''Numbers'' is an album by American jazz saxophonist

Roscoe Mitchell Roscoe Mitchell (born August 3, 1940) is an American composer, jazz instrumentalist, and educator, known for being "a technically superb – if idiosyncratic – saxophonist". ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' described him as "one of the key figures ...

, which was recorded in between 2003 and 2010 and released on the French

RogueArt RogueArt (also written Rogueart and Rogue Art) is a French independent record label based in Paris. It was founded by record producer Michel Dorbon in 2005 and specialises in jazz and improvised music. History RogueArt was founded by record p ...

label.''Numbers''
at RogueArt Records, accessed January 5, 2018

Reception

All About Jazz', John Sharpe said "Mitchell himself, playing alto saxophone, appears on just one out of 13 tracks, recorded in multiple sessions over an eight year period from 2002. Even though... little of the content would seem out of place individually in any Mitchell set list, the act of bringing these pieces together does make for a different experience. There is no indication as to whether the works are entirely through-composed or allow extemporization into their realization, but in spite of their abstraction, the consistent purity of tone and precision of delivery places them firmly in the contemporary new music camp." In a review for ''

DownBeat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'', Alain Drouot wrote: "''Numbers'' should not be viewed as a new chamber work for the reason that most of the musicians performing these solo and duo pieces... come from a particular musical sphere. They have also tested the improvised music and jazz waters... this collection of works can appear fairly academic. Still, their relative classicism should not overshadow the pure pleasure they provide." Marc Medwin, writing for Dusted Magazine, commented: "The performances could not be more committed. Each brims with vigor and is flawlessly executed."

Track listing

All compositions by Roscoe Mitchell except where noted # "Bells for New Orleans (Prelude)" – 1:33 # "9/9/99" – 10:33 # "Sketches" – 6:36 # "Because It's" (Mitchell,

e.e. cummings Edward Estlin Cummings, who was also known as E. E. Cummings, e. e. cummings and e e cummings (October 14, 1894 - September 3, 1962), was an American poet, painter, essayist, author and playwright. He wrote approximately 2,900 poems, two autobi ...

) – 2:14 # "This" (Mitchell, cummings) – 4:30 # "Dim" (Mitchell, cummings) – 5:47 # "Bells for New Orleans" – 5:01 # "WR/C 2A Opus I" – 9:49 # "8/8/88 1st Movement" – 4:24 # "8/8/88 2nd Movement" – 1:50 # "8/8/88 3rd Movement" – 3:33 # "9/9/09" – 7:09 # "Bells for New Orleans (Postlude)" – 2:11 *Recorded on February 13, 2003 at Systems Two, Brooklyn, NY (tracks 2, 4, 5 & 6) August 16, 2002 at Audio for the Arts, Madison, WI (track 3), February 10, 2010 at the Audio Studio, Duderstadt Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (tracks 9, 10 & 11), January 10th 2010 (track 8), March 27, 2010 (tracks 1, 7 & 13) and August 8, 2010 (track 12) at Mills College, Oakland, CA

Personnel

– compositions,

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

(track 8) *

Thomas Buckner Thomas Buckner (born 1941) is an American baritone vocalist specializing in the performance of contemporary classical music and improvised music. In his work, he utilizes a wide range of extended (non-traditional) vocal techniques. Buckner als ...

–

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

(tracks 4–6) * Joseph Kubera (tracks 2 & 4–6), Stephen Rush (tracks 9-11), Joan Wildman (track 3) –

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

*Nils Bultman –

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

(track 12) *Varten Manoogian –

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

(track 2) *Hans Sturm –

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

(track 3) * William Winant – tubular bells,

orchestra bells The glockenspiel ( or , : bells and : set) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the vibraphone. The gloc ...

vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist,' ...

(tracks 1, 7, 8 & 13)

References

{{Roscoe Mitchell 2011 live albums Roscoe Mitchell live albums RogueArt albums RogueArt live albums