''Blues Forever'' is an album by

Muhal Richard Abrams Muhal Richard Abrams (born Richard Lewis Abrams; September 19, 1930 – October 29, 2017) was an American educator, administrator, composer, arranger, clarinetist, cellist, and jazz pianist in the free jazz medium. He recorded and toured the Uni ...

, released by the Italian label

Black Saint Black Saint and Soul Note are two affiliated Italian independent record labels. Since their conception in the 1970s, they have released albums from a variety of influential jazz musicians, particularly in the genre of free jazz. History Black S ...

in 1982 and featuring performances of seven of Abrams compositions by an eleven-member big band.

Critical reception

The

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

review by Ron Wynn stated: "Although every arrangement doesn't click, the band successfully romps and stomps through enough cuts to show that the big band sound doesn't just mean "ghost" groups recreating dusty numbers from the 1930s and 1940s." ''

The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...

'' called the album "Abrams's crowning achievement". ''

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 ...

'' described it as "a sparkling big-band date with some demanding charts and a vivid sub-current of the blues".

Track listing

* All compositions by Muhal Richard Abrams # "Ancient and Future Reflections" – 6:46 # "Du King" (Dedicated to

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...

) – 2:00 # "Chambea" – 7:30 # "Duet for One World" – 4:53 # "Blues Forever" – 9:01 # "Cluster for Many Worlds" – 5:02 # "Quartet to Quartet" – 7:09

Personnel

– piano, conductor *

Baikida Carroll Baikida Carroll (born January 15, 1947) is an American jazz trumpeter. Carroll studied at Southern Illinois University and at the Armed Forces School of Music. Following this he became a member of the Black Artists Group in St. Louis, where he dir ...

– trumpet, flugelhorn *

Craig Harris Craig S. Harris (born September 10, 1953) is an American jazz trombonist, who started working with Sun Ra in 1976. He also has worked with Abdullah Ibrahim, David Murray, Lester Bowie, Cecil Taylor, Sam Rivers, Muhal Richard Abrams, and Char ...

– trombone * Wallace Leroy McMillan – baritone saxophone, flute * Jimmy Vass – alto saxophone, flute * Eugene Ghee – tenor saxophone, clarinet *

Vincent Chancey Vincent Chancey (born February 4, 1950) is an American jazz hornist. Early life and education Chancey was born and raised in Chicago. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from the SIUC School of Music in 1973 and studied under Julius W ...

– French horn * Howard Johnson – tuba, baritone saxophone *

Jean-Paul Bourelly Jean-Paul Etienne Bourelly (born November 23, 1960) is an American guitarist whose music crosses the boundaries of jazz fusion and rock. Bourelly was born in Chicago, Illinois, to parents from Haiti. His grandmother taught him Yoruba music. When ...

– guitar * Michael Logan – bass *

Andrew Cyrille Andrew Charles Cyrille (born November 10, 1939) is an American avant-garde jazz drummer. Throughout his career, he has performed both as a leader and a sideman in the bands of Walt Dickerson and Cecil Taylor, among others. AllMusic biographe ...

– drums

References

{{Authority control 1982 albums Muhal Richard Abrams albums Black Saint/Soul Note albums