A seminal session from Roscoe Mitchell – beautiful work recorded for the small Nessa label, and a real testament to the fragile beauty of his music! Some of the tracks are solo, and others feature Roscoe in shifting groups with other AACM players – a duet with bassist Malachi Favors, another with reedman Anthony Braxton, a trio with Muhal Richard Abrams on piano and George Lewis on trombone, and a quartet with Joseph Harman, Henry Threadgill, and Wallace McMillan. The sound's about as haunting as you can get for the AACM in the 70s – sensitive sounds, complex tones, and a rich approach to creative music that goes far beyond jazz – a really stark contrast to the styles of New York or European avant players from the same period! Titles include "Off Five Dark Six", "A1 Tal 2LA", "Nonaah", "Sing", "Chant", "Ericka", and "Tahquemenon". CD

The headier side of the great Roscoe Mitchell – a project that has some of the reedman's compositions transcribed for larger orchestra performance – but at a level that seems to be a natural evolution of the notion of "black classical music" that Mitchell first helped pioneer with the AACM! Make no mistake with that term – this isn't classical music at all – instead, the larger group works here to realize this beautiful balance between improvisation and composition, almost working as a whole to embody the ideas that Mitchell has brought to his music in much smaller settings, carved out of a large group of woodwinds, a touch of brass, and a bit of strings. Gregory Oh conducts the group, and titles include "They Rode For Them", "Splatter", "Nonaah", "Shards & Lemons", and "Ride The Wind". CD

Some of the earliest work from AACM legend Roscoe Mitchell – tracks recorded before his legendary Sound album, hence the title – finally appearing here for the first time ever! Even in 1965, Mitchell is way ahead of his time – working at a free-thinking, free-wheeling approach to jazz that's a bit more New York than later Chicago music – but still completely amazing! Roscoe opens up on alto, often in tandem with trumpeter Fred Berry – in a group that also features Malachi Favors on bass and Alvin Fiedler on drums – a very open-ended combo that moves forward with boundless energy. There's echoes here of the best modern moments from Archie Shepp, Ted Curson, and Ornette Coleman in the 60s – and the long-overdue release of this music is a real cause for celebration – especially given that the package features lots of detailed history and helpful notes. Titles include "Mr Freddy", "Green", "Outer Space", "Akhenaten", "And There Was Peace", and "Jo Jar". CD

A crucial record from Roscoe Mitchell – a set that builds both on his important solo work, and his musical discoveries with the Art Ensemble of Chicago – but which also opens up the more sonic territory that would soon set Mitchell and a few other colleagues apart, and open up even more possibilities for experimentation in the AACM! The set begins with "LRG" – a trio piece with two key collaborators – George Lewis on trombones and sousaphone, and Leo Smith on trumpets – both working with Mitchell, who blows piccolo, flute, oboe, clarinet, soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxes – in these amazing ranges of sounds, tones, and shapes – almost a catalog of improvisational possibilities. "The Maze" is even more striking – less reed work, and instead a piece done for eight percussionists – with an unlikely lineup that features Anthony Braxton, Malachi Favors, Joseph Jarman, Douglas Ewart, Don Moye, Thurman Barker, Mitchell, and Henry Threadgill – in this moody, choppy piece that runs for twenty minutes. Last up is "S II Examples" – probably our favorite – as it's got Roscoe playing solo soprano in a long tone-oriented piece that sounds a lot more like some electronic instrument than it does a soprano sax – further proof that he was really doing tremendous things at the time! CD

The only recorded work of this crucial group on the Chicago scene of the late 60s – a pre-Art Ensemble quartet that features Roscoe Mitchell on reeds, Lester Bowie on trumpet, and Malachi Favors on bass – as well as drummer Philip Wilson, who'd later depart for work in a blues group! The sound here is completely formative – already very strongly in the AACM tradition, but also with some ties to late 50s/early 60s modernism – especially on the tune "Old", which has more rhythmic progression than you might expect from the players – a vibe that's almost like the Art Ensemble taking on late nite soul jazz! That cut is followed by the freely improvised "Quartet" – which spins out in an organic way that really lets you know what the famous trio would soon be doing in the Art Ensemble – followed by a sublime "Solo" piece from Roscoe. 2CD edition brings in all the other material recorded at the sessions – "Trio (Oh Susanna)" and "Quartet No 1", plus the shorter "Theme Statements" and "Tats-Matoes (Rehearsal)". CD

We're not sure what "congliptious" means – but to us, it's always been the title of this excellent early session from reedman Roscoe Mitchell! The sessions here were recorded in 1968, at the Ter-Mar (Chess) Studios in Chicago – and they document a key coming-together of Chicago avant jazz talents – one that captures Mitchell with Lester Bowie and Malachi Favors in the years before better-known dates by the Art Ensemble of Chicago! The style here is somewhat similar to some of the best Delmark AACM sessions of the time – in that there's a hell of a lot of room for each player to open up individually – almost a recording style that takes off even more strongly from the individualist mode of the New York "new thing" generation – showing that Chicago could go one better by allowing each player completely unbridled space to express themselves. Malachi Favors solos on "Tutankhamen", Mitchell does an alto solo on "Thke", and Bowie plays alone on "Jazz Death" – while the trio of players comes together with percussionist Robert Crowder on the long number "Congliptious/Old" – a cool cut that almost links a Sun Ra aesthetic to the AACM. CD also features 4 bonus tracks – 3 takes of "Carefree", plus "Tatas-Matoes" – all cuts that originally appeared on the Art Ensemble 1967/1968 box set. CD

The music of Roscoe Mitchell, served up here in a really amazing setting – all solo vibes, handled by Jason Adasiewicz, in a style that's very different than Roscoe's original versions of these tunes! If you've ever heard Adasiewicz solo, you'll already dig what's going on here – work on vibes that's deeply resonant, warmly chromatic, and full of some of the most human, honest, open expressions we've ever heard on the instrument! Jason's always been part of the avant underground in Chicago, but he's also a very spiritual player too – a quality that really comes out in a setting like this – as he unlocks very different currents in tunes that Mitchell originally presented on his own albums, or with the Art Ensemble Of Chicago. The whole thing is wonderfully hypnotic throughout – and titles include "Congliptious", "Old", "Carefree", "The Waltz", "Toro/Jo Jar", "The Key", "A Jackson In Your House", and "Daddy Rollin Stone". CD

The Art Ensemble at the height of their powers – really letting loose on the Parisian scene of the late 60s, where they found a great audience for all the new ideas they'd been brewing up back home! The album's definitely one that has the group's unique ethos coming into focus – that sense of spontaneous collective creativity spawned by their AACM contemporaries, but delivered with the special sort of playful energy of the group – as they effortlessly shift instruments, switch modes, and find a way to resonate wonderfully as a group without sacrificing their individual voices! Everyone plays percussion and other instruments – with Joseph Jarman and Roscoe Mitchell on reeds, Lester Bowie on trumpet, and Malachi Favors on bass – on titles that include "Song For Charles", "Ericka", "A Jackson In Your House", and "Get In Line". CD

A record that definitely lives up to the sixth decade legacy noted in the title – as it takes work of the remaining members of the Art Ensemble of Chicago, and expands it with contributions from a number of musicians – both from Chicago and the global scene as well! The feel here is a mix of some of the larger concepts that Roscoe Mitchell has been working on of late, and some of the more organic expressions that the Art Ensemble helped encourage in the world of jazz – performed by a lineup that has Mitchell on sopranino and alto, and Don Moye on drums and percussion – joined by a huge lineup that includes Junius Paul on bass, Tomeka Reid on cello, Nicole Mitchell on flutes, Hugh Ragin on trumpet, and a larger lineup of basses, piano, and percussion as well. Moor Mother delivers a spoken word passage, and Roco Cordova and Erina Newkirk sing a bit – on titles that include "Kumpa", "Bulawayo", "I Feel Like Dancing", "Jigiba", "Funky AECO", "Improvisation Two", "Ritual Great Black Music", "Cards", and "Leola". CD

Some of the earliest work ever recorded by Lester Bowie as a leader – and a set that stands in importance right next to the early Delmark AACM sides by Anthony Braxton and Roscoe Mitchell! Plus, the album's almost an early Art Ensemble of Chicago effort, given the lineup – which features Bowie on trumpet and flugelhorn; Roscoe Mitchell on alto, soprano, clarinet, and flute; Malachi Favors on bass; and Joseph Jarman on alto, sopranino, and clarinet!. This fantastic CD features all the material recorded at the initial sessions in 1967 – both trio and quartet material, with titles that include trio numbers "Warm Up", "Number 2", "Number 1", and quartet takes on "Number 2". CD

An unreleased set of solo performances from trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith – one that we'd rank right up there with his most adventurous work of the 70s! Smith comes across wonderfully on the record – full of soul and imagination, and easily as impressive on his solo instruments as scenemate Roscoe Mitchell could be in a similar setting – always moving around with thoughtful shifts in timing and purpose, in ways that always make the whole performance feel very organic, especially as Smith moves between other instruments that include flute, percussion, gongs, and steelophone. Titles include "Jupiter's Astro Waves", "Blue Green Gardens Of The Indigenous People", and "Pan Sonic Fire Rhythms/Red Chrysanthemums/Dark Purple Night On Crater Lake With A Clear View Of Saturn's Rings & Moons". CD

Maybe the most striking set in this ever-shifting series of releases from Matana Roberts – and one that shows his more advanced sonic sensibilities, in a mix of improvised jazz and more compositional settings! There's a vibe here that's almost like the more "serious" work of Roscoe Mitchell – at least in the way that reeds and strings interweave – yet Roberts, as always, brings a deeply personal approach to the music, with lots of shorter songs that weave more soulful elements amidst the avant expressions – which are served up by a lineup that includes Mike Pride on drums, Cory Smythe on piano, Darius Jones on alto, Mazz Swift on violin, and Mat Lavelle on alto clarinet and pocket trumpet. Kyp Malone brings in a bit of electronics, and there are vocalizations at points – on titles that include "A Caged Dance", "No Way Chastened", "Away Is Not An Option", "Shake My Bones", "Enthralled Not By Her Curious Blend", "Different Rings", "Predestined Confessions", and "We Said". CD

An important pre-Art Ensemble Of Chicago moment – one that has most of the group coming together in a pair of rare recordings in the home of Lester Bowie – already sounding amazingly creative as a unit! The sound is almost freer than later work by the group – or certainly at the fierceness they hit right at the start of the 70s – and the lineup here includes both Roscoe Mitchell and Joseph Jarman on a range of reed instruments, Lester Bowie on trumpet and flugelhorn, and Malachi Favors on bass – plus strong input from Thurman Barker on drums, and an appearance on one track from Curtis Clark on bass! The sound is wonderfully raw, and surprisingly clear for a home recording – and the power of the music is undeniable. Both tracks – "A To Ericka" and "Quintet" – were previously part of the Art Ensemble box set on Nessa – but that's been out of print for years, and together these compositions work wonderfully as a full album! CD

Some of the earliest work ever recorded by Lester Bowie as a leader – and a set that stands in importance right next to the early Delmark AACM sides by Anthony Braxton and Roscoe Mitchell! Plus, the album's almost an early Art Ensemble of Chicago effort, given the lineup – which features Bowie on trumpet and flugelhorn; Roscoe Mitchell on alto, soprano, clarinet, and flute; Malachi Favors on bass; and Joseph Jarman on alto, sopranino, and clarinet!. The session was cut in 1967 by Chuck Nessa, and it features performances of the tracks "Number 1" and "Number 2" – very much in the Art Ensemble mode, with alternating instrumentation, sharp attacks and spare moments, plus a good dash of humor! CD