** Grey-area reissue on colored vinyl ** Recorded in Boulogne-Billancourt, France on July 7th, 1969 - one of the most fruitful periods for the group. Originally released on Pathé, later reissued by Chuck Nessa on his legendary Nessa Records. Now back on vinyl, on blood-red transparent wax! 40 minutes of PURE free improvisation. One extended piece, split across two sides. Lester Bowie on trumpet and flugelhorn, Joseph Jarman on alto sax, bassoon, oboe and flute, Roscoe Mitchell on soprano, alto and bass saxophone plus clarinet and flute, Malachi Favors Maghostut on bass and zither. All four on percussion. This is the quartet configuration - before Don Moye joined the fold. The core. The essence. The fire!
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide called it exactly what it is: a forty-minute example of how the group's menagerie of instruments and spontaneous approach to structure can create clearly delineated, precisely shaded and starkly emotional music. Space, dynamics, silence balanced by keening roars - the full gamut of emotions from fear and anger to love and laughter. The pain and hope of the human condition captured in sound. Various percussive devices litter the floor. The four members wander around the room discarding instruments in favor of whichever one feels right. Mind-blowing interplay and sensitivity!
AACM at its absolute peak.
