This was the Art Ensemble's breakthrough -- however short-lived -- onto a major U.S.
label (Atlantic), as well as a document of the freewheeling band's first appearance at an American festival (the Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival).
With activist John Sinclair delivering the introduction, politics is in the air; the crowd is young and predisposed to radical ideas and the Art Ensemble holds back nothing in a chaotic, meandering, exasperating, outrageous -- and, thus, always fascinating -- performance.
The band seems to be clearing its collective throat in the first half of the concert, opening with a battering all-percussion prelude.
Roscoe Mitchell and Malachi Favors go at it at length in a staggered, honking tenor sax/bass duet on "Unanka," and Mitchell ratchets up the gears into screeching overdrive on "Oouffnoon." Finally, after a mocking intro by Lester Bowie, the 15-minute "Ohnedaruth" puts the Art Ensemble on full, ultra-colorful, wailing, free-form display (complete with a few vocal obscenities) before signing off with the "relatively" straight-ahead "Odwalla." It is interesting that Atlantic would lease these way-out recordings to Koch at a time (1998) when it was simultaneously putting out new, safer-sounding releases by the current Art Ensemble and its members.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction | The Art Ensemble of Chicago | Play | 00:42 | 1 MB | 3 MB |
| 2 | ImmmDon Moye | The Art Ensemble of Chicago | Play | 05:31 | 12 MB | 33 MB |
| 3 | Nfamoudou-BoudougouRoscoe Mitchell | The Art Ensemble of Chicago | Play | 04:15 | 9 MB | 25 MB |
| 4 | UnankaMalachi Favors | The Art Ensemble of Chicago | Play | 10:43 | 24 MB | 57 MB |
| 5 | OouffnoonRoscoe Mitchell | The Art Ensemble of Chicago | Play | 03:25 | 7 MB | 19 MB |
| 6 | OhnedaruthJoseph Jarman | The Art Ensemble of Chicago | Play | 15:00 | 34 MB | 96 MB |
| 39 mins | 90 MB | |||||
| 39 mins | 236 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Art Ensemble of Chicago | Primary Artist |
| 2 | Lester Bowie | Drums, Flugelhorn, Kelphorn, Multi Instruments, Percussion, Trumpet, Vocals, Whistle (Human) |
| 3 | Michael Cuscuna | Producer |
| 4 | Jimmy Douglass | Engineer, Mixing |
| 5 | Donald Elfman | Producer |
| 6 | Malachi Favors | Bass, Composer, Drums, Gong, Multi Instruments, Percussion, Vocals, Whistle (Human) |
| 7 | Gary Grimshaw | Design |
| 8 | Joseph Jarman | Composer, Congas, Flute, Multi Instruments, Percussion, Sax (Alto), Sax (Baritone), Sax (Soprano), Sax (Tenor), Soprano (Vocal), Vocals, Vocals (Background), Whistle (Human) |
| 9 | Roscoe Mitchell | Clarinet, Composer, Drums, Multi Instruments, Percussion, Sax (Alto), Sax (Baritone), Sax (Soprano), Sax (Tenor), Saxophone, Vocals, Whistle (Human) |
| 10 | Don Moye | Composer |
| 11 | Famoudou Don Moye | Congas, Drums, Gong, Marimba, Multi Instruments, Percussion, Vocals, Whistle (Human) |
| 12 | Gene Paul | Mastering |
| 13 | Leni Sinclair | Photography |
| 14 | Naomi Yoshii | Producer |
Art Ensemble of Chicago
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |