Jump to content

Art Ensemble


GregK

Recommended Posts

Okay guys, I must admit I have only one AEoC cd on my shelves.

This one...

g01870dz5c6.jpg

I enjoy the recording very much. I realize this is without Bowie, so I assume I'm not getting the full effect.

What should I pick up next?

IMO, you are not getting the full effect not only because of Bowie's absense, but because this is a realtively weak performance by other band members. For AEoC at their prime go for Fanfare for the Warriors, as was already recommended above.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had hardly heard the AEC until about six months ago when I picked up Live in Paris and then sealed the deal with Full Force--I've been on a heavy kick since then, picking up the 67/68 box, Reese and the Smooth Ones, Fanfare for the Warriors, and the "American Swinging in Paris" disc with Les Stances a Sophie and People in Sorrow (which I just got a few days ago). I've also had the chance to hear "The Paris Sessions" and Tribute to Lester.

I have some trouble getting my ears around some of it, but overall these guys are my most exciting recent discovery.

(BTW, I picked up Reese along Don Cherry's Mu in the "New Traditionalists" box, which is a great deal--Mu is an excellent disc in its own right.)

Anyway, of the ones listed above, my top rec would have to be the American Swinging in Paris disc or the single disc version of Les Stances. I'm pretty partial to Reese as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

what do people think of Tutankhamen? I found this disc today for $12, so I got it. I've only listened to the first two tunes so far, and I think it's great. I think Jarman is even playing a guitar on it!! But the bass is just amazing. Malachi Favors is rapidly becoming one of my favorite musicians!! :tup

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My friend Tim sent me a link to some of his recent artwork. Among them is a painting he donated to a Chicago organization that was raising money to buy kids musical instruments. No, it's not the AACM, but the subject matter made the subject of the painting something of a no-brainer....

image03.jpg

Edited by Brandon Burke
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Wow. I just listened to Live in Berlin for the first time. Beautiful, beautiful stuff. A relatively accessible Art Ensemble album? Wonderful, though. I love the waltz on the first side.

And some of Roscoe Mitchell's soprano work is extraordinary.

I'd easily bolt this onto any Art Ensemble recommendations made!

Edited by Red
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just got Phase One, and is it great.

Anyway, question on the new "with Fontella Bass" on Free America, if anybody knows. Is it by any chance the same recording as disc 2 of the "Live in Paris" that was reissued on BYG/Fuel 2000 recently? The track timings look familiar.

Thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just got Phase One, and is it great.

Anyway, question on the new "with Fontella Bass" on Free America, if anybody knows.  Is it by any chance the same recording as disc 2 of the "Live in Paris" that was reissued on BYG/Fuel 2000 recently?  The track timings look familiar.

Thanks.

There's "Oh, Strange" (instead of "How Strange") that was recorded about a year earlier. The Free America recording comes from the Prestige release that came out just before Phase One.

To hear Ohnedaruth on LP, and then see them perform this live too (Ann Arbor and Chicago)

was one of those life changing (and affirming) experiences for me more than 30 years ago!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

Without trying to derail the thread: I've heard The Third Decade, Urban Bushmen, and Coming Home Jamaica. I appreciate that the last of those is hardly definitive, but if I've heard the first two have I got a pretty good idea of what the AEC really sound like? Or is their oeuvre a lot more complicated than that?

Did anyone ever answer you? In my opinion, you would need, at a minimum, to hear the Nessa box, "Les Stances a Sophie", "Fanfare For the Warriors", "Live at Mandel Hall", "Nice Guys" and "Full Force", to get a pretty good idea of what they are like.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...