View Larger
Rate it!
Avg: 3.5 (13 ratings)
- Date Released: February 5, 2008
- Genre: Jazz
- Style: Avant-garde
- Label: Thrill Jockey
Veteran trumpter joins the crew of a free jazz space ride.
-
We Say...
Cornetist and composer Rob Mazurek sets the controls for the heart of the sun once more on the second outing by his Exploding Star Orchestra, a sizeable contingent of Chicago out-jazz all-stars. And this time he’s got a co-pilot: veteran trumpeter and composer Bill Dixon.
Dixon was an organizer of the October Revolution in Jazz, a 1964 New York festival that brought the burgeoning jazz avant-garde to the attention of the masses, and a co-founder of the Jazz Composers Guild, an organization intended to support free jazz players. He virtually disappeared into academia from 1968 to 1996, issuing documents of his intense sonic explorations only sporadically.
More visible lately, Dixon crossed paths with Mazurek at the Guelph International Jazz Festival in 2006. Mutual admiration quickly led to plans for collaboration. In two versions of Dixon’s “Entrances,” the composer’s otherworldly, amplified trumpet sparks and sputters over thundering cosmic grooves a la Sun Ra.
“Constellations for Innerlight Projections,” by Mazurek, is closer in spirit to vintage Art Ensemble of Chicago: opening with a mythic recitation by Damon Locks, the music passes through stretches of explosive rumble and spacious contemplation, swerves into a singsong melodic ostinato, then shatters once more into cosmic debris. That the results are uneven is no surprise, but the spirit is never less than joyous. -
They Say...
A live-in-the-studio recording documenting the material debuted at a 2007 Chicago gig by free jazz legend Bill Dixon and fellow trumpeter Rob Mazurek's current group the Exploding Star Orchestra, this set consists of Dixon's two-part "Entrances" and Mazurek's "Constellations for Innerlight Projections (For Bill Dixon)." Dixon's piece, which bookends Mazurek's, begins with a drum part somewhere between a martial stomp and a New Orleans second-line band, over which Dixon and Mazurek trade phrases, before drifting off into a contemplative murmur with solo parts that only occasionally rise above a quiet hum. Rarely has a 13-piece band played at a lower decibel count. Mazurek's 24-minute concerto opens with a poetic recitation by Damon Locks of the post-rock/jazz combo the Eternals then moves through several distinct sections ranging from washes of glitchy laptop noise (according to the liner notes, Mazurek's original intention for the piece was much more electronic in nature) to near-atonal unaccompanied solos by Dixon to full-band swing recalling Sun Ra's Arkestra to a simply lovely section beginning around the 14-minute point with flute, vibraphone and gongs playing a pretty, cyclical melody that sounds rather like one of Moondog's canons and, unexpectedly, a bit like Chicago's "Color My World." "Entrances" returns to close the set with little more than a pleasant reiteration of the original piece, taken at a slightly faster tempo in spots and featuring some longer and more expressive solos. Joining the regrettably small discography of studio recordings featuring Dixon (a founder of the Jazz Composers Alliance who left the New York free jazz scene to teach composition at Bennington College in Vermont for decades), Bill Dixon with Exploding Star Orchestra is a free-improv delight making plain the links between the original scene and the contemporary Chicago post-rock school. The album cover features an excellent painting by Dixon as well.
“ The indie iTunes — Hardcore music fans are migrating to eMusic, the iTunes Music Store's cheaper, cooler cousin.”
Rolling Stone
eMusic Tip
Paid downloads are counted towards an album discount but free downloads are not.
COMPLETE FOR FREE!
You can download the rest of the tracks from this album for free! Just click the Complete Album button.
We’re sorry this album can only be downloaded using paid subscription download credits.
We recommend you Save it for Later by clicking the Save for Later button shown just above this message. For a list of related albums you can download right now, check out these recommendations.
We'll give you 3 additional free credits to download this album and start your paid subscription.
Get 3 bonus credits on us if you download this album. Sweet!
| 01. |  |
Entrances/One |
18:09 |
|
| 02. | |
Constellations For Innerlight Projections (For Bill Dixon) |
24:12 |
|
| 03. | |
Entrances/Two |
18:11 |
|
03 Total Tracks, 60:32 Total Length
Loading...
Playlists If you like this artist, check out these member playlists
Explore music recommended by this artist’s fans
Credits
- Bill Dixon - Trumpet // Bill Dixon - Trumpet // Bill Dixon - Trumpet // Bill Dixon - Composer // Bill Dixon - Composer // Bill Dixon - Composer // Bill Dixon - Back Cover // Bill Dixon - Back Cover // Bill Dixon - Back Cover // Bill Dixon - Cover Painting // Bill Dixon - Cover Painting // Bill Dixon - Cover Painting // Bill Dixon - Tray Card Art // Bill Dixon - Tray Card Art // Bill Dixon - Tray Card Art // Rob Mazurek - Composer // Rob Mazurek - Composer // Rob Mazurek - Composer // Rob Mazurek - Composer // Rob Mazurek - Composer // Rob Mazurek - Composer // Rob Mazurek - Cornet // Rob Mazurek - Cornet // Rob Mazurek - Cornet // Rob Mazurek - Cornet // Rob Mazurek - Cornet // Rob Mazurek - Cornet // Jeff Parker - Guitar // Jeff Parker - Guitar // Jeff Parker - Guitar // John Herndon - Drums // Jeb Bishop - Trombone // Sheila Sachs - Design // Damon Locks - Vocals // Greg Norman - Engineer // Matt Bauder - Clarinet (Bass) // Matt Bauder - Clarinet (Bass) // Matt Bauder - Sax (Tenor) // Matt Bauder - Sax (Tenor) // Nicole Mitchell - Flute // Nicole Mitchell - Flute // Nicole Mitchell - Vocals // Nicole Mitchell - Vocals // Jason Ajemian - Double Bass // Jim Baker - Piano // Jason Adasiewicz - Vibraphone // Jason Adasiewicz - Tubular Bells // Josh Berman - Cornet // Mike Reed - Drums // Mike Reed - Drums // Mike Reed - Tympani [Timpani] // Mike Reed - Tympani [Timpani] // Matthew Lux - Guitar (Bass) // Mark Mazurek - Photography
Choose from over 7 million
music downloadseMusic features legendary and emerging artists in every genre: classic rock to classical,indie to international, soundtracks to spiritual, jazz to country and many more.
MP3 downloads work on any digital media player
With eMusic, you OWN your music without any restrictions. Burn music to a CD, play it on your computer, mobile phone or any digital media player - including iPod®, Zune® and Walkman®.
Songs available for 50¢ or less
eMusic subscriptions start at just $11.99 a month for 24 downloads - that's just 50¢ per song! And it gets better from there - our plans go as low as 42¢ per song!
Music Discovery
eMusic is about discovery. We make finding new music fun again with music recommendations from our award-winning team of music experts, member playlists and new music features.
Cancel anytime
With all the great music and site features we're pretty sure you will love eMusic. If not, no problem. You can cancel at any time and keep the music you have downloaded.
© 1992 - 2009 All Media Guide, LLC