Rejoicing with the Light

Rejoicing with the Light
Studio album by Muhal Richard Abrams
Released	1983
Recorded	January 8–25, 1983
Genre	Jazz
Length	41:12
Label	Black Saint
Producer	Giovanni Bonandrini
Muhal Richard Abrams chronology

Last updated September 08, 2019

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[1]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz	^[2]

Rejoicing with the Light is an album by Muhal Richard Abrams released on the Italian Black Saint label in 1983 and featuring performances of five of Abrams' compositions by a fourteen-member orchestra.

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.

Black Saint and Soul Note are two affiliated Italian independent record labels. Since their conception in the 1970s, they have released albums from a variety of influential jazz musicians, particularly in the genre of free jazz.

Reception

The Allmusic review by Ron Wynn states "He led the orchestra through pieces that were sometimes introspective and other times jubilant and swinging, but never simple or predictable. This session was a challenging, instructive, and entertaining lesson in modern big band writing, arranging and performing".^[3] The Penguin Guide to Jazz awarded the album 3 stars stating "These albums seem even more compelling now than they did when they first came out, because it is clear where the leader's ideas are going".^[2]

The Penguin Guide to Jazz is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled by Richard Cook and Brian Morton, two well known chroniclers of jazz resident in the United Kingdom.

Track listing

'All compositions by Muhal Richard Abrams

"The Heart Is Love and "I Am"" - 10:25
"Blessed Be the Heavens at 12" - 9:33
"Bloodline" - 7:54
"Rejoicing with the Light" - 8:42
"Spiral to Clarity" - 4:38

Personnel

Muhal Richard Abrams: piano, conductor
Janette Moody: soprano voice
Warren Smith: percussion, timbales, vibraphone
John Purcell: clarinet, bass clarinet, piccolo, alto saxophone, oboe, flute
Jean-Paul Bourelly: guitar
Vincent Chancey: french Horn
Eugene Ghee: clarinet, bass clarinet, tenor saxophone
Patience Higgins: clarinet, alto clarinet, baritone saxophone
Marty Ehrlich: clarinet, alto saxophone, bass clarinet, flute
Craig Harris: trombone
Baikida Carroll: trumpet, flugelhorn
Howard Johnson: tuba, baritone saxophone, contrabass clarinet
Abdul Wadud: cello
Rick Rozie: bass
Andrew Cyrille: drums

The piano is an acoustic, stringed musical instrument invented in Italy by Bartolomeo Cristofori around the year 1700, in which the strings are struck by hammers. It is played using a keyboard, which is a row of keys that the performer presses down or strikes with the fingers and thumbs of both hands to cause the hammers to strike the strings.

Timbales or pailas are shallow single-headed drums with metal casing. They are shallower than single-headed tom-toms, and usually tuned much higher, especially for their size. The player uses a variety of stick strokes, rim shots, and rolls to produce a wide range of percussive expression during solos and at transitional sections of music, and usually plays the shells of the drum or auxiliary percussion such as a cowbell or cymbal to keep time in other parts of the song.

The vibraphone is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family. It consists of tuned metal bars, and is usually played by holding two or four soft mallets and striking the bars. People who play the vibraphone are called vibraphonists or vibraharpists.

Related Research Articles

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Consummation is an album by the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra. It was released in 1970 on Blue Note Records and re-released in 2002. It was recorded at A&R Studios in New York City. The album was nominated for a 1970 Grammy award in the "Best Jazz Performance - Large Group..." category. All tracks are also included on Mosaic's limited edition boxed set, The Complete Solid State Recordings of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra.

Miles & Quincy: Live at Montreux is a collaborative live album by American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis and conductor Quincy Jones. It was recorded at the 1991 Montreux Jazz Festival and released by Warner Bros. Records in 1993. For the first time in three decades, Davis returned to the songs arranged by Gil Evans from his past albums, including Miles Ahead (1957), Porgy and Bess (1959), and Sketches of Spain (1960). This album was also the last album recorded by Davis.

The Hearinga Suite is an album by Muhal Richard Abrams released on the Italian Black Saint label in 1989 and features performances of seven of Abrams compositions by an eighteen-member orchestra. Abrams dedicated the music on the album to Steve McCall and Raphael Donald Garrett.

Family Talk is an album by Muhal Richard Abrams released on the Italian Black Saint label in 1993 and features performances of six of Abrams compositions by Abrams, Jack Walrath, Patience Higgins, Brad Jones, Warren Smith and Reggie Nicholson.

Colors in Thirty-Third is an album by Muhal Richard Abrams released on the Italian Black Saint label in 1987 and featuring performances of seven of Abrams' compositions by Abrams, John Blake, John Purcell, Dave Holland, Fred Hopkins and Andrew Cyrille.

Blues Forever is an album by Muhal Richard Abrams released by the Italian label Black Saint in 1982 and featuring performances of seven of Abrams compositions by an eleven-member big band.

Blu Blu Blu is an album by Muhal Richard Abrams released on the Italian Black Saint label in 1991 and features performances of eight of Abrams compositions by a big band. Abrams dedicated the title track on the album to Muddy Waters.

Mama and Daddy is an album by Muhal Richard Abrams that was released on the Italian Black Saint label in 1980 and features performances of four of Abrams' compositions by a big band.

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.

Things to Come from Those Now Gone is the third album by Muhal Richard Abrams which was released on the Delmark label in 1975 and features performances of seven of Abrams' compositions by Abrams with varying line-ups that include Wallace McMillan, Edwin Daugherty, Richard Brown, Emanuel Cranshaw, Reggie Willis, Rufus Reid, Steve McCall and Wilbur Campbell with vocals by Ella Jackson.

1-OQA+19 is an album by Muhal Richard Abrams released on the Italian Black Saint label in 1977 which features performances by Abrams, Anthony Braxton, Henry Threadgill, Steve McCall and Leonard Jones.

Lifea Blinec is an album by Muhal Richard Abrams which was released on the Arista Novus label in 1978 and features performances by Abrams, Joseph Jarman, Douglas Ewart, Amina Claudine Myers and Thurman Barker.

Spihumonesty is an album by Muhal Richard Abrams which was released on the Italian Black Saint label in 1979 and features performances by Abrams, George Lewis, Roscoe Mitchell, Amina Claudine Myers, Youseff Yancy and Leonard Jones with vocals by Jay Clayton.

View from Within is an album by Muhal Richard Abrams released on the Italian Black Saint label in 1985 and featuring performances of six of Abrams' compositions by an octet.

Domination is an album by jazz saxophonist Cannonball Adderley released on the Capitol label featuring performances of by Adderley with an orchestra conducted by Oliver Nelson. The CD release added the bonus track "Experience in E" composed by Joe Zawinul and originally released on the 1970 album The Cannonball Adderley Quintet & Orchestra.

Quintet (Basel) 1977 is an album by the American composer and saxophonist Anthony Braxton, recorded in Switzerland in 1977 but not released on the hatOLOGY label until 2000.

Creative Orchestra Music 1976 is an album by American jazz saxophonist and composer Anthony Braxton recorded in 1976 and released on the Arista label. The album was subsequently included on The Complete Arista Recordings of Anthony Braxton released by Mosaic Records in 2008.

Live in 3⅔/4 Time is a live album by trumpeter Don Ellis recorded in 1966 at the Pacific Jazz Festival and Shelly's Manne-Hole in 1967 and released on the Pacific Jazz label. The title comes from the composition "Upstart" which is in ^3⅔
₄ time signature but is more commonly expressed as ¹¹
₈.

Creative Construction Company is a 1975 album by the jazz collective Creative Construction Company, originally released on the Muse label, and later reissued as Muhal on the Italian Vedette label.

References

↑ Allmusic Review
1 2 Cook, Richard; Brian Morton (2006) [1992]. The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings . The Penguin Guide to Jazz (8th ed.). London: Penguin. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-141-02327-4.
↑ Wynn, R. Allmusic Review accessed March 2, 2009.

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[1] ↑ Allmusic Review

[Penguin_Guide-2] 1 2 Cook, Richard; Brian Morton (2006) [1992]. The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings . The Penguin Guide to Jazz (8th ed.). London: Penguin. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-141-02327-4.

[3] ↑ Wynn, R. Allmusic Review accessed March 2, 2009.