Bells for the South Side Roscoe Mitchell

• 1 Spatial Aspects of the Sound 12:14
• 2 Panoply 07:36
• 3 Prelude to a Rose 12:44
• 4 Dancing in the Canyon 10:23
• 5 EP 7849 08:13
• 6 Bells for the South Side 12:35
• 7 Prelude to the Card Game, Cards for Drums, and the Final Hand 16:03
• 8 The Last Chord 12:26
• 9 Six Gongs and Two Woodblocks 07:50
• 10 R509A Twenty B 01:34
• 11 Red Moon in the Sky / Odwalla 25:49
• Total Runtime 02:07:27

Info for Bells for the South Side

Roscoe Mitchell contrasts and – for the first time - combines the sounds and distinctive characters of his four trios in an exhilarating double album recorded at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art. Multi-instrumentalist and composer Mitchell had been invited to premiere new music at the museum, in the context of the exhibition The Freedom Principle, which celebrated the directions in music and art set in motion by the AACM on Chicago’s South Side. He offers what amounts to a composer self-portrait in continually changing colours and textures, reflecting on his own history while looking toward the future. Two pieces – including the title composition – draw upon the full percussion instrumentarium of the Art Ensemble of Chicago – a panorama of gongs, bells, rattles, sirens, hand drums and more. Along the way there are remarkable contributions by all participants, among them a lyrical bass guitar feature for Jaribu Shahid on “EP 7849”, a heart-dilating solo by Tani Tabbal on “Cards for Drums”, an extended trumpet feature for Hugh Ragin on the title track, evocative and atmospheric electronics from Craig Taborn and James Fei on “Red Moon in the Sky”, and plenty of Mitchell’s powerhouse saxophones throughout, from the piercing sopranino down to the mighty bass sax. The performance is concluded with “Odwalla”, the Mitchell-composed theme song of the Art Ensemble.

Roscoe Mitchell, sopranino, soprano, alto and bass saxophones, flute, piccolo, bass recorder, percussion
James Fei, sopranino and alto saxophones, contra-alto clarinet, electronicsHugh Ragin: trumpet, piccolo trumpet
Tyshawn Sorey, trombone, piano, drums, percussion
Craig Taborn, piano, organ, electronics
Jaribu Shahid, double bass, bass guitar, percussion
Tani Tabbal, drums, percussion
Kikanju Baku, drums, percussion
William Winant, percussion, tubular bells, glockenspiel, vibraphone, marimba, roto toms, cymbals, bass drum, woodblocks, timpani

Roscoe Mitchell
born 1940 in Chicago, has been a restless explorer of forms, ideas and concepts for more than 50 years and, as player, composer and thinker, has been an inspiration for successive generations of musicians. In 1966 his album Sound brought a new dynamic into improvised music with emphases on texture and silences and group creativity and set some directions for the shape of new jazz to come - directions further crystallized in the pioneering work of the Art Ensemble of Chicago, whose ECM albums include Nice Guys, Full Force, Urban Bushmen, and Tribute to Lester. In 2004, Roscoe Mitchell co-led the Transatlantic Art Ensemble with Evan Parker (albums: Composition/ Improvisation Nos. 1, 2 and 3 and Boustrophedon). Recordings with Mitchell’s Note Factory band on ECM are Nine To Get Ready and Far Side.

2017 has seen Roscoe Mitchell working across a characteristically broad range of idioms, beginning the year with a series of tributes to John Coltrane, followed by a London residency with the Art Ensemble, and premieres of new orchestral music with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra Del Teatro Comunale Di Bologna. Activities in the coming months include solo performances and trio work.

Booklet for Bells for the South Side