Tribute to Lester

Tribute to Lester

ASIN: B0000AGDA5

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
It's hard not to think of how much more enjoyable this tribute to the late, great Lester Bowie would be if he were still around to play trumpet on it. Reduced to a trio by the passing of Bowie in 1999 and the resignation of reed player Joseph Jarman, who left to devote himself to his duties as a Shinsu Buddhist priest and to indulge in other musical pursuits, the Art Ensemble of Chicago lacks the exuberance it once did. That's partly because there's not enough to offset the basic dryness of reedman Roscoe Mitchell's personality, as reflected in the deliberate "Suite for Lester," which takes an all-too-tasteful classical turn. Still, the band's return to ECM, for which it made some excellent albums at the turn of the '80s, occasions some winning sonic excursions by Mitchell, bassist Malachi Favors Moghostut, and drummer Famoudou Don Moye. And give credit to the Art Ensemble for refusing to do what other bands have after a legend departs, which is to try and replace someone who is irreplaceable. --Lloyd Sachs

Tracks:

Introduction
Fine And Dandy
Fooling Myself
D. B. Blues
You're Driving Me Crazy
Easy Living
Polka Dots And Moonbeams
No Eyes blues
This Years Kisses
There Will Never Be Another You
Jumpin' With Symphony Sid

Customer Reviews:

Lorez The Great.......2004-02-17

Lorez Alexandria never received the recognition she was due as an exquisite jazz vocalist. Aside from her talents for timing, phrasing and capturing the nuances of a song, she is a straight ahead scat artiste. Those who are not familiar with her work are in for a real treat when exposed to her fine vocal abilities. The timbre of her voice and the way she effortlessly let's her scatting become another musical instrument is phenomenal. A classy, unforgettable perfomer who exhibits extraordinary vocal technique in the jazz genre.

Lorez Sings Prez:A Brilliant Tribute From A Brilliant Artist.......2003-02-16

In a small intimate club setting, Miss Alexandria's awesome performance promulgates quite emphatically a sterling empirical fact. In concurrence with the more erudite Jazz cognoscenti, she is indeed one of the three greatest Jazz Singers who ever lived. During this magnificent live set recorded in 1958, all of her superb artistic skills are in abundance even at this relatively early stage of her career. Her brilliant command of dynamics, formidable sense of timing and rhythm, her flawless phrasing, impeccable diction and intonation are all stunningly evident throughout her performance of these 11 tunes.

Miss Alexandria's astute and dynamic musicianship allows her to be in complete cohesion with her bandmates at every single moment and nuance of this album. Her tight interplay with her musicians, and total command of the musical environment gives the effect of her voice being just another instrument in the whole aggregate. Her consummate skills and control of her instrument allows her to scat so effortlessly and naturally, her voice sounds and feels like a beautiful Bermuda breeze on an exquisite summer day. Her extensive knowledge of the depths and intricacies of this complex and difficult artform, permits her to navigate deep inside the chord changes as if her voice were a horn and a finely tuned and calibrated laser beam performing complicated and complex musical surgery with us the patient experiencing a painfree euphoria and cultural bliss. God, what a magnificent singer!

Her partners in musical crime on this date is the wonderfully explosive King Fleming Septet, with whom she has worked from her early beginnings. The set opens with an intoxicating "Fine and Dandy" and boy is it just that! It seques into a beautiful ballad rendition of "Fooling Myself". Her velvety soft dynamics paint exquisite pastel colours that flow into a rambunc-tious "D.B.Blues. She scats playfully and rhythmically with the band underpinning her playful romp right through to "You're Driving Me Crazy"."Easy Living" is soft and easy, while "Polka Dots and Moonbeams" become her personal vehicle where she takes us on a breathless floating journey to the cosmos. Here the timbre of her voice and her phrasing clearly shows Sarah's influence on Lorez whom she idolized and adored.

Charles Stepney's vibes and Paul Serrano's muted trumpet create a exquisite palette for Lorez to paint these magnificent colours and textures resulting in a gorgeous latticework of golden embroidered elegance. She has made this ballad hers. Floating right on through "This Years Kisses", "There Will Never Be Another You", bouncing merrilly through "No Eyes Blues"
and ending with a scatting tour de force with the entire band making "Jumpin' With Symphony Sid" a real live Jam Session.

Rounding out the band is King Fleming on piano, Sy Hubb on bass trumpet, Earl May on bass, and Vernell Fournier on drums. There is no producer credited. This is a smokin' tribute to Prez.

Although highly regarded and admired by her peers, and devotedly adored by her fans, Miss Alexandria's struggle for proper respect and recognition for her work continued until her passing last year. She was disgracefully treated and horrendously victimised with racism by the powers that be, because of her strong nonobsequious personality and uncompromising sense of self and ethnic pride. As a result she was blatantly robbed of her rightful status in the industry. Systematically denied respect and exposure to a wide audience, she was banished and relegated to virtual obscurity her entire career which spanned over 45 years!

Blessed with a voice more melodic, controlled and unique than Carmen McRae, and far more refined and elegant than Billie Holiday along with a discography in excess of 30 odd albums, her treatment at the hands of the industry was deplorable and down right criminal. It absolutely astonishes everyone who is just becoming aware of this magnificent womans' gifts how someone so gifted and talented with such a wide body of glorius and stupendous work could be kept from being exposed to the wider world for some 45 years!

Her illustrious body of work which includes her additional five masterpieces: "This Is Lorez", Sing No Sad Songs For Me", "Deep Roots", Alexandria The Great", and "More Of The Great Lorez Alexandria" securely and firmly establishes her place in the pantheon of the Queens of this African-American artform called Jazz, right beside the other two greatest singers of all time: Sarah Vaughn and Ella Fitzgerald. Everyone take off your hats and your shoes and genuflect to the uncrowned third Queen of Jazz, The Illustrious and Effulgent Miss Lorez Alexandria. Rest in Peace Lorez, you will finally begin to receive your just due.

Abdul R. Hakeem
Jazz Singer and Devoted Fan
Hamilton, Bermuda

Lorez Sings Prez:A Brilliant Tribute From A Brilliant Artist.......2003-02-16

In a small intimate club setting, Miss Alexandria's awesome performance promulgates quite emphatically a sterling empirical fact: in concurrence with the more erudite Jazz cognoscenti, she is indeed one of the three greatest Jazz Singers who ever lived. During this magnificent live set recorded in 1958, all of her superb artistic skills are in abundance even at this early stage of her career. Her brilliant command of dynamics, formidable sense of rhythm and timing, her flawless phrasing, impeccable diction and intonation are all stunningly evident throughout her performance.

Miss Alexandria's astute and dynamic musicianship permits her to be in complete cohesion with her bandmates throughout this album. Her tight interplay with her musicians, and total command of the musical environment gives the effect of her voice being just another instrument in the whole aggregation. Her consummate skills and control of her instrument allows her to scat so effortlessly and naturally, her voice sounds and feels as if it were a beautiful Bermuda breeze on an exquisite summer day.

Her extensive knowledge of the depths and intricacies of this complex artform, permits her to navigate deep inside the chord changes as if her voice were a horn and a highly calibrated laser beam performing complicated and perplexing musical surgery, with us the patient experiencing a painfree euphoria of cultural bliss. God, what a magnificent singer!

Her partners in musical crime on this date is the wonderfully explosive King Fleming Septet, with whom she has worked from her beginnings. The set opens with an intoxicating "Fine and Dandy" and boy is it just that! It seques into a beautiful ballad rendition of "Fooling Myself". Her velvety soft dynamics paint exquisite pastels that flow into a rambuctious "D.B.Blues. She scats playfully and rhythmically with the band underpinning her playful romp right through to "You're Driving Me Crazy". "Easy Living" is soft and easy, while "Polka Dots and Moonbeams" become her personal vehicle where she takes us on a breathless floating journey to the cosmos. Here, the timbre of her voice and her phrasing clearly shows Sarah's influence whom she idolized and adored.

Charles Stepney's vibes and Paul Serrano's muted trumpet create an exquisite palette for Lorez to paint magnificent colours and textures resulting in a gorgeous latticework of golden embroidered elegance. She has made this ballad hers. Floating right on through to "This Years Kisses", "There Will Never Be Another You", and bouncing merrily through "No Eyes Blues" and ending with a scatting tour de force with the entire band making "Jumpin' With Symphony Sid" a real live Jam Session.

Rounding out the band is King Fleming on piano of course, Sy Tubb on bass trumpet and trombone, Earl May on bass, and Vernell Fournier on drums. The arrangements and the production were the brilliant work of the aforementioned bandleader; King Fleming. This is a smokin' tribute to Prez.

Although a brilliant artist, and highly regarded and adored by her peers and fans, Lorez was deplorably treated and horrendously victimised with racism by the powers that be. As a result of her nonobsequious personality and strong sense of ethnic pride, she was blatantly robbed of her rightful status in the industry. Systematically denied respect and exposure to a wider audience, she was banished and forced to exist in Sarah's shadow and relegated to virtual obscurity her entire career which spanned over 45 years! Her struggle for respect for her work and knowledge of her existence by the masses continued until her passing in 2001 at the age of 71. Adored by Sarah, Miles, Dakota, Dizzy and all the greats, she was continuously ignored by the powerful industry insiders for refusing to compromise her integrity and independence.

Blessed with a voice more melodic, controlled and unique than Carmen McRae, and far more refined and elegant than Billie Holliday's, along with a discography in excess of 30 odd albums, her treatment at the hands of the industry was down right criminal. How could an artist so magnificently gifted with a body of work so extensive remain virtually unknown except to the most knowledgable Jazz enthusiasts for the past 45 years? It was a disgraceful travesty of justice by this industry.

Her illustrious body of work which includes her additional masterpieces: "This Is Lorez", Sing No Sad Songs For Me", "Deep Roots", Alexandria The Great", and "More Of The Great Lorez Alexandria" securely and firmly establishes her place in the pantheon of the Queens of this African-American artform called Jazz. She belongs right beside the other two greatest Jazz Singers of all time: Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald.
Everyone take off your hats and your shoes and genuflect to the uncrowned third Queen of Jazz: the Glorious and Effulgent Lorez Alexandria.

Your time has finally come Lorez, you will now ultimately begin to receive your just due. We love you. Rest In Peace.

Abdul R. Hakeem Jazz Singer and Devoted Fan. Hamilton, Bermuda

Superb jazz musicianship from a gifted singer.......2002-02-25

Never having heard her in live performance, I can judge the late Lorez Alexandria solely on the basis of her recordings. On that basis, my opinion is that she is not of the stature of a Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan or Ella Fitzgerald. But she's very close.

On this live, club-date recording--which appears to date from the 1950s, subtitled "A Tribute to Lester Young"--she's backed by a rhythm section, a trumpet and a trombone, as well as a vibraphone on one cut.

Alexandria clearly was already a very confident, polished performer when this date was recorded; her phrasing and scatting are perfection and her interaction with the other musicians is easy yet tight at the same time.

While I prefer her choice of material and backup on the later "Deep Roots" (1960), on this reissue CD Alexandria makes standards like "Fine and Dandy," "Easy Living" and "There Will Never Be Another You" very much her own. Her voice is rich, supple and expressive, but the most singular aspect of this CD is her scatting.

Unlike many jazz singers of her generation, Alexandria was a natural at scatting (compare her work to Dianne Reeves's pretentious, overwrought live performances on recording).
On a number of cuts, her confident, straight-ahead scatting makes her voice simply another of several instruments on the bandstand.

The recording quality on this CD is good, but a major problem is the absence of any credits, dates, or liner notes. Still, we are fortunate to have this and other CDs that allow Alexandria's stellar work to live on.

Tribute to Lester
Average customer rating:

Lester's Absence, In Spirit and Sound

musical fraud

Boodbye Lester

the AEC vision re-focused

A touching, fully-realized tribute...

Tribute to Lester
The Art Ensemble of Chicago
Manufacturer: Ecm Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Avant Garde & Free Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
General | Jazz | Styles | Music
ECM Classical | ECM Records | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music
ECM Jazz & World | ECM Records | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Coming Home Jamaica

Urban Bushmen

Sound Grammar

The Cellar Door Sessions 1970

ASIN: B0000AGDA5
Release Date: 2003-08-26

Tracks:

Sangaredi
Suite For Lester
Zero/Alternate Line
Tutankhamun
As Clear As The Sun
He Speaks To Me Often In Dreams

Amazon.com

It's hard not to think of how much more enjoyable this tribute to the late, great Lester Bowie would be if he were still around to play trumpet on it. Reduced to a trio by the passing of Bowie in 1999 and the resignation of reed player Joseph Jarman, who left to devote himself to his duties as a Shinsu Buddhist priest and to indulge in other musical pursuits, the Art Ensemble of Chicago lacks the exuberance it once did. That's partly because there's not enough to offset the basic dryness of reedman Roscoe Mitchell's personality, as reflected in the deliberate "Suite for Lester," which takes an all-too-tasteful classical turn. Still, the band's return to ECM, for which it made some excellent albums at the turn of the '80s, occasions some winning sonic excursions by Mitchell, bassist Malachi Favors Moghostut, and drummer Famoudou Don Moye. And give credit to the Art Ensemble for refusing to do what other bands have after a legend departs, which is to try and replace someone who is irreplaceable. --Lloyd Sachs

Customer Reviews:

Lester's Absence, In Spirit and Sound.......2004-11-01

Lester Bowie was, in many ways, the heart and soul of the AEoC. His technique may not have ranked among the greats, but his sly sense of humor and expressive slurs helped define the group as much as their colorful costumes and "little instruments." When he died, the Art Ensemble died with him, so one would think. Yet the group rallied to produce a wonderful tribute to him that succeeds not only as a tribute, but as a cohesive piece of work. Blessed with the wonderful production values of ECM, you can finally hear with perfect clarity every rattle and shake. It gets frenzied during the soprano sax workouts, it bobs and sways during the rhythm-based opener, and fades to a gorgeous finish of found sounds and beats. This is an album that will obviously appeal to AEoC fans, but also to the uninitiated. How sad that Malachi Favors, the bass player on this cd, died shortly thereafter. Yet if any group can rally, can produce another album that pays fitting tribute to a legendary figure and yet also stand on its own as solid jazz, it is this group.

musical fraud.......2004-02-06

The Art Ensemble of Chicago does not create music, they make noise with msical instruments. They take creative license to an absurdity of sounds that have absolutely no coherence as a group. Each musician is making independent sounds that lack any relation to any kind of central theme. Their music is not within any rational definition of jazz or realistically, any kind of western music.

Boodbye Lester.......2004-01-09

Gli amanti dell'Art Ensemble of Chicago non potranno che commuoversi ascoltando il tributo al compianto Lester Bowie, scomparso improvvisamente nel 1999. I tre reduci del glorioso quintetto (Joseph Jarman si dedica ormai esclusivamente alla meditazione ed all'Aikido), hanno inciso un album in cui l'assenza degli assoli da Brass Band di Lester Bowie (supremo erede di Louis Armstrong), non è certo nascosta, anzi diventa il punto di partenza per una costante evocazione del vecchio compagno di viaggio, attraverso un distillato di suoni sommessamente meravigliosi.
Arthur Cravan

the AEC vision re-focused.......2003-12-08

My first reaction to the idea of the AEC as a trio was that it was a bad idea -- going on without Joseph Jarman was one thing, but without Lester Bowie as well? But I was mistaken -- this is an excellent album, and indeed, a fine tribute to Lester. If you've heard any of Roscoe Mitchell's recent solo recordings, you will immediately detect that this is different, that it is indeed the AEC, when you hear the ritualistic, Pan-African percussion opening number composed by Famoudou Don Moye, "Sangaredi." If you've ever seen them live, you can just picture Moye and Favors in full African regalia... Roscoe eventually moves from percussion to sax, with some blasts on a bass saxophone, and a two-note figure that somehow conveys all the feeling of a more developed melody. Mitchell's "Suite for Lester" begins with an elegy on alto, followed by a Bach-like piece for flute, and an up-tempo R&B sketch on the bass sax -- three stages in the grieving process. Roscoe reworks the Bowie number "Zero" next, with its memorable melodic line, and then comes a powerful version of "Tutankhamun," an old composition by the bassist, Malachi Favors Moghostut. Compared to a 1969 Paris recording of the piece (with Favors, Mitchell, Jarman & Bowie -- no percussion), this new version is tighter, clearer and stronger. The collective improvisation "As Clear as the Sun" features Roscoe utilizing circular breathing to produce a continuous solo of over ten minutes on soprano sax. Depending on your mood this can be exhausting, but if you bring some energy to it, it is exhilarating -- the invention and variation does not flag over the soaring flight. Finally, "He Speaks to Me Often in Dreams," a percussion improvisation, returns to the mystery of sound and space where the ritual began.

In retrospect, perhaps it's not so surprising that this is a strong record. The late 1980s and early 1990s were not a good time for the AEC -- their energy and vision faltered, and the members' various side projects did not seem inspired either. Jarman left the group to build a Buddhist center in Brooklyn. The last strong AEC album was "The Alternative Express," released on DIW in 1989. ("Coming Home Jamaica" from 1998 was particularly disappointing, as they had not recorded for several years.) But then Roscoe Mitchell got a fresh wind, and began to release a series of superb records -- the 2-disc solo "Sound Songs" on Delmark in 1997, "The Day and the Night" on Dizim in 1998 with a trio, and the "Nine to Get Ready" nonet on ECM in 1999. Roscoe was the original leader of the group, and so it seems that his revitalization and the renewed connection with the ECM label, along with the sad death of Lester Bowie, paved the way for this outstanding recording.

Lester would be happy to know that the Spirit lives on!

A touching, fully-realized tribute..........2003-11-12

Even downsized to a trio, the Art Ensemble raises a mighty noise on this tribute to their fallen member. The group was and is an equanimous collective, but if any one person embodied their spirit the most and could be said to be the "leader" of the group, it was Bowie. There is a wide range of styles and moods on the album (always the case with any AEOC disc), from the sprightly "Sangaredi" to the almost-baroque "Suite for Lester", but the highlight has to be Roscoe Mitchell's wailing soprano sax in the nearly thirteen-minute "As Clear as the Sun". As with all ECM releases, the packaging is tasteful and sublime and the sound quality pristine.

Average customer rating:

Tribute to Lester
The Art Ensemble of Chicago
Manufacturer: Universal
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Avant Garde & Free Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0000CD7WB
Release Date: 2003-11-03

Tracks:

Sangaredi
Suite for Lester
Zero/Alternate Line
Tutankhamun
As Clear as the Sun
He Speaks to Me Often in Dreams

Jazz Music:

Jazz Music

Jazz Music