THE HUMAN ARTS ENSEMBLE - POEM OF GRATITUDE (PRIVATE RELEASE, 1973)

 

A1. Introduction
A2. Out To Lunch / Sophisticated Lady
A3. Imagination 1
A4. Imagination 2
A5. Imagination 3

B1. Funny Things
B2. Poem Of Gratitude
B3. Strange Autumn Tree Shapes
B4. Upbeat Feeling
B5. God Bless The Child

James Marshall, alto saxophone, tenor radong, small instruments
Luther Thomas, tenor saxophone, tenor radong, small instruments
Ajule Rutlin, poet, tenor radong, small instruments, drums
Carol Marshall, vocal, bass radong, small instruments

Recorded October, 1972, in St. Louis, Missouri.

Private Release - TS73-38, TS73-39

LP Rip

HUMAN ARTS ENSEMBLE "POEM OF GRATITUDE" (UNIVERSAL JUSTICE, 1972)

There was a request some time ago - this is the first recording of the Human Arts Ensemble still without Charle 'Bobo' Shaw.

Poetry is well in the foreground with fine contributions by Luther Thomas and James Marshall.

James Marshall and the Human Arts Ensemble are still active > http://freedoniamusic.org/





HUMAN ARTS ENSEMBLE "POEM OF GRATITUDE"



Ajule Rutlin, tenor radong, poet, drums, small instruments
Luther Thomas, tenor saxophone, tenor radong, small instruments
James Marshall, alto saxophone, tenor radong, small instruments
Carol Marshall, vocal, bass radong, small instruments


01. Introduction
02. Out To Lunch
03. Sophisticated Lady
04. Imagination (1)
05. Imagination (2)
06. Imagination (3)
07. Funny Things
08. Poem Of Gratitude
09. Strange Autumn Tree Shapes
10. Upbeat Feeling
11. God Bless The Child


Recorded : St.Louis, Missouri, October, 1972.

UNIVERSAL JUSTICE POG

Radong is a Tibetan trumpet.

Tracks now in intended sequence - as proposed by finn < thanks!

.

Two oldie-goldies from the Human Arts Ensemble

I thought I'd do a bit more of recycling from the now defunct C#9 blog. These posts were initially put in the comments section in response to Flux'us posting of the Black Arts Ensemble so I thought they deserve front-page status here.

Both ensembles were basically made up of a small core of musicians, centered around the drummer Charles "Bobo" Shaw. This was a St. Louis-based outfit which would invite guest musicians, including the Bowie (Lester, Joseph) brothers and Oliver Lake. They would later shift to New York where Shaw made more records under the "Human Arts Ensemble" umbrella and Joseph Bowie founded Defunkt, a well-known 80s jazz-funk band.

The HAE records were mostly side-long jams with collective improvisation from the regular band members and guests. As such, they drew upon the dixieland tradition rather than the standard one of serial improvisation with one soloist at a time.

These four sides have all their different characters. The two pieces on Under the Sun are obviously inspired by folk music of the Middle East and further beyond. The title piece on
Whisper of Dharma invokes the serenity of the Asian jungles with its assortment of small instruments and quiet moods, not unlike the early Art Ensemble of Chicago, another ensemble from another city , but with Lester Bowie as the human link. Some similarity may also be found with the early quartet pieces of Anthony Braxton. The other side of Whisper, on the other hand, expresses the hustle-bustle of the North American urban reality.


Tracks:

Under the Sun

side 1: A Lover's Desire
side 2: Hazrat, the Sufi

Whisper of Dharma

side 1: Whisper of Dharma
side 2: A World New

The cast of characters is a bit too long to reproduce here, but the full line-up can be found in the attached scans.

Both these records were initially privately released and fetch huge sums of money for original copies. These rips, however, are from the Arista Freedom rereleases from the mid-70s, but I dont think anyone will notice any difference, audio-wise.