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Slipping And Sliding
''Slipping and Sliding'' is an album by the all-star jazz group The Leaders. It was recorded in June 1993 and January 1994 in Brooklyn, New York, and was released in 1994 by the Japanese label Sound Hills Records. The album features performances by tenor saxophonist Chico Freeman, alto saxophonist Arthur Blythe, trumpeter Lester Bowie, pianist Kirk Lightsey, bassist Cecil McBee, and drummer Don Moye. Reception The authors of the ''Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings'' stated: "''Slipping and Sliding'' reinforces the Art Ensemble analogy more than we might have expected, with an emphasis on showmanship and pure theatre that might dismay some listeners. However, the sheer range of musicianship is what sustains this band and there is enough quality playing from just about every position to satisfy even the most finicky." A reviewer for Jazz Times wrote: "the album establishes something akin to the mid-'60s eclecticism of many classic Blue Notes, allowing... wide-open improvisation." Tr ...
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The Leaders
The Leaders is a jazz supergroup formed in 1983. The initial lineup of the Leaders was put together in 1983 by saxophonist Chico Freeman and featured trumpeter Don Cherry, alto saxophonist Arthur Blythe, along with a rhythm section of pianist Don Pullen, bassist Cecil McBee, and drummer Famoudou Don Moye. In the second incarnation of the Leaders in 1984, pianist Don Pullen was replaced with Hilton Ruiz. In 1985, the third and final incarnation of the Leaders, pianist Hilton Ruiz was replaced by Kirk Lightsey and trumpeter Don Cherry was replaced by Lester Bowie. The Leaders released four albums in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The rhythm section also recorded one album on their own as The Leaders Trio (''Heaven Dance'', 1988). In 2007 a new and reconstituted Leaders, again formed by Chico Freeman consisted of Freeman and McBee alongside Eddie Henderson on trumpet, Bobby Watson on alto, Fred Harris on piano, and Billy Hart on drums, released the album '' Spirits Alike''. Disc ...
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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, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major form of musical expression in traditional and popular music. Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, complex chords, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation. Jazz has roots in European harmony and African rhythmic rituals. As jazz spread around the world, it drew on national, regional, and local musical cultures, which gave rise to different styles. New Orleans jazz began in the early 1910s, combining earlier brass band marches, French quadrilles, biguine, ragtime and blues with collective polyphonic improvisation. But jazz did not begin as a single musical tradition in New Orleans or elsewhere. In the 1930s, arranged dance-oriented swing big bands, Kansas City jazz (a hard-swinging, bluesy, improvisationa ...
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Unforeseen Blessings
''Unforeseen Blessings'' is a jazz album released in 1989. It was the third album by the all-star jazz group The Leaders and the second to be released on the Italian Black Saint label. The album features performances by Lester Bowie, Chico Freeman, Arthur Blythe, Cecil McBee, Kirk Lightsey and Don Moye. Reception The AllMusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album with two stars stating "Other than Lightsey's contributions, this effort is surprisingly forgettable."Yanow, SAllMusic Reviewaccessed August 2, 2011 The authors of the ''Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings'' called the album "curious," and noted: "The pianist plays unaccompanied on the opening track and two others, and is the most prominent soloist. Bowie only has one extensive feature... and there is precious little from Blythe and Freeman." Don Snowden of the ''Los Angeles Times'' commented: "'Unforeseen Session' is more like it. Only five of the 13 selections sport the Leaders' full sextet line-up -- the remainder a ...
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Spirits Alike
''Spirits Alike'' is an album by the all-star jazz group The Leaders. It was recorded in August 2006 in New Jersey, and was released later that year by Double Moon Records. The album features performances by a reconstituted version of the band: original members Chico Freeman (tenor saxophone) and Cecil McBee (bass) are joined by alto saxophonist Bobby Watson (replacing Arthur Blythe), trumpeter Eddie Henderson (replacing Lester Bowie), pianist Fred Harris (replacing Kirk Lightsey), and drummer Billy Hart (replacing Don Moye). Reception In a review for AllMusic, Scott Yanow wrote: "the new Leaders are of the same high quality as the original group. The music, all originals from bandmembers, ranges from advanced hard bop to hints of the avant-garde, from bluesy material to a pair of duets by Freeman and McBee. Watson and Freeman in particular consistently take solo honors although all of the musicians fare well. Recommended." The authors of the ''Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings'' ...
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Chico Freeman
Chico Freeman (born Earl Lavon Freeman Jr.; July 17, 1949) is a modern jazz tenor saxophonist and trumpeter and son of jazz saxophonist Von Freeman. He began recording as lead musician in 1976 with ''Morning Prayer'', won the New York Jazz Award in 1979 and earned the Stereo Review Record of the Year in 1981 for his album ''The Outside Within''. Early years He was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Freeman was introduced to the trumpet by his brother Everett, who found a trumpet in the family basement. Freeman began playing, inspired by artists such as Miles Davis. He went to Northwestern University in 1967 with a scholarship for mathematics and played the trumpet in the school, but did not begin playing the saxophone until his junior year. After practicing eight to ten hours per day and trying out for the saxophone section, Freeman quickly changed his major to music, and graduated in 1972. By that time he was proficient in saxophone, trumpet, and piano. After graduation, ...
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Arthur Blythe
Arthur Murray Blythe (May 7, 1940 – March 27, 2017) was an American jazz alto saxophonist and composer. He was described by critic Chris Kelsey as displaying "one of the most easily recognizable alto sax sounds in jazz, big and round, with a fast, wide vibrato and an aggressive, precise manner of phrasing" and furthermore as straddling the avant garde and traditionalist jazz, often with bands featuring unusual instrumentation. Biography Born in Los Angeles, Blythe lived in San Diego, returning to Los Angeles when he was 19 years old. He took up the alto saxophone at the age of nine, playing R&B until his mid-teens when he discovered jazz. In the mid-1960s, Blythe was part of the Underground Musicians and Artists Association (UGMAA), founded by Horace Tapscott, on whose 1969 ''The Giant Is Awakened'' he made his recording debut. After moving to New York in the mid-1970s, Blythe worked as a security guard before being offered a place as sideman for Chico Hamilton (1975–77) ...
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Lester Bowie
Lester Bowie (October 11, 1941 – November 8, 1999) was an American jazz trumpet player and composer. He was a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and co-founded the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Biography Born in the historic village of Bartonsville in Frederick County, Maryland, United States, Bowie grew up in St Louis, Missouri. At the age of five he started studying the trumpet with his father, a professional musician. He played with blues musicians such as Little Milton and Albert King, and rhythm and blues stars such as Solomon Burke, Joe Tex, and Rufus Thomas. In 1965, he became Fontella Bass's musical director and husband. He was a co-founder of Black Artists Group (BAG) in St Louis. In 1966, he moved to Chicago, where he worked as a studio musician, and met Muhal Richard Abrams and Roscoe Mitchell and became a member of the AACM. In 1968, he founded the Art Ensemble of Chicago with Mitchell, Joseph Jarman, and Malachi Favors. He remained ...
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Kirk Lightsey
Kirkland "Kirk" Lightsey (born February 15, 1937, Detroit, Michigan) is an American jazz pianist. Biography Lightsey had piano instruction from the age of five and studied piano and clarinet through high school. After service in the Army, Lightsey worked in Detroit and California in the 1960s as an accompanist to singers. He also worked with jazz musicians such as Yusef Lateef, Betty Carter, Pharoah Sanders, Bobby Hutcherson, Sonny Stitt, Chet Baker, and Kenny Burrell. From 1979 to 1983 he toured with Dexter Gordon and was a member of The Leaders in the late 1980s. During the 1980s he led several sessions of his own, including duets with pianist Harold Danko. In the 1980s and since he has worked with Jimmy Raney, Clifford Jordan, Woody Shaw, David Murray, Joe Lee Wilson, Louis Stewart, Adam Taubitz, Harold Land and Gregory Porter. He is also an accomplished flautist and occasionally doubles on flute in live performances. He has been living in Paris since 2000. Discography ...
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Cecil McBee
Cecil McBee (born May 19, 1935) is an American jazz bassist. He has recorded as a leader only a handful of times since the 1970s, but has contributed as a sideman to a number of jazz albums. Biography Early life and career McBee was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States. He studied clarinet at school, but switched to bass at the age of 17, and began playing in local nightclubs. After gaining a music degree from Ohio Central State University, McBee spent two years in the U.S. Army, during which time he conducted the band at Fort Knox. In 1959, he played with Dinah Washington, and in 1962 he moved to Detroit, Michigan, where he worked with Paul Winter's folk-rock ensemble between 1963 and 1964. New York His jazz career began to take off in the mid-1960s, after he moved to New York, when he began playing and recording with a number of significant musicians including Miles Davis, Andrew Hill, Sam Rivers, Jackie McLean (1964), Wayne Shorter (1965–66), Charles Lloyd (1966), Y ...
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Don Moye
Donald Moye, Jr. (born May 23, 1946), known as Famoudou Don Moye, is an American jazz percussionist and drummer. He is most known for his involvement with the Art Ensemble of Chicago and is noted for his mastery of African and Caribbean percussion instruments and rhythmic techniques. Early life and education Moye was born in Rochester, New York, United States, and performed in various drum and bugle corps (including the Rochester Crusaders) during his youth, as well as church choir. Moye has commented that he really "didn't have an affinity for the bugle… and just kind of gravitated towards drums." He also took violin lessons during this time. Moye was exposed to jazz at an early age since his mother worked for a local social club, that had a jazz club next door, which hosted musicians such as Kenny Burrell and Jimmy McGriff. His family was also musically inclined; his uncles played saxophones and his father played drums. Also, his mother used to take him to various perform ...
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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 by Richard Cook and Brian Morton, two chroniclers of jazz resident in the United Kingdom. History The first edition was published in Britain by Penguin Books in 1992. Every subsequent two years, through 2010, a new edition was published with updated entries. The eighth and ninth editions, published in 2006 and 2008, respectively, each included 2,000 new CD listings. The title took on different forms over the lifetime of the work, as audio technology changed. The seventh edition was known as ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD'' while subsequent editions were titled ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings''. The earliest edition had the title ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, LP and Cassette''. Richard Cook died in 2007, prior to the comp ...
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Penguin Guide To Jazz Recordings
''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 by Richard Cook and Brian Morton, two chroniclers of jazz resident in the United Kingdom. History The first edition was published in Britain by Penguin Books in 1992. Every subsequent two years, through 2010, a new edition was published with updated entries. The eighth and ninth editions, published in 2006 and 2008, respectively, each included 2,000 new CD listings. The title took on different forms over the lifetime of the work, as audio technology changed. The seventh edition was known as ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD'' while subsequent editions were titled ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings''. The earliest edition had the title ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, LP and Cassette''. Richard Cook died in 2007, prior to the comp ...
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