Doug Hammond - Spaces

barabara sounds sez: 

More excavated Tribe sounds. It's been over 20 years since Disk Union brought this out here – and it was originally recorded ten years before that, back in 1982. But – like the David Durrah/qpsm album I posted – it kind of fell through the crack into the abyss of oblivion, at least it did on these shores. And that is really too bad. Because like everything else the Tribe tribe and their offshoots have created, it shines with its own distinctive brilliance.

allmusic.com sez
Drummer Doug Hammond leads an odd ensemble of drums, two alto saxes (Steve Coleman and Byard Lancaster, who doubles on flute), occasional piano (Kirk Lightsey), and cello (Muneer Abdul Fataah). Steve Coleman contributes four of the 11 oppositions, including the brief but powerful "Uhren," which a few years later would lead off the Dave Holland Quintet's Seeds of Time album. Hammond was practically a sixth member of Holland's group of the time, contributing a number of fine compositions. "Figit Time," which ends this session and also Holland's 1987 classic The Razor's Edge, is a good example. There's a marked Dolphy-esque flavor to this band, with their alto/flute/cello constellation bringing Out There to mind on occasion. But the heady rhythmic concepts of Hammond and Steve Coleman were a whole new thing.


personnel:
Doug Hammond drums, voice; Steve Coleman alto sax; Byard Lancaster alto sax, flute; Muneer Abdul Fataah cello; Kirk Lightsey piano

tracks:
Spaces and Things (suite) 1) Lopin'; 2)  Water Moves; 3) Spell Dance − Meno Mosso; To My Family; Cüd Ba-Rith; Snakepit Strut; Mini Ensemble; Rizz Biz; Uhren; Murdxas; Figit Time

Doug Hammond's website has a whole lot more info about his work and albums.

Art Ensemble Of Chicago & Lester Bowie's Brass Fantasy - Live At The 6th Tokyo Music Joy '90

barabara sounds sez:

Back in February of 1990, the Art Ensemble of Chicago came to town to play at the annual Tokyo Music Joy festival – and they shared the stage with Lester Bowie's side project, his Brass Fantasy. This isn't the entire concert so some continuity does get lost, but it certainly gives a great sense of what a fun occasion it was. This is from the Disk Union CD, which gives us three tracks each of the two bands playing separately, and another four tracks of them together creating a rollocking brass-fueled celebration. Great stuff!

the chicago tribune (in 1991) sez:

What a splendid group Lester Bowie's Brass Factory has become. Three recent releases (from the magnificent DIW archives just now becoming available in this country) stake a claim for this ensemble as among the most exciting groups playing today. Bowie’s genius is in marrying edgy post-modern schtick with pure, old-time fun so that the pleasure of listening to themes from the "Phantom of the Opera" or the early rock and roll standard “Great Pretender” (let alone “My Way”) is not wholly in the listener’s head. This music goes right down the spine, which is where feeling begins. For a celebration of what new music can be when it retains its sense of delight, listen to these three discs – especially the one with the Art Ensemble of Chicago, which has never been more wonderful.

an amazon reviewer sez:

The material is wonderful, playful, and varied, with the highest point probably being a truly New-Orleansy workout by the combined bands on "A Jackson in your House," a really goofy song from one of AEC's early BYGs. There are also some free-ish moments, but Brass Fantasy were more about PoMo pastiche and twisted traditionalism than improvisation, so they tend to transform things a bit, bringing Jarman and Mitchell and Favors and Moye "in" from the "outside"... Fans know that one of the most magical things about Lester Bowie's Brass Fantasy was their ability to transform a pop song you'd never be caught dead listening to into something really magical and acceptable as music. On this disk, the unexpected bit of cultural salvage is Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Music of the Night."
It's really wonderful, even if you hate Webber.

David Murray - Lovers

barabara sounds sez:

David Murray laid down not four but five [see comments] albums with the same band in the same series of sessions in New York in January 1988 for the Disk Union (DIW) label. This was the second of them — the others were Deep River, Spirituals, Ballads and Tenors — and probably the most overlooked. 

AMG likes Spirituals best — maybe because it's the least 'out there'. It also rates Ballards but doesn't even bother to write up Lovers. There's very little else out there on the web about these albums either, but the review of Ballards pretty much sums this one up too. As the man sez, these were some of his best albums of the decade. Excellent sound quality too. 

amg (Stephen Cook) sez:

Ballards is oneof David Murray's finest records. Like the three [sic] other excellent DIW releases that came from the same productive New York Sessions of January 1988 (Spirituals, Deep River, and Lovers), it contains a mix of originals by Murray, pianist Dave Burrell and drummer Ralph Peterson Jr., and it also includes fine bass work by Fred Hopkins. The rapport these players have on this record is stunning. They effortlessly move through a program of cool yet smart after-hours explorations that, in spite of the multi-layered arrangements, come out sounding almost artless... Murray displays his usual inventiveness of phrasing and tone... but thankfully suppresses his penchant for gratuitous outbursts, keeping his solos flowing. This sort of studied, yet loose playing is heard from all the quartet members, including Peterson, who, like Murray, also has the tendency to eat up the scenery...

Art Ensemble of Chicago — The Complete Live In Japan

barabara sounds sez:

Ancient to the future. That's the AEC maxim — and it sort of fits Japan in a number of ways too. On their second visit, in 1984, AEC played two evenings in Tokyo. Although I may well have been in town at the time (who can remember all those years ago?) I didn't make it to either of the gigs, which is my loss since they've only been over here maybe once since. At least they were recorded for a radio broadcast (I think) and eventually in 1988 this double CD was issued by DIW/Disc Union*. This is the second gig (April 22, Kanihoken Hall, Gotanda) in its entirety — and there are plenty of fine moments here. If you're into AEC, this is essential listening.

[*actually a one-album LP with just 5 tracks was issued in '85]

dusty sez:

2LP set that brings together all of the live material that the Art Ensemble recorded for Japanese DIW in 1984. The concert was recorded in Tokyo, and the set list that includes the tracks "Ohnedaruth", "Spanish Song", "Ancestral Voices", "The Waltz", "Zero", "Odwalla: The Theme", and "Ol Time Southside Street Dance". The playing is fairly spirited, with solos all the way through by Bowie, Jarman, and Mitchell. The record is one of their best from the 80's, and certainly one of the strongest in their catalog for DIW.