19 May 2019

Art Ensemble of Chicago in Charlottesville 23 September 1984




Some more Joseph Jarman coming up, here with the rest of the Art Ensemble of Chicago. This is a live recording at the Old Cabell Hall, located at the University of Virginia campus in Charlottesville. As you can see from the photos below, the Hall is used for musical performances, but also for all sorts of official events, including talks by American presidents. As we know, Charlottesville was in the headlines a couple of years ago for all the wrong reasons, but the student body was clearly on the side of the counter-protesters for, we may add, all the right reasons.




One reason for selecting this one is that it has an extended version of "Prayer for Jimbo Kwesi" which starts the second track on this recording. Definitely hall-like acoustics on this concert which adds the right ambiance to this concert. I once had the opportunity to listen to them in a medieval hall in my hometown which somehow felt entirely appropriate.

The Art Ensemble is here in the usual quintet form. A little later I will post the later quartet in a setting that puts the acoustics in as a sort of fifth player, but we'll get to that.

The track listing is based on a different track splitting than what's on the back cover of the art work appended to this post.

What we hear will be roughly based on this track order:

1. Unknown - 14:12/Zero / Unknown - 24:57/Carefree - 00:54
2. Prayer For Jimbo Kwesi - 30:39/Unknown - 02:44/Chant / Unknown (cut) - 12:44
3. Unknown (cuts in) - 04:59/New York Is Full Of Lonely People - 06:24
4. Funky AEOC (cuts in) / Odwalla - 09:48

As always, enjoy!


13 comments:

kinabalu said...

Link:

Adrive

Ilario Rozen said...

great post, many many many thanks

doghouse said...

Thanks a lot kinabalu - much appreciated

dd said...

Wow! I was at this concert and always wanted to hear it again! It is one of the best I've ever experienced. Major Thanks!!

rev.b said...

Holy moly, I was at that show too! There was an amazing run of shows at UVa/Old Cabel Hall back in the eighties; Archie Shepp, Anthony Braxton, John Tchicai, Cecil Taylor, the reassembled New Directions (Bowie, Abercrombie, Gomez, DeJohnette) George Adams/Don Pullen, and on and on and on. Thank you for reviving these memories.

Nick said...

Very lovely - thanks

nikos said...

Great share, thanks!

pierre d'alai said...

This is quite a find!
Thank you for sharing it.

BT said...

Thank-you very much

Unknown said...

Yes, thanks for sharing the recording. I was at WTJU back then and we had NEA jazz grants for a couple years that helped us put on these concerts.

Unknown said...

I was at the show. During "Odwalla", I believe, in the extendeed percussion section,
every time Lester Bowie would bang the bass drum, the guy sitting in front of me
("Jazz" Professor Scott Deveaux) would jump in his seat!

Steve Edwards

Bhowani said...

Merci beaucoup, Kinabalu!!!

hideo said...

I was probably the only one here who wasn't at this show. :-)

Seriously, this recording is wonderful and the resonant venue definitely gives this recording a very unique sound and pacing. Kinabalu, thanks!