One of the best Jazz Albums ever!
Lester Bowie
The sheer joy of making music is found in abundance in the sounds created by trumpeter-flugelhornist-percussionist Lester Bowie, a founding member of the Art Ensemble of Chicago and leader of his own 10-piece Brass Fantasy and the sextet known as the New York Organ Ensemble.A native of Frederick, Md., born Oct. 11, 1941, Bowie was reared in Little Rock, Ark., and St. Louis and began playing at age 5. He was leading a teen combo in St. Louis at the age of 16, then went into military service, returning to work with r&b groups and in support of his now-former wife Fontella Bass. Bowie worked in the backup bands for r&b sessions for the Chess label and was instrumental in the formation of the Black Artists Group in St. Louis before moving to Chicago in 1966.
In Chicago, Bowie became involved with the AACM and worked with Roscoe Mitchell, a grouping that with the addition of Joseph Jarman and Malachi Favors became the Art Ensemble of Chicago, a groundbreaking group that continues to this day (minus Jarman). While in Paris with the Art Ensemble in 1969-'70, Bowie recorded with a wide range of avant-garde players and made German recordings in the same period. In addition to his continuing role with the Art Ensemble, Bowie worked with Jack DeJohnette's New Directions and has followed a diverse career through the '80s and '90s. His bent notes, slurs, growls, half-valve effects and showy, comedic flair add a fun, light, bluesy quality to the Art Ensemble performances and recordings. His best recordings outside the Art Ensemble include The Fifth Power (Black Saint) and My Way (DIW).
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