The Art Ensemble of Chicago is an avant-garde jazz group that grew out of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) in the late 1960s. The ensemble integrates many jazz styles and plays many instruments, including "little instruments": bells, bicycle horns, birthday party noisemakers, wind chimes, and various forms of percussion. The musicians would wear costumes and face paint while performing. These characteristics combined to make the ensemble's performances both aural and visual. While playing in Europe in 1969, five hundred instruments were used.
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 Donald Raphael Garrett.
Gittin' to Know Y'All is a various artists album recorded during the annual Baden-Baden Free Jazz Meeting in 1969 and released on the MPS label in 1970. It features one track by the Baden-Baden Free Jazz Orchestra conducted by trumpeter Lester Bowie, one by the Terje Rypdal Group, one by Karin Krog, and one by The Willem Breuker-John Surman Duo. This historic session was the first time that many of these European and American jazz musicians performed together in a large group setting.
Crystals is an album by Sam Rivers released by Impulse! Records in 1974 in a stereo/quadraphonic format.
Frederick A. Fox was an American composer and former music educator specializing in contemporary classical music.
Thierry Joseph-Louis Escaich is a French organist and composer.
This Time... is an album by the American jazz saxophonist and composer Anthony Braxton, recorded in 1970 and released on the BYG Actuel label. As on his previous album, Braxton performs with trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, violinist Leroy Jenkins and drummer Steve McCall.
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.
The Gil Evans Orchestra Plays the Music of Jimi Hendrix is an album of Jimi Hendrix's compositions by jazz composer, conductor and pianist Gil Evans. The music was arranged by Evans and members of his orchestra. The album was recorded in 1974 and performed by Evans with an orchestra featuring David Sanborn, Howard Johnson, Billy Harper, and John Abercrombie. The album was re-released with additional tracks on CD in 1988.
The Ratchet Orchestra is an avant garde jazz musical group based in Montreal, Canada. The band was started in the early 1990s, when musical director Nicolas Caloia began experimenting with improvised chamber jazz. Members such as Tom Walsh, Jean Derome, Lori Freedman, Sam Shalabi, and Christopher Cauley soon joined. Four members played on their 1994 eponymous debut.
Nuits de la Fondation Maeght is a live album by American composer, bandleader and keyboardist Sun Ra recorded in 1970 France and released in two volumes on the Shandar label.
Song for Someone is the second album led by trumpeter and composer Kenny Wheeler which was recorded in 1973 and released on the Incus label. The album was rereleased on CD on Psi Records in 2004.
Winter Oranges is a live album by composer Graham Collier accompanied by the Danish Radio Jazz Orchestra featuring a four-part composition written especially for the group which was released on the Jazzprint label in 2002.
Orchestre National de Jazz is a French orchestra that was created by French Ministry of Culture in 1986. It has had 12 musical and artistic directors, more than 200 soloists and recorded 33 albums. Orchestre National de Jazz won the Victoires du Jazz in 2009 and 2020, and was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2012 for the album Shut Up And Dance composed by John Hollenbeck.
Luna Surface is an album by multi-instrumentalist Alan Silva, recorded on August 17, 1969 and released later that year on the BYG label as part of their Actuel series. His first recording as leader, it features Silva on violin along with a large ensemble known as the Celestrial Communication Orchestra.
Homage to Africa is an album by American free jazz drummer Sunny Murray. It was recorded in Paris in August 1969, and released on the BYG Actuel label in 1970. On the album, Murray is joined by saxophonists Roscoe Mitchell, Archie Shepp and Kenneth Terroade, trumpeter Lester Bowie, cornetist Clifford Thornton, trombonist Grachan Moncur III, vocalist Jeanne Lee, pianist Dave Burrell, bassist Alan Silva, and percussionists Malachi Favors, Earl Freeman, and Arthur Jones.
Ketchaoua is an album by multi-instrumentalist and composer Clifford Thornton. It was recorded in August 1969 at Studio Saravah in Paris, and was released by the Actuel label later that year. On the album, Thornton is heard on cornet, and is joined by saxophonists Arthur Jones and Archie Shepp, trombonist Grachan Moncur III, pianist Dave Burrell, bassists Beb Guérin and Earl Freeman, and drummers Sunny Murray and Claude Delcloo.
Alan Silva & the Sound Visions Orchestra is a live album by multi-instrumentalist Alan Silva. It was recorded in May 1999 at St. Nicholas of Myra Church in New York City during the annual Vision Festival, and was released in 2001 by Eremite Records. On the album, Silva is joined by a large ensemble known as the Sound Visions Orchestra.
H.Con.Res.57/Treasure Box is a live, 4-CD album by multi-instrumentalist Alan Silva. It was recorded on May 24 and 27, 2001, at the Uncool Festival in Poschiavo, Switzerland, and was released in 2003 in limited quantities by Eremite Records. On the album, Silva is joined by a large ensemble known as the Celestrial Communication Orchestra. The performances marked the first occasion on which Silva's choice of musicians was completely unrestricted in terms of budget or geography.
