I first heard this record in college, when I had checked it out from the university library, which had a strange array of random jazz records. I was glad when I finally purchased this record earlier this year. I was able to take a trip down memory lane. The album contains some pretty wild sounds of (bike)horns, with some bird calls, some Jamaican folk singing that borders on minstrelsy, and alarms (like a Chicago traffic jam). My favorite track on this recording is "Dreaming of the Masters" which is the last song on side two, which is a more straight ahead jazz jam.
There is great album artwork on the cover as well as the back (the back shows the group in studio with their collection of percussion instruments. They look to be in mid rehearsal of one of their pieces. Inside the sleeve is a photo of the group in a dressing room, looking into a mirror, and preparing the makeup for a performance.
If you haven't heard the Art Ensemble of Chicago, there are a million and a half videos on youtube. Here is one clip that I enjoy:
FYI, Gary Burton is not a fan of the AEC for personal reasons. I guess he missed a flight because they had to load up all of their instruments onto the same plane. If you read this blog, you will find out that I have a few Gary Burton recordings. I like the AEC and G.B. the same. There is some great vibraphone work on the two ECM AEC albums that I have (next up is Full Force.)
No comments:
Post a Comment