Song for All

Song for All
Studio album by Muhal Richard Abrams
Released	1997
Recorded	April 26–29, 1995
Genre	Jazz
Label	Black Saint
Producer	Muhal Richard Abrams
Muhal Richard Abrams chronology

Last updated September 08, 2019

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

Song for All is an album by Muhal Richard Abrams which was released on the Italian Black Saint label in 1997 and features performances of eight of Abrams' compositions by Abrams, Eddie Allen, Craig Harris, Eugene Ghee, Alfred Patterson, Brad Jones, and Reggie Nicholson.

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.

Eddie Allen is a jazz trumpeter and flugelhornist from Milwaukee. He has worked with Muhal Richard Abrams, Lester Bowie, Art Blakey, Benny Carter, Chico Freeman, Craig Harris, and Dizzy Gillespie. He has used several variants of his name on CDs including: E.J. Allen, Eddie E.J. Allen, and E.J. "Eddie" Allen.

Reception

The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow calls the album "music that ranges from advanced hard bop (some of the grooves are quite straight-ahead) to some rather spacy explorations... complex yet often surprisingly accessible music... Well worth several listens".^[3] The Penguin Guide to Jazz awarded the album 3½ stars stating "the presence of a vibist makes a significant difference to Abrams's own approach. He sounds more concerned with colours and shapes than with the forward momentum of a piece, and it is all to the good".^[2]

Scott Yanow is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author.

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

"Song for All" - 6:37
"Dabadubada" - 8:54
"Marching With Honor" - 7:35
"GMBR" - 13:49
"Over the Same Over" - 19:59
"Linetime" - 9:10
"Steamin' up the Road" - 7:14
"Imagine" - 4:02

Recorded on April 26–29, 1995 at East Side Sound, New York City

Personnel

Muhal Richard Abrams: piano, synthesizer
Eddie Allen: trumpet
Aaron Stewart: tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone
Craig Harris: trombone
Bryan Carrott: vibraphone, percussion
Brad Jones: bass
Reggie Nicholson: drums
Richarda Abrams: voice

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.

A synthesizer or synthesiser is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals that may be converted to sound. Synthesizers may imitate traditional musical instruments such as piano, flute, vocals, or natural sounds such as ocean waves; or generate novel electronic timbres. They are often played with a musical keyboard, but they can be controlled via a variety of other devices, including music sequencers, instrument controllers, fingerboards, guitar synthesizers, wind controllers, and electronic drums. Synthesizers without built-in controllers are often called sound modules, and are controlled via USB, MIDI or CV/gate using a controller device, often a MIDI keyboard or other controller.

A trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group contains the instruments with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpet-like instruments have historically been used as signaling devices in battle or hunting, with examples dating back to at least 1500 BC; they began to be used as musical instruments only in the late 14th or early 15th century. Trumpets are used in art music styles, for instance in orchestras, concert bands, and jazz ensembles, as well as in popular music. They are played by blowing air through nearly-closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound that starts a standing wave vibration in the air column inside the instrument. Since the late 15th century they have primarily been constructed of brass tubing, usually bent twice into a rounded rectangular shape.

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<i>Instant Death</i> (album) 1972 studio album by Eddie Harris

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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. 6. ISBN 978-0-141-02327-4.
↑ Yanow, S. Allmusic Review accessed March 31, 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. 6. ISBN 978-0-141-02327-4.

[3] Yanow, S. Allmusic Review accessed March 31, 2009