| The Meeting | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | August 19, 2003 | |||
| Recorded | Spring 2003 | |||
| Genre | Avant-garde jazz Free jazz | |||
| Label | Pi Recordings | |||
| Producer | Seth Rosner | |||
| Art Ensemble of Chicago chronology | ||||
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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.
The album was released the same year as their 2001 recording Tribute to Lester , but they were released on different labels. The album reunites Joseph Jarman with the rest of the AEOC after he "retired" in early 1990s after 23 years with the group in order to pursue a spiritual life, including running a Buddhist dojo in Brooklyn, New York. Reviews were mixed for the album, perhaps because, as National Public Radio reviewer Kevin Whitehead commented, "the ensemble is more of a business than a musical enterprise at this point." [1]
The album was met with mixed reviews. Allmusic's Thom Jurek awarded the album 4 stars, saying that ultimately, the album "is a glorious reunion album, one that delights as it provokes." [2] Others have commented that the return of Jarman solidifies that "the AEC is a band to contend with." [3] Jazz Word's Ken Waxman had other opinions, saying "the overriding feel of the session is so reductionist that the listener may feel as if he has wondered into a microtonal recital". [4] NPR's Whiteman said both albums have "more filler than cafeteria meatloaf." [1]
Most reviews comment that the absence of Lester Bowie is obvious. [2] Review John Chacona of One Final note comments that "there were moments where I expected to hear a "blat" delivered with his perfect comic timing." [3] The Penguin Guide to Jazz also mentions "an eerie moment" when "somebody plays something which sounds uncannily like a Lester Bowie break." [5] All About Jazz reviewer Mark Corrotto says that Jarman's return "doesn't substitute for Bowie's absence, it merely aims the music in different directions" [6] even though NPR's Whiteman says Jarman's return "makes the band seem like the real deal." [1]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [2] |
| Penguin Guide to Jazz | |
Production:
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.
Live at the 6th Tokyo Music Joy is a live album by the Art Ensemble of Chicago and Lester Bowie's Brass Fantasy recorded in February 1990 for the Japanese DIW label. It is the only recording to showcase both of the groups that Lester Bowie established and features performances by the Art Ensemble, the Brass Fantasy and both bands.
A Jackson in Your House is a 1969 album by the Art Ensemble of Chicago recorded for the French BYG Actuel label. It features performances by Lester Bowie, Joseph Jarman, Roscoe Mitchell and Malachi Favors Maghostut. When issued on CD by Affinity in 1989, the track "The Waltz" was replaced by a six-minute live excerpt entitled "Hey Friend" which has never reappeared on any subsequent reissue.
Tutankhamun is a 1969 album by the Art Ensemble of Chicago first released on the Freedom label. It features performances by Lester Bowie, Joseph Jarman, Roscoe Mitchell and Malachi Favors Maghostut.
Numbers 1 & 2 is a 1967 album by Lester Bowie featuring a line-up which later became the Art Ensemble of Chicago. It was released on the Nessa label and features performances by Bowie, Roscoe Mitchell, Malachi Favors, and Joseph Jarman.
Reese and the Smooth Ones is a 1969 album by the Art Ensemble of Chicago recorded in Paris for the French BYG Actuel label. It features performances by Lester Bowie, Joseph Jarman, Roscoe Mitchell and Malachi Favors Maghostut.
Live in Paris is a double live album by the Art Ensemble of Chicago recorded in Paris and first released on the BYG Actuel label in Japan as two separate volumes in 1974. It was issued on CD by Charly Records under the title 'Live In Paris' presumably to avoid confusion with the Delmark 'Live At Delmark Hall' album, and then later issued in the US, with the same artwork and design, by Fuel 2000 Records in the US. It features performances by Lester Bowie, Joseph Jarman, Roscoe Mitchell, Malachi Favors Maghostut, Fontella Bass and Don Moye. Despite reissues identifying it as "Live In Paris" and claiming a date of 5 October 1969, it was actually a radio broadcast from performances in Chateauvailon on 13 August 1970.
Bap-Tizum is a 1972 live album by the Art Ensemble of Chicago recorded at the Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival held at the Otis Spann Memorial Field and first released on the Atlantic label in 1973. It features performances by Lester Bowie, Joseph Jarman, Roscoe Mitchell, Malachi Favors Maghostut and Don Moye.
Fanfare for the Warriors is a 1973 album by the Art Ensemble of Chicago first released on the Atlantic label. It features performances by Lester Bowie, Joseph Jarman, Roscoe Mitchell, Malachi Favors Maghostut and Don Moye along with AACM leader Muhal Richard Abrams.
Art Ensemble of Chicago with Fontella Bass is a 1970 album by the Art Ensemble of Chicago recorded in Paris and released on the America label in 1971 then reissued in the US on Prestige Records the following year. It features performances by Lester Bowie, Joseph Jarman, Roscoe Mitchell, Malachi Favors Maghostut, Fontella Bass, and Don Moye.
Phase One is an album by the Art Ensemble of Chicago recorded in Paris in February 1971 and originally released on the French America label then reissued in the US on Prestige Records the following year. It features Lester Bowie, Joseph Jarman, Roscoe Mitchell, Malachi Favors Maghostut and Don Moye performing two side-long pieces dedicated to John Coltrane and Albert Ayler respectively.
Thelonious Sphere Monk: Dreaming of the Masters Series Vol. 2 is an album by the Art Ensemble of Chicago and Cecil Taylor released on the Japanese DIW label. It features performances by Lester Bowie, Joseph Jarman, Roscoe Mitchell, Malachi Favors Maghostut and Don Moye with Cecil Taylor guesting on piano, vocals and percussion.
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.
Certain Blacks is an album by the Art Ensemble of Chicago recorded in Paris on February 10, 1970, and released on the America label. It features performances by Lester Bowie, Joseph Jarman, Roscoe Mitchell, Malachi Favors Maghostut, Chicago Beau, Julio Finn and William A. Howell.
Go Home is a 1970 album by the Art Ensemble of Chicago recorded in Paris for the French Galloway label - first released in 1973. It features performances by Lester Bowie, Joseph Jarman, Roscoe Mitchell and Malachi Favors Maghostut along with Fontella Bass, Ivan Julien, Bernard Vitet, Ambrose Jackson, Jean Louis Chautemps, Alain Matot, Ventosa, Kenneth Terroade, Raymond Katarzinsky and several unidentified musicians.
Kabalaba is a live album by the Art Ensemble of Chicago recorded at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1974 and released on their AECO label in 1978. It features performances by Lester Bowie, Joseph Jarman, Roscoe Mitchell, Malachi Favors Maghostut, and Don Moye along with Muhal Richard Abrams.
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.
Early Combinations is an album by a formative stage of the band which later became the Art Ensemble of Chicago. It was recorded in 1967 at Lester Bowie's home but not issued as a single CD until 2012 by Nessa Records. The two tracks on the album were originally included in the 1993 limited edition box set Art Ensemble 1967/68, also released by Nessa. "A To Ericka" was recorded for submission to a Jazz Festival in Poland and was unsuccessful in its purpose. "Quintet" was a dress rehearsal for a concert arranged by Jarman to take place at Winnetka High School that was cancelled.
