A huge chapter of work from the Art Ensemble Of Chicago – one that not only includes their own albums for the ECM label, but also related solo and side projects too! The set begins with four Art Ensemble albums – Nice Guys, Full Force, Urban Bushman, and The Third Decade – all of which came out as a statement of the group's strengths in the late 70s and early 80s – their first mainstream appearance after a few years of being very underground, and material that helped set a whole new standard for avant jazz expression in the generation to come! Next is the fantastic album Divine Love, by trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith – not necessarily an Art Ensemble album, but one that does feature great work from trumpeter Leo Smith – plus trumpeter Kenny Wheeler, bassist Charlie Haden, and vibist Bobby Naughton. Next are four albums by Lester Bowie – two smaller group, and two with his Brass Fantasy ensemble – the records The Great Pretender, All The Magic/The One & Only, I Only Have Eyes For You, and Avant Pop. Then, after Bowie's early passing, the Art Ensemble recorded their beautiful Tribute To Lester – as a trio lineup with Roscoe Mitchell, Malachi Favors, and Don Moye. Mitchell takes the helm next – on a surprisingly big flurry of projects for ECM – records that often show a deeper compositional strand in his music – on records that include Nine To Get Ready, Composition/Improvisation, Far Side, Bells For The South Side, and Boustrophedon – the last of which was led by Evan Parker, with Mitchell in the Transatlantic Art Ensemble. Last up are three records by drummer Jack DeJohnette for ECM – New Directions and New Directions In Europe, both featuring a group with Lester Bowie on trumpet – and Made In Chicago, which features Roscoe Mitchell, Henry Threadgill, and Muhal Ricard Abrams. Recordings were made between 1978 and 2015 – and comes in a box set with a big booklet of notes! CD

One of the best sessions as a leader ever cut by Lester Bowie – and one of the few to really share the warmth and imagination of his work with the Art Ensemble! The session features Bowie on trumpet, Arthur Blyteh on alto, Amina Myers on piano and voice, Malachi Favors on bass, and Phillip Wilson on drums – working in a set of modes that replicates the sparer and more creative passages of Art Ensemble work of the early 70s. Some of the tunes are introspective, some are freer, and one number features a gospelly approach. Titles include "The 5th Power", "God Has Smiled On Me", "Sardegna Amore", and "BBB". CD

A bold return to Blue Note for pianist Andrew Hill – his first record for the label in over 15 years, and a record that echoes with the modern tones of Hill's legendary Blue Note run in the 60s! The sound here is a bit more starkly modern and obtuse – done with more of a sense of space than Hill's tenser 60s recordings, in a way that's almost a more contemplative reflection of the "new thing" ideal. All tracks are originals, and Andrew is working with a quintet that includes Charles Tolliver on trumpet, Greg Tardy on tenor and bass clarinet, John Hebert on bass, and Eric McPherson on drums. Hill and Tolliver seem to dominate the record, though – musing gently, but starkly on their respective instruments – on a set of tracks that includes "Malachi", "Time Lines", "Smooth", "Whitsuntide", and "For Emilio". 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

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 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

2 of Sunny Murray's classic sides for the BYG label, on one CD! Sunshine is one of Sunny's rarest from the time – and a full-on session that features Lester Bowie, Arthur Jones, Roscoe Mitchell, Archie Shepp, Kenneth Terroade, Dave Burrell, and Malachi Favors. The large group wails mightily, with a spiritual edge that's a bridge between Murray's New York avant roots and some of the late 60s work of the AACM. Side one features the extended "Flower Trane", and side two contains "Real" and "Red Cross". Even Break is one of the best-ever BYG/Actuel sessions, and one that has the unlikely pairing of east coast avant players Sonny Murray and Byard Lancaster, with Art Ensemble Of Chicago bassist Malachi Favors! Murray plays drums, and reads a bit of poetry, while the band wails behind him in powerful turgid lines of hard free jazz that represent all there is to say about the freedom of the Paris jazz scene in 1969. 4 long tracks – "Invisible Blues", "Complete Affection", "Giblets – Part 12", and "An Even Break". CD

2 landmark Archie Shepp albums in one package! Blase is filled with long, spiritual tracks that comprise some of his best European recordings of the decade, and the titles include "There is a Balm in Gilead", "Touareg", and "My Angel". The group includes Jeanne Lee on vocals, plus Lester Bowie, Malachi Favors, Dave Burrell, and Philly Joe Jones – and the whole thing has that great Paris spiritual free jazz party feel to it! Live At The Pan-African Festival was recorded in Algiers during the Pan-African Festival in 1969. The recording is a very unique one, and features Shepp's group with Grachan Moncur, Clifford Thorton, and Dave Burrell – plus lots of Algerian musicians! The sound is haunting, and the record really stands apart from Shepp's other BYG albums. Titles include "We Have Come Back" and "Brotherhood at Ketchaoua". CD

A tremendous bit of jazz history – 2 classic Archie Shepp albums on 1 CD! Yasmina features Archie Shepp at his spiritual best – recording in Paris in 1969, and absorbing a heck of a lot of pan-African influences! The centerpiece of the album is the amazing "Yasmina" – a long track that builds with passion and fire, pulsing with an intensity that you'd expect more from Pharoah Sanders than Shepp himself. Next up is "Sonny's Back", a wonderful straight jazz groover with Archie and Hank Mobley on twin tenors upfront – making a rare and memorable recorded appearance together! The set's capped off by a mellow version of "Body & Soul", one that points towards the more soulful side of Shepp's work in the 70s. Poem For Malcolm is one of Shepp's most memorable LPs for BYG. Side one has him playing with Burton Greene, Alan Silva, Philly Joe Jones, and Claude Delcloo on the extended Mamarose/Poem For Malcolm. The track starts out with very free playing, then moves into a more subdued passage, with Shepp's recitation of his "Poem For Malcolm". Side two has a great lineup that includes Grachan Moncour III, Malachi Favors, and Hank Mobley, who gives one of the wildest performances of his life! The group runs through the 20 minute track Rain Forest/Oleo, and begins with a dark, spare performance, then leaps into a reading of "Oleo" that's filled with fire. CD

Wadada Leo Smith on trumpet and flugelhorn, Anthony Davis on piano and synthesizer, Malachi Favors Maghostut on bass, and Jack DeJohnette on drums and synthesizer. CD

An unusual chapter in the career of the Art Ensemble – yet a set that's also a key recording in their legendary time in Paris at the start of the 70s! The set was recorded in that city in 1970, and not issued in France and the US until a few years later – with less fanfare (and less reissue history) than their Nessa, Freedom, and BYG records from the same time – even though the quality here is every bit as great, if not better! The tracks are long, open, and have that wonderfully fluid sense of shifting instrumentation that the group virtually pioneered at the time – with Joseph Jarman and Roscoe Mitchell on saxes, Lester Bowie on trumpet, Malachi Favors on bass, and Don Moye on drums – and all players picking up lots of different percussion along the way. Titles include "Chi Congo", "Enlorfe", and "Hippparippp". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the best post-Paris live dates by the Art Ensemble Of Chicago – recorded right on their southside home turf in Chicago, as something of a homecoming after their years abroad! The performance is really one continuous piece, divided up into chapters – and it starts off with an intensity that's bolder than much of the group's previous recordings – an almost-free sort of sound that's quite raw, and which must have been a great way to announce their presence back on the Chicago scene. As the piece moves on, it slows a bit in pace, and opens up more in mood – but always has an edge that's quite distinct – almost free of some of the wit that marked the Ensemble's work from a few years before. The core lineup features Lester Bowie on trumpet and flugelhorn, Roscoe Mitchell and Joseph Jarman on saxes, Malachi Favors on bass, and Don Moye on drums and percussion – but as always, all players get their hands on plenty of other instruments during the performance – an array of horns, gongs, bells, whistles, bike horns, and more – all used to great effect! Sections of the work are titled "Duffvipels", "Checkmate", "Dautalty", and "Mata Kimasu". CD

A key later session from the Art Ensemble Of Chicago – a record that gained them global exposure through the ECM label, and which has them working in a beautifully subtle sense of sound, space, and tone! The work is less all-out challenging than some of the group's earliest recordings – but no less strong, as if anything, the AEC has mastered their musical vision so well, they're coming across here with an extremely cohesive sound. Instrumentation includes a wide range of percussion, plus the usual bass of Malachi Favors and the saxes of Joseph Jarman and Roscoe Mitchell – and tracks include "Ja", "Folkus 11", "597-59", and "Dreaming Of The Master". CD

A great little live set from the Art Ensemble of Chicago – one that showcases the group's quintet lineup with younger players, but which captures some of the energy and imagination of live dates from years past! Older members Don Moye, Roscoe Mitchell, and Joseph Jarman are joined here by bassist Jaribu Shahid and trumpeter Corey Wilkes – both players who are clearly aware of, and respectful towards the AEC traditions – and who almost seem to help the older players get a new sense of focus and presence. As with all Ensemble albums, the instrumentation and moods here vary wildly – but in a way that's still quite coherent, and which is recorded well, even in the quieter moments. Titles include "Odwalla", "Big Red Peaches", "On The Mountain", "Erika", "Malachi", "The J Song", "Red Sand Green Water", "Slow Tenor & Bass", and "The Morning Mist". CD

Like the other Art Ensemble record on Nessa, Les Stances A Sophie, this one was recorded in France on the beautiful July 7, 1969 during one of the most fruitful periods for the group. Unlike that one, though, this one is a very different recording musically. The LP features one long track, the title cut, and the music is very spare, with lots of nice isolated bass work, horn solos, and percussion. The group here is a quartet that features Roscoe Mitchell, Joseph Jarman, Lester Bowie, and Malachi Favors. LP, Vinyl record album

A rare meeting of the Art Ensemble Of Chicago and the late pianist Don Pullen – recorded at the Frankfurt Jazz Festival in 1991, and easily one of the group's greatest sessions from this period! There's a freely creative spirit here that reminds us a lot of the Art Ensemble's best European performances of years back – especially on the 20 minute opening reading of "People In Sorrow", which has an ethereal sound built up from percussion, in a way that's almost more haunting than the original. Pullen's piano takes on a bit more presence on the tracks "Song For Atala" and "Fundamental Destiny" – both of which show the skill for more tightly arranged horn parts that the Ensemble picked up during the 80s – but still delivered here with enough loose, spontaneous energy to stand apart from some of their studio work of the decade. Pullen delivers a strong pulse on the latter track especially – and continues into a straighter, soaring jazz groove on "Odwalla/The Theme", which closes the set. Lester Bowie plays trumpet, Joseph Jarman and Roscoe Mitchell are on woodwinds and percussion, Malachi Favors on bass, Don Moye on Sun percussion, and Don Pullen on piano. 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

With Stanton Davis, Malachi Thompson, Bruce Purse, and Bowie on trumpet – plus Craig Harris and Steve Turre on trombone, Vincent Chancey on French horn, and Phillip Wilson on drums. Titles include "Coming Back Jamaica", "Nonet", "When The Spirit Returns", and "Lament". LP, Vinyl record album

A really wonderful recording from percussionist Kahil El'Zabar and his Ritual Trio – a set that features our favorite incarnation of the group – with the mighty Malachi Favors on bass, and Ari Brown on both soprano sax and piano! Tracks are all nice and long, and build in that beautifully spiritual style that made Kahil one of the real standouts on the Chicago scene in the period – one of the few cats who didn't just go avant for freedom's sake, and instead worked in this open, flowing, soulful style that nobody else was touching at the time! The title cut's a great illustration of this approach – a really beautiful 16 minute cut that draws gentle modal energy from interplay between bass and kalimba, then lets Brown really stretch out over the top – and the other tracks follow strongly, with a wonderfully organic approach. Titles include "Alika Rising", "Why Not", and "Where Do You Want To Go". CD

Ramsey Lewis had such great success with his first album of Christmas instrumentals for Chess Records, he soon hopped back in the studio for a second record – but one with a very distinct difference! This time around, the trio's a bit unusual – in that it features regular bassist Eldee Young, but also the great Steve McCall on drums – a percussionist who'd later really flourish in the 70s, and gain great fame for his work in the group Air! The presence of McCall is no surprise, though – Malachi Favors and Muhal Richard Abrams also make appearances on early 60s Chess jazz albums – but it does give the record a nicely special sort of sound, as does the added instrumentation on some tracks too. About half the set features the trio, and the rest features a bigger group that's arranged by King Fleming and Will Jackson – jazz trio with a bit of strings, including some nice harp, and a touch of trombone from John Avant. Titles include "We Three Kings", "Snowfall", "Plum Puddin", "Little Drummer Boy", "Snowbound", "Egg Nog", and "Jingle Bells". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most spiritual albums to come from the young AACM movement in Chicago – a session that's somewhat equal in expression to some of the best post-Coltrane work on Impulse Records! Maurice McIntyre plays here with a sound that's already fully formed – an approach to the tenor that's as searingly human as that of Pharoah Sanders or Albert Ayler – but which is also played with a sharpness at times that recalls a young Marion Brown. The rest of the group is equally well-matched – a tremendous array of talent from the Chicago scene, with Malachi Favors on bass, Thurman Barker and Ajaramu on drums, Leo Smith on trumpet and flugelhorn, John Stubblefield on soprano sax, and Amina Claudine Myers on piano. George Hines vocalizes a bit on a few tracks – singing in a spiritual tone that's somewhat like Leon Thomas, but much freer and more abstract – and the album beautifully balances shorter musical statements with a fuller suite on side two – showing the deeper, more ambitious expressions that were starting to well up in the AACM. Titles include the tremendous "Humility In The Light Of Creator", plus "Hexagon", "Kcab Emoh", "Pluto Calling", "Life Force", and "Suite – Ensemble Fate". CD also features a bonus version of the title track! CD

One of the most spiritual albums to come from the young AACM movement in Chicago – a session that's somewhat equal in expression to some of the best post-Coltrane work on Impulse Records! Maurice McIntyre plays here with a sound that's already fully formed – an approach to the tenor that's as searingly human as that of Pharoah Sanders or Albert Ayler – but which is also played with a sharpness at times that recalls a young Marion Brown. The rest of the group is equally well-matched – a tremendous array of talent from the Chicago scene, with Malachi Favors on bass, Thurman Barker and Ajaramu on drums, Leo Smith on trumpet and flugelhorn, John Stubblefield on soprano sax, and Amina Claudine Myers on piano. George Hines vocalizes a bit on a few tracks – singing in a spiritual tone that's somewhat like Leon Thomas, but much freer and more abstract – and the album beautifully balances shorter musical statements with a fuller suite on side two – showing the deeper, more ambitious expressions that were starting to well up in the AACM. Titles include the tremendous "Humility In The Light Of Creator", plus "Hexagon", "Kcab Emoh", "Pluto Calling", "Life Force", and "Suite – Ensemble Fate". CD also features a bonus version of the title track! 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

A crucial album from Archie Shepp – one that finds him enjoying new freedoms on the French scene at the end of the 60s – which then helps him take off from his earlier Impulse Records modes, at a level he'd then bring back to the label in the early 70s! There's a very free-thinking sense of combination here – as Shepp is breaking down from his idea of a more unified sound in the material – and opens the door at points to work from Jeanne Lee on voice and Chicago Beau and Julio Finn on harmonicas – in a lineup that also includes Malachi Favors on bass, Dave Burrell on piano, and Philly Joe Jones on drums. These are long, spiritual tracks that comprise some of his best European recordings of the time, and the titles include "There is a Balm in Gilead", "Touareg", "Blase", and "My Angel" – plus a strong reading of "Sophisticated Lady" – which maybe points the way towards some of the Shepp experiments in the late 70s. CD

Wadada Leo Smith on trumpet and flugelhorn, Malachi Favors Magoustous on bass, Anthony Davis on piano, and Jack DeJohnette on drums! CD

Some of the most beautiful, personal work we've heard from trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith in many years – a wonderful set of duets with bassist John Lindberg – done at a level that recalls some of Smith's most organic, most spiritual sounds of the 70s! There's a real back to basics vibe here – a return to the initial spirit of the AACM, something we possibly infer from the album's long tribute to Malachi Favors, but which we can also feel in the spirit of collaboration between Smith and Lindberg – a way of coming together that never overwhelms the individual, yet also never allows one individual to ever upstage the other – as the duo reach out brilliantly for a breathtaking range of sounds, on titles that include "Malachi Favors Maghostut A Monarch Of Creative Music", "Celestial Weather Suite", and "Feathers & Earth". CD

Very nice jazz-oriented material that has Sarah working with Jimmy Jones, one of her best accompanists, or John Malachi, who was in Billy Eckstine's band at the same time Sarah was with the group. All the tracks have nice small combo instrumentation – and Sarah keeps things nice and warm vocally, free to get a bit more intimate than usual in the album's casual setting. Titles include "All Of Me", "Lover Man", "Polka Dots & Moonbeams", "Prelude To A Kiss", and "You Hit The Spot". LP, Vinyl record album

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

Tracks include "Brazilica", "Tequila Mockingbird", "A Night In Bahia", "Malachi", "Jackson Park", and "Love's Gotta Hold". 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

Beautiful work from the Brooklyn scene of the early 80s – at a moment when it seemed like some of the more spiritual styles of the 70s had fallen out of mainstream favor, but were still being served up beautifully on obscure records like this! Mustafa Abdul Rahman isn't just a tenor player, as he works here as a fantastically majestic leader – leading a small combo through sounds that soar to the heavens on righteous energy – often with vocals from Odell Grier, and delivered with instrumentation from Ahmed Abdullah on trumpet, Richard Radu Williams on bass, Rafik Abdul Rahim on piano, Gregg Bufford on drums, and Babafumi Akunyon on congas and percussion. There's a spirit here that's a bit like Abdullah's own record of the period, and other players come into the mix from time to time – including a young Malachi Thompson, who plays trumpet on one track. Titles include the originals "Polygamy", "Silent World", and "God Is" – plus a take on Coltrane's "Some Other Blues", and the more traditional standards "Afternoon In Paris" and "One & Only Love". LP, Vinyl record album