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| 1. | Almost Like Raindrops
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| 2. | Bass Solo From the Composition Sing
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| 3. | Nonaah
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| 4. | The Flight of Birds
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| 5. | Trumpet Solo From the Composition Rock Out
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| 6. | The Reverend Frank Wright
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| 7. | You Changed the Texture on Me
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| 8. | Beyond the Fast Lane
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| 9. | The Stick & Stone
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Jazz / Avant-Garde, Free Jazz, Avant-Garde Jazz
Roscoe Mitchell - Sax (Alto), Sax (Soprano)
A. Spencer Barefield Guitar, Piano
Butch Vig Engineer, Editing, Digital Mastering
Gennaro Carone Mastering, Engineer
Giovanni Bonandrini Producer
Hugh Ragin Flugelhorn, Trumpet
Jaribu Shahid Conga, Bass
John Erskine Engineer
Tani Tabbal Percussion
This live set with his Sound Ensemble features several compositions and approaches that Roscoe Mitchell explored with some regularity in the late '80s. The dervish-like, circular breathing on soprano sax that was a central element of the album The Flow of Things from the prior year is heard again on "Almost Like Raindrops," though with less ferocity. In fact, much of this recording has a surprisingly laid-back feel. "Nonaah," which is often performed in an agitated frenzy, is cast in a dreamlike, floating space. Even the usual "free blowout" pieces like "The Reverend Frank Wright" lack the propulsive cohesiveness that the same band has displayed before. Some of this may be due to the rather boom-y sound quality that often relegates Barefield's guitar work and Shahid's bass to the background while bringing the drums to the fore. The same holds true for the oddly similar "You Changed the Texture on Me" that follows directly; on the one hand, it's a pleasure to hear Mitchell's imaginative and forceful alto playing (as well as some fine work by trumpeter Ragin), but there is little sense of the group dynamics that were paramount on records like Snerdy McGurdy and Her Dancin' Shoes. The odd inclusion of two excerpted solos and what appear to be two snatches of longer group improvs also heighten the aura of disjuncture. Humdrum Mitchell is still more exciting than a lot of the better offerings from his peers though, so fans of his will still want to hear this album. It's just a little disappointing after fine efforts like the aforementioned The Flow of Things. ~ Brian Olewnick, All Music Guide
Roscoe Mitchell
Active Decades: '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s and '00s
Born: Aug 03, 1940 in Chicago, IL
Genre: Jazz
Styles: Modern Creative, Avant-Garde, Early Creative, Free Jazz, Progressive Jazz, Avant-Garde Jazz, Free Improvisation
Roscoe Mitchell is the rare jazz musician who also moves comfortably within the realm of contemporary classical music. It might even be said that Mitchell is a more convincing artist when working in European-influenced forms. When relying on structural and formal jazz conventions, Mitchell can often come off as stilted and unswinging. On the other hand, his forays into free-time, nontonal improvisation (both structured and unstructured) are as spontaneous and as emotionally satisfying as the best jazz. Mitchell's improvisations exercise extraordinary discipline and intellectual rigor. He's at once a patient and impulsive improviser, prone to alternating episodes of order and chaos, clarity and complexity. Mitchell is a technically superb -- if idiosyncratic -- saxophonist. His tone on alto and soprano tends to be edgy and brittle. At his most lyrical, Mitchell's saxophone lines exploit the instrument's strength as an interval-making machine; his improvised melodies often bear similarity to works by the classical composer Morton Feldman, though Mitchell's music is more overtly emotional. At his most energetic, Mitchell takes advantage of the saxophone's timbral flexibility and the horn's natural tendencies, which allow a player to play fast, scalar lines. Whether playing soft or loud, slow or fast, Mitchell's playing is invariably suffused with passion and intensity.
Mitchell played saxophone and clarinet as a teenager. While stationed in Germany as a member of the Army, Mitchell played in a band with tenor saxophone innovator Albert Ayler. Upon returning to the U.S. in 1961, Mitchell played bop with a group of Wilson Junior College students which included bassist Malachi Favors and saxophonists Joseph Jarman, Henry Threadgill, and Anthony Braxton. Mitchell began listening to the recordings of Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane. He studied with pianist/composer Muhal Richard Abrams. In 1962, he began playing in Abrams' newly organized Experimental Band, a rehearsal group which explored many of the contemporary alternatives to conventional jazz improvisation and composition. In 1965, he became one of the first members of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), a nonprofit organization established by Abrams, pianist Jodie Christian, drummer Steve McCall, and composer Phil Cohran. The AACM were devoted to the same principles as the Experimental Band. In 1966, Mitchell's sextet (with trumpeter Lester Bowie, tenor saxophonist Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre, bassist Favors, trombonist Lester Lashley, and drummer Alvin Fiedler) became the first AACM group to record. Abstract in concept and execution, the album, Sound (Delmark), was an in-depth examination of the interaction between sound and silence, utilizing such unorthodox devices as spontaneous collective improvisation, toy instruments, and non-musical noise. A departure from the more extroverted work of the New York-based free jazz players, Sound pointed the way to a new manner of playing jazz-based music. Around this time, Mitchell also performed and recorded as a solo saxophonist. By 1967, the Roscoe Mitchell Art Ensemble consisted of the leader, Favors, trumpeter Lester Bowie, and drummer Phillip Wilson. That combination did not record; Wilson was replaced by Jarman, and in 1969 the group traveled to Europe. The sojourn was very successful. The band -- renamed the Art Ensemble of Chicago -- recorded extensively, particularly in France. The resulting albums formed the initial basis of their reputation.
Mitchell played briefly in St. Louis upon returning to the United States in 1971. He then resettled in Chicago. Around 1974 he established the Creative Arts Collective. Based in East Lansing, MI, the group was similar in purpose to the AACM. The '70s found Mitchell expanding on his solo saxophone concept, working with his AACM cohorts in various combinations and performing with the Art Ensemble. The latter group became possibly the most highly acclaimed jazz band of the next two decades, winning critics' polls with regularity. In the '80s and '90s, Mitchell also led the Sound Ensemble, who included members of his Creative Arts Collective. In the '90s, Mitchell branched out even more, collaborating more frequently with such classical composer/performers as Pauline Oliveros and Thomas Buckner. A trio with Buckner and the virtuoso pianist Borah Bergman was an ongoing and effective unit. Since 2000, Mitchell has remained active, releasing a handful of recordings including Song for My Sister in 2002, Solo 3 in 2004, and Composition/Improvisation Nos. 1, 2 & 3 in 2007.
---Chris Kelsey, All Music Guide |
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