s ‘Two Steps from the Blues’, and Slim Harpo’s ‘Sings Raining In My Heart' both records were all over the radio stations whose target audience was African Americans that I listened to. Because the white owned "mom and pop" record stores in my neck of the woods didn’t carry a lot of the music I wanted to buy, I had to take a bus from Brooklyn Heights over to "the hood" of Bedford-Stuyvesant (a.k.a. "Bed-Sty") to Lloyd's Records. When I went to pay for the two records, Lloyd told me he also had the new Freddie King Album, ’Freddy King Sings’ (his debut album) and told me the Freddie was a great blues guitarist, so I thought, why not? I’ve been a Freddie King fan ever since.
ReplyDeleteIf youre still in the area, what are your prefered stations?
DeleteWBGO - "Jazz 88"
DeleteWBAI - listener supported, and owned by the Pacifica Foundation.
Thanks, Babs!
DeleteBob Wills' Tiffany Sessions. I knew his early stuff like San Antonio Rose, Faded Love, etc. but the Tiffany Sessions took everything to a whole different level! Mission to Moscow, and Tiny Moore's 5-string electric mandolin put a whole new perspective on things. Like Merle said, Bob Wills is still the king!
ReplyDeleteOver the years, I've enjoyed some incredible music played in venues located in what were considered dicey neighborhoods. A few that come to mind include a couple of clubs on the South Side of Chicago, including the Checkerboard Lounge, circa late 70s, early 80s. The club itself was welcoming, but the neighborhood around it did seem a little hairy, though I never had any real encounters of the scary sort. And witnessing Junior Wells and Buddy Guy getting into it on stage, musically and physically, is an indelible memory. Same with the 9:30 Club in DC. I saw some incredible shows there with Toots & the Maytals and many more. Again, the crowd was fine and the club was cool, but the neighborhood was on the seamy side, and I saw someone get mugged one night coming out after the late set. In the late '60s, I was friends with a biracial couple, still a rarity in those days. We often used to go down to South Central LA, to a club I believe was called the Orbit Lounge on Imperial Highway. Again, the neighborhood seemed sketchy but the music on offer was killer. I saw Johnny "Guitar" Watson there and was blown away, not having yet heard any of his records. The house band and emceeing were handled by Richard Berry, a Los Angeles R&B legend famous for his hit "Rockin' Robin." The crowds were usually extremely mellow, owing to the fact that about half of them were wasted on reds. The parking lot looked like a wrecking yard. All the Caddies and Lincolns had dented fenders and other battle scars, probably an outcome of barbiturate intake by their owners.
ReplyDeleteRichard Berry was famous for Louie Louie. Rockin Robin (and Over and Over) was Bobby Day.
DeleteYou are correct, sir. It was in fact Bobby Day who had the hit single. Berry sometimes used to do a cover of it on his live sets.
DeleteMoroccan music:
ReplyDeleteJil-Jilala
Nass El-Ghiwan
Joujouka
Gnawa
~Jon
I've always been willing to take a chance, I recall when Sunny Ade and juju was "the next big thing" but I started checking out apala and fuji styles... wow!
ReplyDeleteRichard D James, Since then I knew I could play Miles Davis at 45rpm and listen to the result, Donna Summer 7'' on 33 etc. He ( and John Cage even earlier) broke the way I listen to music
ReplyDeleteI can only listen to the Beatles' Birthday at 45rpm.
DeleteI love listening to Bird at 78rpm.
DeleteBrian Eno's Discreet Music or Ambient 1 should be pressed at 45 so you can choose and mix the various variations.
DeleteHere:
Deletehttps://www.amazon.com/Ambient-Music-Airports-BRIAN-ENO/dp/B07HT26GQK
I think it was Eddie Calvert's "Oh Mine Papa". Known as The Man With The Golden Trumpet, Calvert was to that instrument what Acker Bilk was to the clarinet. Miles (Davis) said of him "that cat laid it all down and it never got back up again."
ReplyDeleteI spend a large part of my life defending Acker Bilk. He could play a bit and had a good band, Colin Smith, Stan Greig. Summer Set was a very nice record, as was his version of Creole Jazz.
DeleteReally?
DeleteEver hear Irving Fazola?
I dug his brother Melvin.
DeleteAnd their sister Tohar Prestopnik, founder of the Rent-a-Yenta chain.
DeleteLink
ReplyDeletehttps://workupload.com/file/vpJk4MMeT2u
I'd never heard of Eddie Smith or the Hornets but Upturn turned out to be a winner. only 2 bob, too. I'd only read about Gene Clark when I saw the Gosdin Brothers LP in Oxford Woolworth's for 15/6.
ReplyDeleteBob Dylan at "Albert Hall" in Portobello Road was a punt that paid off.
I've never in my life been flush enough to walk into a record shop and walk out with 6 full-priced albums.
I took a terrible chance by disinviting Koen from my blog (the terms of our settlement are sealed, and I am permanently banned from the kingdom of Thailand).
ReplyDeleteMy dumb decision unexpectedly paid off musically after Koen reactivated his own music blog, Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick, which everyone should visit!
https://musicfromoutoftime.blogspot.com/
I had no idea Koen had a music blog! I've updated the "My Blog List" here to include his blog.
DeleteI've had the pleasure of meeting the great man himself, and his remarkable cycling companions, who should have a TV series.
DeleteThanks for the compliment Farq, but that would be like the 3 Stooges in the Land of Smiles...
DeleteMuch appreciated Babs, I already added you to my recommended blog list.
Take the "but" out of that comment ...
DeleteFado. Only know about 4-5 Portuguese words, but I love the lyrical nature of the language. And. that music is pure poetry.
ReplyDeleteAna Moura is wonderful. But that's as much "sad" music as I need.
DeleteAnd to answer your original question, Babs, reading David Toop's Ocean of Sound: Aether Talk, Ambient Sound and Imaginary Worlds was a massive eye-opener in musical terms for me...
ReplyDeleteCheck out David Toop's Ocean of Sound double CD, highly recommended!
Delete~ Jon
Agreed! Actually now I remember listening to that CD before reading the book... Anyway, both are intriguing, plus Toop's followup compilations in that series.
Delete