Levels and Degrees of Light

Last updated
Levels and Degrees of Light
Levels and Degrees of Light.jpg
Studio album by
Released1968
RecordedJune 7 and December 21, 1967
Studio
  • Sound Studios (Chicago)
  • Ter Mar (Chicago)
Genre Jazz
Length43:16
Label Delmark
DS-413
Producer Robert G. Koester
Muhal Richard Abrams chronology
Levels and Degrees of Light
(1968)
Young at Heart/Wise in Time
(1974)

Levels and Degrees of Light is the debut album by Muhal Richard Abrams which was released on the Delmark label in 1968 and features performances of three of Abrams' compositions by Abrams, Anthony Braxton, Leroy Jenkins, Charles Clark, Gordon Emmanuel, Maurice McIntyre, Thurman Barker and Leonard Jones with vocals by Penelope Taylor and a poetry recitation by David Moore. [1]

Contents

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [2]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [3]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [4]

The Allmusic review by Brian Olewnick calling it "a landmark album that launched the first in a long line of beautiful, musical salvos from the AACM toward the mainstream jazz world... This is a milestone recording and belongs in the collection of any modern jazz fan". [5] The Penguin Guide to Jazz awarded the album 3 stars stating "Levels and Degrees of Light would be a slightly difficult record to place in a blindfold test. It is certainly not untypical of the Chicago experimentation of the period, except it seems much less chaotic, much more responsive to European tradition". [3] The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide said the album "features an intriguing first side with wordless vocal and several AACM stalwarts...but falls apart in the poorly recorded wall of sound that covers side two". [4]

Track listing

All compositions by Muhal Richard Abrams except as indicated

  1. "Levels and Degrees of Light" - 10:33
  2. "The Bird Song" (Abrams, David Moore) - 23:00
  3. "My Thoughts Are My Future - Now and Forever" - 9:43

Personnel

Related Research Articles

Muhal Richard Abrams Musical artist

Muhal Richard Abrams was an American educator, administrator, composer, arranger, clarinetist, cellist, and jazz pianist in the free jazz medium. He recorded and toured the United States, Canada and Europe with his orchestra, sextet, quartet, duo and as a solo pianist. His musical affiliations constitute a "who's who" of the jazz world, including Max Roach, Dexter Gordon, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Art Farmer, Sonny Stitt, Anthony Braxton, and The Art Ensemble of Chicago.

The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) is a nonprofit organization, founded in 1965 in Chicago by pianist Muhal Richard Abrams, pianist Jodie Christian, drummer Steve McCall, and composer Phil Cohran. The AACM is devoted "to nurturing, performing, and recording serious, original music," according to its charter. It supports and encourages jazz performers, composers and educators. Although founded in the jazz tradition, the group's outreach and influence has, according to Larry Blumenfeld, "touched nearly all corners of modern music."

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References

  1. Jazzlists: Delmark Records discography: 400 series accessed September 23, 2019
  2. Allmusic review
  3. 1 2 Cook, Richard; Brian Morton (2006) [1992]. The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings . The Penguin Guide to Jazz (8th ed.). London: Penguin. pp.  4–5. ISBN   978-0-141-02327-4.
  4. 1 2 Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 3. ISBN   0-394-72643-X.
  5. Olewnick, B.Allmusic Review accessed April 1, 2009