''Live in Europe'' is a live album by American jazz ensemble
Rashied Ali Quintet, led by drummer Ali, and featuring saxophonist Lawrence Clark, trumpeter Josh Evans, pianist Greg Murphy, and bassist
Joris Teepe. Featuring two long performances of pieces by Ali's former bandmate
James "Blood" Ulmer, it was recorded on November 2, 2007, at Jazz Happening in Tampere, Finland, and was issued in 2009 by Ali's label,
Survival Records
Survival, or the act of surviving, is the propensity of something to continue existing, particularly when this is done despite conditions that might kill or destroy it. The concept can be applied to humans and other living things (or, hypotheti ...
.
The album's release, which occurred shortly before Ali's death, was celebrated by a live performance at New York's Zinc Bar. According to his widow, Patricia, "he was at the top of his game until his last day."
Reception
In a review for
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 ...
, Alex Henderson called the album "a consistently absorbing document of Ali's Jazz Happening appearance," and stated that "both sides of Ali -- his avant-garde side and his post-bop side -- assert themselves with exciting, often explosive results."
A writer for ''The Free Jazz Collective'' wrote: "The music is great, nothing boundary-breaking, but quite entertaining, showing that even at the age of 76, Rashied Ali was still among the best drummers."
Josef Woodard of ''
JazzTimes'' called the band an "impressive, loosely avant-spirited quintet" that "engagingly splits the difference of freedom and structure," and commented: "Ali's real artistic sense of direction ran simultaneously forward and backward while always managing to sound current."
Writing for ''
All About Jazz'', Kurt Gottschalk called the album "a surprising step" on Ali's musical journey, on which the drummer "soldiers on along the path Trane set," and praised the performance of "Theme for Captain Black," which is "energetically played, particularly by Ali and... Teepe, who leaps out across the set."
Track listing
# "Intro" – 0:36
# "Theme for Captain Black" (
James Ulmer
James "Blood" Ulmer (born February 8, 1940) is an American jazz, free funk and blues guitarist and singer. Ulmer plays a Gibson Byrdland guitar. His guitar sound has been described as "jagged" and "stinging". His singing has been called "ragg ...
) – 25:58
# "Lourana" (Lawrence Clark) – 11:42
# "Thing for Joe" (James Ulmer) – 29:06
Personnel
*
Rashied Ali – drums
* Lawrence Clark – tenor saxophone
* Josh Evans – trumpet
* Greg Murphy – piano
*
Joris Teepe – bass
References
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2009 live albums
Rashied Ali live albums
Live free jazz albums
Survival Records live albums