''Saga of the Outlaws'' (subtitled "Ride of the Marauders: a polyphonic sonic tale of the old & new West") is a live album by saxophonist

Charles Tyler Admiral Sir Charles Tyler, GCB (1760 – 28 September 1835) was a naval officer in the British Royal Navy who gained fame during the Napoleonic Wars as a naval captain that fought at the Battle of Copenhagen (1801) and Battle of Trafalgar, beco ...

. It was recorded on May 20, 1976, at

Studio Rivbea Samuel Carthorne Rivers (September 25, 1923 – December 26, 2011) was an American jazz musician and composer. Though most famously a tenor saxophonist, he also performed on soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, flute, harmonica, piano and viola. A ...

in New York City, and was released in 1978 by

Nessa Records Nessa Records is an American jazz record label founded in Chicago in 1967 by producer Chuck Nessa. After working at Delmark Records for a year, Nessa started the label at the urging of Roscoe Mitchell and Lester Bowie. The first album was releas ...

. On the album, Tyler is joined by trumpeter Earl Cross, bassists

Ronnie Boykins Ronald Boykins (December 17, 1935 – April 20, 1980) was a jazz bassist and is best known for his work with pianist/bandleader Sun Ra, although he had played with such disparate musicians as Muddy Waters, Johnny Griffin, and Jimmy Witherspoon pri ...

and John Ore, and drummer

Steve Reid Steve Reid (January 29, 1944 – April 13, 2010) was an American jazz drummer who played with Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, James Brown, Fela Kuti, Kieran Hebden, and Sun Ra. He worked as a session drummer for Motown. Biography Born ...

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 ...

, Michael G. Nastos called the album "one of the quintessential epic pieces of free improvisation in history, a 37-minute, one-piece of pure emotion and depth of spirit," as well as "Charles Tyler's magnum opus, historically one of the most definitive free jazz statements of the '70s." He wrote: "Tyler and his extraordinary, vanguard quintet power their way through free bop with an edge that reflects a gunslinger's cool and vicious mentality, while allowing a shoot-'em-up feeding frenzy of wailing discourse that incorporates plenty of harmonic depth and counterpointed interworkings." The authors of ''

The 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 ...

'' included the album in their 2010 edition ''The History of the Music in the 1001 Best Albums'', commenting: "the energies flow back and forth between Tyler and Cross, with Reid... doing much of the supportive work. The basses'... deep rumble is always redolent of marching feet and galloping hooves and helps give the performance its sense of unstoppable impetus." Clifford Allen of '' All About Jazz'' remarked: "The rhythm section is superb, with Reid a tremendously telepathic player... Coupling him with the rock-solid anchors of Boykins and Ore... allows for a formidable and kaleidoscopic approach to rhythm that is nevertheless locked in forward motion." Writing for ''Point of Departure'', Ed Hazell stated that the album "is riveting from its opening moments. Every aspect of Tyler's music is at its absolute peak and this is perhaps Tyler's finest moment on record." Author John Litweiler called the album a "tour de force," noting that it "provides the logical sequel to Ornette Coleman's 'Ramblin' of 1959," and stating that it "is also a folktale, but this one shows the dissolution of faith that motivates 'Ramblin'; the two works heard in order summarize America's frontier story." In an article for ''The Hum'', Bradford Bailey described the album as a "thrill in listening from top to bottom," and wrote: "I can say with certain surety... that I still haven't figured it out. It puts you out of your depth, just were I want to be. One of the unsung greats... an absolute must."

Track listing

Composed by Charles Tyler. Track timings not provided. # "Chapter One" # "Chapter Two"

Personnel

– alto saxophone * Earl Cross – trumpet *

– bass (right channel) * John Ore – bass (left channel) *

– drums

References

{{Reflist 1978 live albums Charles Tyler (musician) albums Nessa Records live albums