Kabalaba - Live At Montreux Jazz Festival

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Editor's info:
Another historical recording from one of the most prolific groups in jazz. Recorded live in Montreaux, in 1974, Kabalaba captures the Art Ensemble during a very strong period for the group. With Muhal Richard Abrahams featured as a special guest, this is a very rare treasure. Kabalaba was originally released on vinyl independently on the Art Ensemble's own label (AECO) in the 70's and reissued on CD in limited quantities. This is the first time that this treasure will be widely available.

www.allmusic.com:
One of several recordings issued by the Art Ensemble's own label and the only one to document the group as a whole, Kabalaba is a live, 1974 performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival by the same augmented band (with the addition of Muhal Richard Abrams) that recorded the superb Fanfare for the Warriors album for Atlantic. While not as heady as that release, Kabalaba offers a typical example of the Art Ensemble's live concerts from around that time.

There are several percussion interludes and solo horn features interspersed among stronger thematic pieces such as Theme for Sco, which gets an energetic workout here. Roscoe Mitchell produces an especially acerbic solo alto piece, Improvization A2 [sic], all gnarls and bitter asides, followed by one of Lester Bowie's patently puckish, smear-filled outings. The concert ends with a free-for-all multi-horn blowout that dwindles off without apparent conclusion, though the group sees fit to add several unnecessary minutes of audience applause to conclude the album. This recording contains several fine episodes, but the interested listener would do better to hear the aforementioned Atlantic album for a full picture of this particular Art Ensemble incarnation's great powers.
by Brian Olewnick