''Empathetic Parts'' is a live album by Mike Reed's Loose Assembly. The group's third release, it was recorded on November 7, 2009, at the Umbrella Music Festival held at The Hideout in Chicago, and was issued on CD in 2010 by 482 Music. Led by drummer Reed, the group features saxophonist Greg Ward, cellist

Tomeka Reid Tomeka Reid (born 1977) is an American composer, improviser, cellist, curator, and teacher. Reid has performed and recorded with the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Nicole Mitchell, Anthony Braxton, the AACM Great Black Music Ensemble, Mike Reed's L ...

, vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz, and double bassist Joshua Abrams, plus guest saxophonist

Roscoe Mitchell Roscoe Mitchell (born August 3, 1940) is an American composer, jazz instrumentalist, and educator, known for being "a technically superb – if idiosyncratic – saxophonist". ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' described him as "one of the key figure ...

. The album consists of two tracks. The 33-minute title track is based on the notion of what Reed calls "collective arranging," "an approach in which the structural development, harmony, and shape of a piece of particular music was created spontaneously by the entire band." "I'll Be Right Here Waiting" is a composition by

Steve McCall Stephen Harold McCall (born 15 October 1960) is an English retired footballer who now works as a scout for Carlisle United. A defensive midfielder during his playing days, McCall built a reputation as a cultured midfield player, with immacul ...

that initially appeared on the 1978 album ''

Air Time Air time or airtime may refer to: *Air time (broadcasting), also spelled "airtime", available hours for broadcast or time purchased for broadcast *Air time (mobile phone), also spelled "airtime", top-up for mobile roaming services *Air time (rides ...

'' by the collective free jazz trio

Air An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...

Reception

In a review for ''

DownBeat ''DownBeat'' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm that it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1 ...

'', Michael Jackson wrote: "Reed devised a system of colored paddles to signal changes of texture and note value. Despite this artifice, the music comes across with a strong narrative arc rather than as an aleatoric collage." Troy Collins of ''

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

'' stated: "Mitchell's congenial rapport with Reed's young quintet establishes a historical continuum hearkening back to his early days as founder of the

Art Ensemble Of Chicago The Art Ensemble of Chicago is an avant-garde jazz group that grew out of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, AACM) in the late 1960s. The ensemble integrates many jaz ...

... A cross-generational summit meeting between one of the organization's key founders and its newest heir, ''Empathetic Parts'' truly embodies the AACM's credo, Great Black Music, Ancient to the Future." The ''

Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. The ''Reader'' has been ...

s Bill Meyer commented: "it should be obvious how the album got its name—without empathy, this would be a recipe for ego-tripping and frustration. But the members of Loose Assembly support rather than dominate one another, so that the music slips fluidly from full-steam-ahead ensemble swinging to spiky staccato exchanges." Writing for ''

The New York City Jazz Record ''The New York City Jazz Record'' is a New York City based monthly free newspaper about 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 ...

'', Ken Waxman remarked: "the percussionist's stylistic timekeeping - alarm clock-like ringing paradiddles to cumulative back beats and rim shots - solders together the disparate techniques into a throbbing narrative... Creatively busy, Reed's Loose Assembly proves to be loose only in its ability to accommodate an additional voice, but not in creative performance."

Track listing

# "Empathetic Parts" (Mike Reed) – 33:49 # "I'll Be Right Here Waiting" (

)– 8:09

Personnel

* Mike Reed – drums *

– alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute * Greg Ward – alto saxophone *

– cello * Jason Adasiewicz – vibraphone * Joshua Abrams – double bass

References

{{authority control 2010 live albums Mike Reed (musician) live albums Live free improvisation albums