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Sweet Space
''Sweet Space'' is a live album by the Billy Bang Sextet, led by violinist Bang, and featuring tenor saxophonist Frank Lowe, alto saxophonist Luther Thomas, cornetist Butch Morris, pianist Curtis Clark, double bassist Wilber Morris, and drummer Steve McCall. It was recorded on November 15, 1979, at the Loeb Student Center of New York University in New York City, and was released on vinyl later that year by Anima Productions. In 2004, the 8th Harmonic Breakdown label reissued the album on CD, with four alternate takes, along with Bang's 1982 release '' Untitled Gift'' on the compilation ''Sweet Space/Untitled Gift''. Reception The authors of ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings'' noted "Bang's skittering fiddle shapes weaving in and out of the two saxophonists... Thomas relatively anonymous for all his stridency, Lowe working his usual furrow between the 'avant-garde' and the great tradition of Chu Berry and Coleman Hawkins." ''One Final Notes Derek Taylor stated that the album " ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billy Bang
Billy Bang (September 20, 1947 – April 11, 2011), born William Vincent Walker, was an American free jazz violinist and composer. Biography Bang's family moved to New York City's Bronx neighborhood while he was still an infant, and as a child he attended a special school for musicians in nearby Harlem.Hull, Tom.Billy Bang Is in the House, The Village Voice, published October 3, 2005, accessed July 17, 2007. At that school, students were assigned instruments based on their physical size. Bang was fairly small, so he received a violin instead of either of his first choices, the saxophone or the drums. It was around this time that he acquired the nickname of "Billy Bang", derived from a popular cartoon character.Kelsey, Chris. " Billy Bang – Biography, Allmusic, accessed July 17, 2007. Bang studied the violin until he earned a hardship scholarship to the Stockbridge School in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, at which point he abandoned the instrument because the school did not ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Lowe
Frank Lowe (June 24, 1943 – September 19, 2003) was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist and composer. Biography Born and brought up in Memphis, Tennessee, Lowe took up the tenor saxophone at the age of 12. As an adult he moved to San Francisco, where he met Ornette Coleman. Coleman suggested Lowe visit to New York City, which Lowe did, and he began playing with Sun Ra and then Alice Coltrane, with whom he recorded in 1971. Unusually for the jazz culture at the time, Lowe had had no extended apprenticeship or slow paying-of-dues: one moment he was an amateur, and the next he was playing with the late John Coltrane's rhythm section. With Alice Coltrane he recorded '' World Galaxy'' in 1971. Lowe began recording with his own group in 1973, with his album ''Black Beings'', on ESP-Disk. Lowe was a tenor saxophonist who was extremely influenced by the first and second waves of free jazz throughout the 1960s. His composition "Spirits in the Field" was performed on Arthur Blyth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Free Jazz
Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians during this period believed that the bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz that had been played before them was too limiting. They became preoccupied with creating something new and exploring new directions. The term "free jazz" has often been combined with or substituted for the term " avant-garde jazz". Europeans tend to favor the term " free improvisation". Others have used "modern jazz", "creative music", and "art music". The ambiguity of free jazz presents problems of definition. Although it is usually played by small groups or individuals, free jazz big bands have existed. Although musicians and critics claim it is innovative and forward-looking, it draws on early styles of jazz and has been described as an attempt to return to primitive, of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Distinction Without A Difference (album)
''Distinction Without a Difference'' is a live solo album by violinist Billy Bang. It was recorded on August 12, 1979, at the Gaku Gallery in New York City, and was released on vinyl in 1980 by Hat Hut Records. In 2017, the Corbett vs. Dempsey label reissued the album in remastered form on CD, with an additional track from the New York concert plus four tracks that were recorded on October 29, 1978, in Tilberg, Netherlands. Reception ''Jazz Journals Matthew Bateson called the album "very impressive" and "Bang's most mature recording to date." He commented: "The tricky double stopping passages closing 'Distinction', and the structural logic of his playing on 'Loweski'... reveal a profound improvisor whose fluent technique never impedes true creative thought. Furthermore, the magically joyful variations on the familiar tune of 'Skip to My Lou' are not only irresistible fun, but also confirmation of his harmonic audacity." In a review for ''Point of Departure'', Bill Shoemaker stated ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Luther Thomas
image:Dizzazz.jpg, 200px, Dizzazz in June 1981. From left to right : Luther Thomas (as), Danny Petroni (g), Donald Nicks (bass), Marvin Neal (tb), Warren Benbow (drums), John K. Mulkerin (tp) and Billy "Spaceman" Paterson (g) Luther Thomas was an alto saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist from St. Louis. He is known for his free jazz playing drawing also on funk. He was involved with the Black Artists Group starting in the 1960s, played in the Human Arts Ensemble with Charles Bobo Shaw in the 1970s, and led a group called Dizzazz in the early 1980s. He has also played saxophone for James Chance and the Contortions. Thomas-led sessions from the early 1970s have been reissued on CD as part of Atavistic Records' Unheard Music Series. Luther Thomas was born on June 23, 1950, and died on September 8, 2009. Discography *Luther Thomas Creative Ensemble – ''Funky Donkey'' (Circle) * Human Arts Ensemble: ''Junk Trap'' (Black Saint, 1978) * Human Arts Ensemble: : ''Live, Vol. 1'' (Ci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Butch Morris
Lawrence Douglas "Butch" Morris (February 10, 1947 – January 29, 2013) was an American cornetist, composer and conductor. He was known for pioneering his structural improvisation method, ''Conduction'', which he utilized on many recordings. Biography Morris was born in Long Beach, California, United States. Before beginning his musical career, he served in the U.S. Army as a medic in Germany, Japan and Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Morris came to attention with saxophonist David Murray's groups in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Morris's brother, double bassist Wilber Morris, sometimes performed and recorded with Murray during this period. Morris led a group called Orchestra SLANG. The group features Drummer Kenny Wollesen, alto saxophonist Jonathon Haffner, trumpeter Kirk Knuffke and others. He performed and presented regularly as part of the Festival of New Trumpet Music, held annually in New York City. Morris wrote most of the incidental music for the 1989 TV show, ''A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Curtis Clark
Curtis Clark (born 23 April 1950) is a jazz pianist from Chicago, United States. Clark was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1950, but moved to Los Angeles where he spent his student years and started composing and playing the piano. After Clark graduated in music theory and composition from the California Institute of Arts in Valencia, he set out for New York City. There he began working and recording with David Murray. Influenced by Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Horace Tapscott, Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane, Clark was based in Amsterdam for many years until his return to the U.S. He is now situated in New England. While working with various groups, Clark has played with musicians including Oscar Brown, Jr., Julian Priester, Art Taylor, Billy Bang, Richard Davis, Abbey Lincoln, Charles Tyler, John Tchicai and Han Bennink. He was a National Patron of Delta Omicron, an international professional music fraternity. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wilber Morris
Wilber Morris (November 27, 1937 - August 8, 2002) was an American jazz double bass player and bandleader. He was the brother of the cornetist, composer, and conductor Butch Morris.Allmusic/ref> Wilber Morris recorded widely, and performed with such musicians as Pharoah Sanders, Steve Habib, Sonny Simmons, Alan Silva, Joe McPhee, Horace Tapscott, Butch Morris, Arthur Blythe, Charles Gayle, William Parker, and Billy Bang, Charles Tyler, Dennis Charles, Roy Campbell, Avram Fefer, Alfred 23 Harth, Borah Bergman and Rashied Ali. Discography As leader *1981: '' Collective Improvisations '' (Bleu Regard) *1983: '' Wilber Force '' (DIW Records) *1995: '' Breathing Together '' ( Freedom Jazz) *2001: '' Drum String Thing '' ( CIMP) As sideman With Marshall Allen * ''PoZest'' (CIMP, 2000) With Billy Bang *''Rainbow Gladiator'' (Soul Note, 1981) With Thomas Borgmann *''BMN Trio - Nasty & Sweet'' (Nobusiness, 2013) *''BMC Trio Organic'' (Lotus Sound, 1998) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steve McCall (drummer)
Steve McCall (September 30, 1933 – May 24, 1989) was an American jazz drummer. Biography McCall was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States. As a young child, he "experienced a musical epiphany" when he was given an opportunity to play a drum in Chicago's annual Bud Billiken Parade. As a teenager, he attended Englewood High School in Chicago and studied music theory, Latin percussion, and classical percussion. After high school, he left to join the U. S. Air Force, then, in 1954, returned to Chicago, where he took a job in the airline industry. He soon bought his first drum set and began using free air travel passes to study with drummer Charles "Specs" Wright in Philadelphia. He also began freelancing, playing with Lucky Carmichael, Booker Ervin, Charles Stepney, Gene Shaw, and Ramsey Lewis. In 1961, McCall befriended pianist Muhal Richard Abrams, and began playing with Abrams' Experimental Band, which brought him into contact with like-minded Chicago-based musicians. Ov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Untitled Gift
''Untitled Gift'' is an album by violinist Billy Bang. It was recorded on February 7, 1982, at OAO Studio in Brooklyn, New York, and was released on vinyl later that year by Anima Productions. On the album, Bang is joined by trumpeter Don Cherry, double bassist Wilber Morris, and drummer Dennis Charles. The recording features three Bang originals plus one composition by Cherry and two by Ornette Coleman. In 2004, the 8th Harmonic Breakdown label reissued the album on CD along with Bang's 1979 release ''Sweet Space'' on the compilation ''Sweet Space/Untitled Gift''. Reception In a review for ''All About Jazz'', Rex Butters wrote: "Charles spins a strong web of invisible rhythms as Morris drops chewy subharmonic power. Cherry bristles with brilliance in a quartet apparently electrified by their interplay." Regarding the 2004 reissue, ''AAJs Terrell Kent Holmes stated that it "will enhance Bang's stature as one of the most vital and original voices on the scene today." Critic Tom Hu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the database was first made available on the Internet in 1994. AllMusic is owned by RhythmOne. History AllMusic was launched as All-Music Guide by Michael Erlewine, a "compulsive archivist, noted astrologer, Buddhist scholar and musician". He became interested in using computers for his astrological work in the mid-1970s and founded a software company, Matrix, in 1977. In the early 1990s, as CDs replaced LPs as the dominant format for recorded music, Erlewine purchased what he thought was a CD of early recordings by Little Richard. After buying it, he discovered it was a "flaccid latter-day rehash". Frustrated with the labeling, he researched using metadata to create a music guide. In 1990, in Big Rapids, Michigan, he founded ''All Music Guid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Encyclopedia Of Popular Music
''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' is an encyclopedia created in 1989 by Colin Larkin. It is the "modern man's" equivalent of the ''Grove Dictionary of Music'', which Larkin describes in less than flattering terms.''The Times'', ''The Knowledge'', Christmas edition, 22 December 2007- 4 January 2008. It was described by ''The Times'' as "the standard against which all others must be judged". History of the encyclopedia Larkin believed that rock music and popular music were at least as significant historically as classical music, and as such, should be given definitive treatment and properly documented. ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' is the result. In 1989, Larkin sold his half of the publishing company Scorpion Books to finance his ambition to publish an encyclopedia of popular music. Aided by a team of initially 70 contributors, he set about compiling the data in a pre-internet age, "relying instead on information gleaned from music magazines, individual expertise ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
