''Last Year's Ghost'' is the debut album by Loose Assembly, a quintet led by American jazz drummer Mike Reed featuring alto saxophonist Greg Ward, vibraphonist

Jason Adasiewicz Jason Adasiewicz (born October 14, 1977) is an American jazz vibraphonist and composer. Early life and education Jason was born in Wichita, Kansas in 1977, but raised in Crystal Lake, Illinois. He studied jazz drums at DePaul University for thr ...

, 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 ...

and bassist Josh Abrams. It was released in 2007 on 482 Music.''Last Year's Ghost''
at 482 Music The recording started in 2005 and completed in 2006, but the original sessions were lost and the album is a re-creation of the lost recordings.

Reception

In his review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, Michael G. Nastos says "It's a very interesting and accessible disc worth owning and listening closely to." ''

The Penguin Guide to Jazz ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled b ...

'' notes that the album "has a highly distinctive sound, with the leader's accurate time-sense a key component on 'Day of the Head' and the later 'Ghost Writer', in double-waltz time." In the later The Penguin Jazz Guide they reflected "if ever a contemporary record grows with familiarity, this is it"

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 ...

published several reviews: Troy Collins states "A brilliant debut, ''Last Year's Ghost'' merges the austere reverence of chamber music with the scalding intensity of Chicago's historically ebullient free jazz."Collins, Troy
''Last Year's Ghost'' review
at

Jerry D'Souza says "The album impresses with its blend of the improvised and the composed."D'Souza, Jerry
''Last Year's Ghost'' review
at

Nic Jones notes "Each listen seems to bring new rewards, which makes this one something of a rarity in itself."Jones, Nic
''Last Year's Ghost'' review
at

In a review for ''

JazzTimes ''JazzTimes'' was an American print magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C., in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade ...

'', Forrest Dylan Bryant states "A unique quintet lineup with alto sax, vibes, cello and bass wraps a dark, velvety texture around vaguely nostalgic ballads, and adds density to surging, uptempo grooves."Bryant, Forrest Dylan
''Last Year's Ghost'' review
at ''

'' The Point of Departure review by Bill Shoemaker describes the album as "a well-designed collection of hook-filled tunes and atmospheric interludes" and concludes "Just a few more recordings like ''Last Year’s Ghost'' and Mike Reed will be in the first rank of living American bandleaders."Shoemaker, Bill
''Last Year's Ghost'' review
at Point of Departure

Track listing

:''All compositions by Mike Reed except as indicated'' # "Flowers" (Loose Assembly) – 2:14 # "Day of the Dead" – 7:13 # "Old Souls" – 2:20 # "Afterthoughts" – 6:32 # "1974" (Loose Assembly) – 1:51 # "The Entire State of Florida" – 7:34 # "Exorcism" (Loose Assembly) – 1:58 # "Simone's Crumbs" – 4:24 # "Temporary States" – 0:23 # "Ghost Writer" – 5:50 # "Dreaming with Jill" – 5:10

Personnel

* Mike Reed –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

* Josh Abrams –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

vibraphone The vibraphone (also called the vibraharp) is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using Percussion mallet, mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone ...

–

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

*Greg Ward –

alto sax The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E, smaller th ...

References

{{Authority control 2007 albums Mike Reed (musician) albums