AprilCadence2013

ART ENSEMBLE,
EARLY
COMBINATIONS,
NESSA 29
A TO ERICKA / QUINTET.
44:31.
Roscoe Mitchell (as, ss, cl,
flt), Joseph Jarman (as,
snos, cl, flt, bsn), Lester
Bowie (tpt, flgh), Malachi
Favors (b), Charles Clark (b
on 1), Thurman Barker (d).
September 1 & November 2,
1967, Chicago., IL
New Issues
145 | CadenCe Magazine | april May June 2013
R ight on the heels of Roscoe Mitchell's important
Before There Was Sound, the good folks of Nessa
have given us another opportunity to appreciate the
vast contributions of the early AACM. What's so consistently
impressive about this music - which is great on its
own terms, vibrant and imaginative - is how fully realized
these musicians' aesthetic was from their very first
recordings. We tend to associate these players with a
specific vision, and a commitment to it; that's very much
audible here. For example, flutes open “A to Ericka” like
pennywhistles, moving quickly into a neo-mazurka
(punctuated by “hey!”) before a signature dirge with
little instruments. Snapping snares cue up long curlicue
lines, with still more vocal interjections, a skittering arco
aside, and then woomph! A sudden, stunning dropoff
into wide open space. Slowly the music gathers itself
again, through extended techniques, kazoos, bike horns,
the whole gamut of approaches for which these players
would very quickly become known. And perhaps
the highlight of this performances many high moments
comes with a perfectly controlled Bowie statement
against a mournful background. Recorded at the Bowie
home, there's a warmth and closeness to the pursuits of
these ideas, settings, and methods that puts the spotlight
right where it should be: the grain and the detail.
Both pieces are episodic and engaging. And if Jarman's
“Quintet” is slightly less affecting, perhaps it's because
the band ranges even further, with the result being
that it's vaguely more difficult to sustain a sense of
coherence (and of course, for some listeners this may
in fact make it the better of the two pieces). You hear
bleating flugelhorn, clarion lines and low chortles,
wafting cymbals, farts, and ah-oo-gahs. Favors is
especially strong here, as he and Barker rumble thickly
and exuberantly amid the fields of horn color, at times
dropping out for dramatic pause before they return to
catalyze an intense gesture: clouds of metal, fractious
free hooting, pinwheeling chamber sections. But it
wouldn't be the Art Ensemble if these juxtapositions
didn't also extend to moment of deep solemnity, as with
the gorgeous consonance and tone-melding at the end
of “Quintet.” Essential.
Jason Bivins