''Velvet Songs'', (subtitled ''To Baba Fred Anderson'') is a double album by Chicago Trio, a collective jazz group consisting of saxophonist

Ernest Dawkins Ernest Dawkins (born 2 November 1953 in Chicago, Illinois, United States) is an American jazz saxophonist, principally active in free jazz and post-bop. Ernest Khabeer Dawkins was a neighbor of Anthony Braxton as a child. He played bass and dru ...

, bassist

Harrison Bankhead Harrison Bankhead is an American jazz double-bassist. Career Bankhead became associated with the Chicago jazz scene in the early-1980s. Early in his career, he performed with Fred Anderson on tour and at Anderson's Chicago club, the Velvet Lo ...

and drummer

Hamid Drake Hamid Drake (born August 3, 1955) is an American jazz drummer and percussionist. By the close of the 1990s, Hamid Drake was widely regarded as one of the best percussionists in jazz and improvised music. Incorporating Afro-Cuban, Indian, and Afr ...

. It was recorded live in 2008 at the

Velvet Lounge The Velvet Lounge was a nightclub in the South Loop of Chicago. It started as a jazz club and was called the "dusty epicenter of the Midwest's free form jazz scene." It was located at 2128 1/2 S. Indiana Avenue before moving to 67 E. Cermak when th ...

, the club owned by saxophonist Fred Anderson, 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.

Reception

The ''

Down Beat ' (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 ...

'' review by James Hale notes "Although recorded two years prior to Anderson’s death, the two discs are suffused with feeling for him, and there is a decidedly spiritual air about the performances."Hale, James. ''Velvet Songs'' review. ''Down Beat'' May 12: page 54. Print. The ''

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

'' review by John Sharpe states "Dawkins, as he has shown many times with his New Horizons Ensemble, cuts a dash as a fluent soloist, drawing upon a varied palette of reeds to create his swinging lope, at times bop-ish in his dancing oscillation around changing tonal centers, while at other times impassioned and unfettered."Sharpe, Joh
''Velvet Songs'' review
at

In her review for ''

JazzTimes ''JazzTimes'' is an American magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade of growth ...

'' Lyn Horton says "The Chicago Trio never steps outlandishly into untenable zones but maintains a sense of portending reverence."Horton, Ly
''Velvet Songs'' review
at ''

Track listing

All compositions by Ernest Dawkins, Harrison Bankhead, Hamid Drake Disc One # "Astral Projection" – 12:53 # "Sweet 22nd Street (The Velvet Lounge)" – 12:10 # "You Just Crossed My Mind" – 8:26 # "The Rumble" – 6:11 # "Peace and Blessings (to Fred)" – 9:21 # "Down n' the Delta" – 7:40 Disc Two # "Jah Music" – 9:54 # "Galaxies Beyond" – 5:47 # "Woman of Darfur" – 10:00 # "Waltz of Passion" – 8:56 # "Moi Tre Gran Garcon" – 17:44 # "One for Fred" – 17:19

Personnel

–

soprano sax The soprano saxophone is a higher-register variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument invented in the 1840s. The soprano is the third-smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists (from smallest to largest) of the soprillo, sop ...

alto sax 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 ...

tenor sax The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

–

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 ...

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

frame drum A frame drum is a drum that has a drumhead width greater than its depth. It is one of the most ancient musical instruments, and perhaps the first drum to be invented. It has a single drumhead that is usually made of rawhide, but man-made mat ...

References

{{authority control 2011 live albums Ernest Dawkins live albums RogueArt live albums