Circle was an American
avant garde
In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
ensemble, active in 1970 and 1971. The group arose from pianist
Chick Corea
Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain (instrumental), Spain", "500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba" ...
's early 1970s trio with
Dave Holland Dave Holland or David Holland may refer to:
*Dave Holland (bassist)
David Holland (born 1 October 1946) is an English double bassist, bass guitarist, cellist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has ...
on bass and
Barry Altschul
Barry Altschul (born January 6, 1943, in New York City) is a free jazz and hard bop drummer who first came to notice in the late 1960s for performing with pianists Paul Bley and Chick Corea.
Biography
Altschul is of Russian Jewish heritage, ...
on drums and percussion with the addition of
Anthony Braxton
Anthony Braxton (born June 4, 1945) is an American experimental composer, educator, music theorist, improviser and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for playing saxophones, particularly the alto. Braxton grew up on the South Side of Chi ...
in a leading role on several
reed instruments.
The group's earliest (and only studio) recordings were made in 1970 for the
Blue Note
Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by German-Jewish emigrants Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it derived its name from the blue no ...
label but not released until 1975 under Corea's name. A live double album appeared on the
ECM
ECM may refer to the following:
Economics and commerce
* Engineering change management
* Equity capital markets
* Error correction model, an econometric model
* European Common Market
Mathematics
* Lenstra's Elliptic curve method for factor ...
label in 1972. These recordings document a period in which Corea's work was steeped in the jazz 'avant garde,' prior to his complete shift to the
jazz fusion
Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric gui ...
orientation. Corea, Holland and Altschul also recorded the album, ''
A.R.C.'' for ECM in 1971, but it was not released under the band name Circle.
Discography
* ''
Circle 1: Live in Germany Concert'' (CBS/Sony Japan, 1971) – recorded in 1970. Originally released under Circle's name, CD reissue released under Chick Corea's name
* ''
Circle 2: Gathering'' (CBS/Sony Japan, 1971) – originally released under Circle's name, CD reissue released under Chick Corea's name.
* ''
Paris-Concert'' (
ECM
ECM may refer to the following:
Economics and commerce
* Engineering change management
* Equity capital markets
* Error correction model, an econometric model
* European Common Market
Mathematics
* Lenstra's Elliptic curve method for factor ...
, 1972) – recorded in 1971
* ''
Circling In'' (
Blue Note
Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by German-Jewish emigrants Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it derived its name from the blue no ...
, 1975) – recorded in 1970. originally released under Chick Corea's name with additional tracks from Corea's earlier recordings. The Circle tracks were also released as ''Early Circle'' (1992).
* ''
Circulus'' (Blue Note, 1978) – recorded in 1970. originally released under Chick Corea's name.
References
External links
Circle discographyChick Corea looks back on Circle in an interview on ArtistInterviews.eu
{{DEFAULTSORT:Circle
1970 establishments in the United States
1971 disestablishments in the United States
American jazz ensembles
ECM Records artists
Musical groups established in 1970
Musical groups disestablished in 1971