Jiggity jaggety
fred udrah | south california | 08/10/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Lush & dense spiky highbrow cocktail music.... intimate semi-big band which at times sounds like a fantasy of charles ives, frank zappa, & charles mingus, all playing together in one room.. Even tho the year is 1977, there are elements that are a precursor to what later became known as "world music". Every member of the troop plays acutely. Great Fun."
If Charles Ives had been born 75 years later...
m_noland | Washington, DC United States | 01/21/2001
(4 out of 5 stars)
"he might have written something like "Spangled Banner Minor and Other Patriotic Songs" which... plunders not only "The Star Spangled Banner," but "Deutschland Uber Alles," "La Marseillaise," and the "Colonel Bogey March" as well (hey, this was a _European_ tour). This disk is dated in a pleasant sort of way: some of the soloing is pretty "out there" and due to the economics, it is hard to imagine anyone touring today with a band like this one, consisting of ten musicians each formidable soloists in their own right. Bley's writing and arranging are strong. The 19 minute "Spangled Banner Minor..." is the standout cut."