Muhal Richard Abrams hasn't presided over many small combos with a more imposing lineup than on this 1977 session. Anthony Braxton and Henry Threadgill played numerous instruments from alto, tenor and soprano saxes to flutes and clarinets, even adding background vocals. Fiery percussionist Steve McCall and bassist Leonard Jones, who also added some vocals, completed the lineup. The unit made demanding, harmonically dense and rhythmically unpredictable material, with Braxton's scurrying solos ably matched by Threadgill's bluesier lines and Abrams' leadership and inventive blend of jazz, blues, and other sources holding things together. ~ All Music Guide, All Music Guide
There have been plenty of amusing jazz musicians, from Louis Armstrong and Fats Waller on down, but few as riotously funny as tenor saxophonist Eddie Harris. In 1975 he even put out a comedy record of on-stage chatter, The Reason Why I'm Talking S--t. The opening monologue is a masterpiece of audience alienation, in which he describes what's on the minds of the men and women at that evening's Eddie Harris concert. By the time… more »
Muhal Richard Abrams is likely best known as a driving force behind the hugely influential Chicago co-op the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), but he's also an underappreciated composer. Not unknown by any means — he won Denmark's first Jazzpar Prize in 1990, before the international jury got around to David Murray, Lee Konitz, Tommy Flanagan and Roy Haynes. But Abrams 'orchestra rarely got the attention it deserved in its '80s and… more »
In A Power Stronger Than Itself, George Lewis's book on the AACM we were raving about last month, the original Chicago chapter of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians went through a rough patch after a mid-'70s exodus/brain drain saw many AACM principals moving to New York. They included heavy hitters like Muhal Richard Abrams, Amina Claudine Myers, the Art Ensemble of Chicago's Lester Bowie and Joseph Jarman, Leroy Jenkins, Chico Freeman and… more »
Finally out, and worth the wait: George Lewis's sprawling book on the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians — the Chicago musicians'cooperative that spawned Lewis, Anthony Braxton, the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Henry Threadgill and many more valued improvisers and composers. Power Stronger than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music is very dense but very readable, filled with fascinating stories, capsule bios and rewarding side trips. Lewis has a gift for explaining abstruse… more »
Muhal Richard Abrams hasn’t presided over many small combos with a more imposing lineup than on this 1977 session. Anthony Braxton and Henry Threadgill played numerous instruments from alto, tenor and soprano saxes to flutes and clarinets, even adding background vocals. Fiery percussionist Steve McCall and bassist Leonard Jones, who also added some vocals, completed the lineup. The unit made demanding, harmonically dense and rhythmically unpredictable material, with Braxton’s scurrying solos ably matched by Threadgill’s bluesier lines and Abrams’ leadership and inventive blend of jazz, blues, and other sources holding things together. – All Music Guide
