| Solo [3] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album / Live album by | ||||
| Released | 2004 | |||
| Recorded | 1999-2003 | |||
| Venue | November Music, Essen, Germany and Gent, Belgium | |||
| Studio | Audio for the Arts, Madison, Wisconsin | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 171:11 | |||
| Label | Mutable Music | |||
| Roscoe Mitchell chronology | ||||
| ||||
Solo [3] is a solo album by American jazz saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell which was recorded in 2003 and released on Mutable Music as a three CD set. [1] [2]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings | [4] |
In his review for AllMusic, François Couture states " Disc one, titled "Tech Ritter and the Megabytes," is the most varied and interesting of the set. Released by itself, it would have a claim as Mitchell's best solo effort ... This CD offers a compelling balance between composition and improvisation, long and short, abstract and melodic. The second disc, titled "Solar Flares," is entirely devoted to the alto saxophone. Here, Mitchell's improvisations follow a jazzier path. The music is warmer, more reflective, and easier to get into. The disc is dominated by Mitchell's rich sound and acrobatic articulation ... The third disc, titled "The Percussion Cage and Music on the Go," is something else entirely. It contains 21 very short tracks, nothing over five minutes. They are for the most part percussion solos, with a handful of sopranino sax pieces interpolated in the middle. ... The music has its moments, but it pales in comparison to what has been exhibited on the first two disc" [3] In JazzTimes, Chris Kelsey wrote " as much as Mitchell has done to expand the role of percussion in jazz-based improvised music, he is first and foremost a great saxophonist. His innovative sax work almost certainly will be his most important legacy; getting to hear it as plainly as this is without a doubt the best thing about this album". [5]
All compositions by Roscoe Mitchell
CD 1: Tech Ritter and the Megabytes
Track 2 recorded live at November Music 2000 in Essen, Germany, Track 5 recorded live at November Music 2000 in Gent, Belgium and Tracks 1 & 3-7 recorded at Audio for the Arts, Madison, Wisconsin in 2003
CD 2: Solar Flares for Alto Saxophone
Recorded at Audio for the Arts, Madison, Wisconsin in 2003
CD 3: The Percussion Cage and Music On the Go
Recorded at Audio for the Arts, Madison, Wisconsin in 2003
The sopranino saxophone is the second-smallest member of the saxophone family. It is tuned in the key of E♭, and sounds an octave higher than the alto saxophone, although versions in the Key of F used to exist, since Boléro by Ravel was written for it. The sopranino saxophone has a sweet sound and although it is one of the least common of the saxophones in regular use today, it is still being produced by several of the major musical manufacturing companies. Due to their small size, sopraninos are not usually curved like other saxophones. Orsi, however, does make curved sopranino saxophones.
The Meeting is a reunion studio album released by the jazz group the Art Ensemble of Chicago (AEOC). It was recorded during the Spring of 2003 in Madison, Wisconsin and released on August 19, 2003 on the international label Pi Recordings.
Congliptious is a 1968 album by Roscoe Mitchell's Art Ensemble which later became the Art Ensemble of Chicago. It was released on the Nessa label and features performances by Mitchell, Lester Bowie, Malachi Favors, and Robert Crowder. "Tutankhamen" is a bass solo by Malahi Favors, "Tkhke" is an alto saxophone solo by Roscoe Mitchell and "Jazz Death?" is a trumpet solo by Lester Bowie with the full ensemble performing "Congliptious/Old".
Fundamental Destiny is a live album by the Art Ensemble of Chicago and Don Pullen recorded in June 1991 in Frankfurt, Germany and released in 2007 on the group's AECO label. It features performances by Lester Bowie, Joseph Jarman, Roscoe Mitchell, Malachi Favors Maghostut, and Don Moye with Don Pullen joining on piano.
Non-Cognitive Aspects of the City: Live at the Iridium is a live album by the Art Ensemble of Chicago recorded in April, 2004 at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York City and released in 2006 on the Pi Recordings label. It features performances by Joseph Jarman, Roscoe Mitchell and Don Moye with trumpeter Corey Wilkes and bassist Jaribu Shahid replacing the late Lester Bowie and Malachi Favors Maghostut.
Sirius Calling is an album by the Art Ensemble of Chicago recorded in April, 2003 in Madison, Wisconsin and released in 2004 on the Pi Recordings label. It features performances by Joseph Jarman, Roscoe Mitchell and Don Moye with Malachi Favors Maghostut on what would be the final album before his death. It was recorded on April 24–26, 2003 in Madison, WI.
Nonaah is a double album recorded in 1976-77 by Roscoe Mitchell. It was originally released on the Nessa label in 1977 and features solo, duo, trio and quartet performances by Mitchell, Anthony Braxton, Malachi Favors, Muhal Richard Abrams, George Lewis, Henry Threadgill, Joseph Jarman, and Wallace McMillan. The 2008 double CD reissue added five unreleased saxophone solos to the album.
Reunion is a live album recorded at Centro Rai di Produzione Radiofonica in Rome in January 2003 by the Art Ensemble of Chicago and released on the Italian Around Jazz label. It marked the return of Joseph Jarman to the group and features performances by Jarman, Roscoe Mitchell, Malachi Favors Maghostut and Don Moye with Baba Sissoko. It is the first live Art Ensemble album to be released following the death of founding member Lester Bowie.
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.
Roscoe Mitchell Quartet is an album by American jazz saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell recorded in 1975 and released on the Canadian Sackville label.
L-R-G / The Maze / S II Examples is an album by American jazz saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell recorded in 1978 and released originally as a double LP on Nessa Records. It was reissued in 1989 as a single CD.
Hey Donald is an album by American jazz saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell which was recorded in 1994 and released on Delmark. It was the first recording by a quartet featuring pianist Jodie Christian, bassist Malachi Favors and drummer Albert "Tootie" Heath. The album is dedicated to Earth Wind & Fire saxophonist Donald Myrick.
For Trio is an album by American jazz saxophonist and composer Anthony Braxton recorded in 1977 and released on the Arista label. The album features two recordings of the same composition by Braxton in two separate trios and was subsequently included on The Complete Arista Recordings of Anthony Braxton released by Mosaic Records in 2008.
Ninetet (Yoshi's) 1997 Vol. 1 is a live album by composer and saxophonist Anthony Braxton with a ninetet, recorded at the Yoshi's in 1997 and released on the Leo label in 2002 as a double CD.
Ninetet (Yoshi's) 1997 Vol. 2 is a live album by composer and saxophonist Anthony Braxton with a ninetet, recorded at the Yoshi's in 1997 and released on the Leo label in 2003 as a double CD.
Ninetet (Yoshi's) 1997 Vol. 3 is a live album by composer and saxophonist Anthony Braxton with a ninetet, recorded at the Yoshi's in 1997 and released on the Leo label in 2005 as a double CD.
Ninetet (Yoshi's) 1997 Vol. 4 is a live album by composer and saxophonist Anthony Braxton with a ninetet, recorded at the Yoshi's in 1997 and released on the Leo label in 2007 as a double CD.
Bells for the South Side is a double album by American jazz saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell, which was recorded live in 2015 at Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago in the context of "The Freedom Principle", a 50th-anniversary exhibition devoted to the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, and released on ECM.
8 O'Clock: Two Improvisations is an album by American saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell and vocalist Thomas Buckner which was recorded in 2000 and released on Mutable Music the following year.
Wildflowers: The New York Loft Jazz Sessions is a series of five albums recorded May 14–23, 1976 at Studio Rivbea, a loft jazz space in New York City, run by Sam Rivers and his wife Bea. The albums include performances by groups led by musicians such as Hamiet Bluiett, Anthony Braxton, Marion Brown, Dave Burrell, Andrew Cyrille, Oliver Lake, Jimmy Lyons, Ken McIntyre, Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre, Roscoe Mitchell, David Murray, Sunny Murray, Sam Rivers, Leo Smith, Henry Threadgill, and Randy Weston. The recordings were originally released in 1977 on the Douglas and Casablanca labels as five separate LPs, and were reissued in 1999 by Knit Classics as a 3-CD set.