21 CD box of Art Ensemble of Chicago on ECM

[JSngry]

You'll get this:

and this:

All for less than the cost of a visit to an effective salon - and it will last longer.

 

[Jim Duckworth]

On 10/8/2018 at 0:27 PM, king ubu said:

So 15 or 16 new Art Ensemble albums? Now *that* would be a feast! 

I very nearly had that very experience decades ago:  I had a friend living in Japan, so I sent him a pile of money and he sent me the 5 or 6 DIW releases that were available at that time.  It was epic.

 

[JSngry]

Yeah, discovering Disc Union, DIW, and that yes you COULD get them some place else, that was, in terms of initial rush, epic indeed. 

[clifford_thornton]

Having revisited some 80s AEC material at a friend's house recently, I was reminded of how GOOD they were at that time. Maybe my tastes have changed or I've heard more music in the ensuing 20 years, but those ECMs really stand the test of time as much (if not more than) the earlier work.

The box is a great deal; too bad I have most of the CD-era stuff already...

[corto maltese]

5 hours ago, clifford_thornton said:

Having revisited some 80s AEC material at a friend's house recently, I was reminded of how GOOD they were at that time. Maybe my tastes have changed or I've heard more music in the ensuing 20 years, but those ECMs really stand the test of time as much (if not more than) the earlier work.

The box is a great deal; too bad I have most of the CD-era stuff already...

I beg to differ. For me, none of their ECM's comes even close to their 60's work. Lester Bowie's Brass Fantasy vs "Numbers1 & 2"? "The Third Decade" vs "People In Sorrow"? Not in the same league, really.

That said, I understand the excitement. The box includes a lot of very good to excellent music and seems great value. But I would love to see the same deluxe box treatment for their complete 1969-1971 European recordings.

[Д.Д.]

49 minutes ago, corto maltese said:

I beg to differ. For me, none of their ECM's comes even close to their 60's work. Lester Bowie's Brass Fantasy vs "Numbers1 & 2"? "The Third Decade" vs "People In Sorrow"? Not in the same league, really.

That said, I understand the excitement. The box includes a lot of very good to excellent music and seems great value. But I would love to see the same deluxe box treatment for their complete 1969-1971 European recordings.

I agree. I am not the biggest AEoC fan in general, but to my ears their later stuff is markedly worse than earlier. And Lester Bowie's Brass Band... eh.    

[clifford_thornton]

YMMV. I was in that camp too until the other day.

[JSngry]

The band evolved. How could they not? Why should they not? I get the difference, but there was no point at which I said oh well, these guys are done, they're through, later. The closest I came to even considering that was with The Third Decade (my reaction at the time was, oh, we have our new MJQ), but then that DIW stuff hit and that was that.

As for Brass Fantasy, that stuff was fun. Period. Serious fun, but geez, Lester Bowie not having fun...file that one under Unrealistic Expectations.

[king ubu]

5 hours ago, JSngry said:

Unrealistic Expectations.

Popular these days I'm afraid ...

[JSngry]

just sayin'...

[BFrank]

Now $94.04 pre-order on Amazon (today, anyway)

[felser]

1 hour ago, BFrank said:

Now $94.04 pre-order on Amazon (today, anyway)

Still $76 + $6 shipping from Importcds directly.  See GP's post where he pointed that out and gave the link.

[GA Russell]

This very special and numbered edition brings together the ECM recordings of Lester Bowie and Roscoe Mitchell with the Art Ensemble of Chicago and related projects including Bowie’s Brass Fantasy, Mitchell’s Note Factory and the Transatlantic Art Ensemble, as well as groups led by Jack DeJohnette and Wadada Leo Smith.   Art Ensemble of Chicago: Nice Guys (1978), Full Force, (1980), Urban Bushmen (2 CD, 1980), The Third Decade (1984) Leo Smith: Divine Love (1978)  Lester Bowie: The Great Pretender (1981), All The Magic (2 CD, 1982), I Only Have Eyes for You (1985), Avant Pop (1986), Tribute to Lester (2001), Roscoe Mitchell & The Note Factory: Nine To Get Ready (1997), Transatlantic Art Ensemble/Mitchell: Composition/Improvisation 1, 2 and 3 (2004), Transatlantic Art Ensemble/Parker: Boustrophedon (2004), Roscoe Mitchell & The Note Factory: Far Side (2007), Roscoe Mitchell: Bells for the South Side (2 CD, 2015) Jack DeJohnette’s New Directions (w Lester Bowie) (1978), Jack DeJohnette’s New Directions: In Europe (w Lester Bowie) (1979), Jack DeJohnette: Made In Chicago (w Mitchell, Abrams, Threadgill) (2013)

PRE-ORDER

© *2018 ECM Records US, A Division of Verve Music Group. All rights reserved.

[Patrick]

Shouldn’t Tribute to Lester be listed as an AEC recording, not Bowie?

[paul secor]

8 hours ago, Patrick said:

Shouldn’t Tribute to Lester be listed as an AEC recording, not Bowie?

It looks like it is:

Disc: 12
1. CD 12 - Art Ensemble of Chicago: Tribute to Lester - Sangaredi
2. Suite for Lester
3. Zero / Alternate Line
4. Tutankhamun
5. As Clear as the Sun
6. He Speaks to Me Often in Dreams
 

[Patrick]

But not in the promo GA posted immediately above. 

[OliverM]

I have already 6CDs so quite tempted.

[Harbour]

I assume the CDs are just in basic cardboard sleeves, has anyone seen inside the box?

[paul secor]

5 hours ago, Patrick said:

But not in the promo GA posted immediately above. 

OK - We're both correct. I was looking at the post that David made earlier on.

[felser]

6 hours ago, Harbour said:

I assume the CDs are just in basic cardboard sleeves, has anyone seen inside the box?

Safe assumption based on the shape of the box.  BTW, down to $92.59 pre-order price on Amazon, and release date shows as Nov. 30.

[king ubu]

18 hours ago, OliverM said:

I have already 6CDs so quite tempted.

I have 14 (some of them doubles), so nope ... the DeJohnettes and some of the Bowies I don't have, the rest had been here for a while, and much of it is quite treasured (the Roscoe more so than the actual AEC albums, I think, though the late "Tribute to Lester" is beautiful).

[king ubu]

11 hours ago, felser said:

Safe assumption based on the shape of the box.  BTW, down to $92.59 pre-order price on Amazon, and release date shows as Nov. 30.

I'd expect it to be a large type version of the smaller boxes (Abercrombie, Jarrett, Lloyd, Motian etc.) - it would be nice to get of course, but still it's a bit bloated (the Wadada, as well as the DeJohnette albums seem a bit of a stretch, not the "Made in Chicago", but the earlier ones).

I'd love to get that booklet though, that's for sure!

[felser]

2 hours ago, king ubu said:

I'd expect it to be a large type version of the smaller boxes (Abercrombie, Jarrett, Lloyd, Motian etc.) - it would be nice to get of course, but still it's a bit bloated (the Wadada, as well as the DeJohnette albums seem a bit of a stretch, not the "Made in Chicago", but the earlier ones).

I'd love to get that booklet though, that's for sure!

Price is so good (about $4/disc), it can absorb some stretching/padding in the contents.  And the earlier DeJohnettes are a great prize to me, probably my favorite discs in the box.

[king ubu]

5 minutes ago, felser said:

Price is so good (about $4/disc), it can absorb some stretching/padding in the contents.  And the earlier DeJohnettes are a great prize to me, probably my favorite discs in the box.

Hm yeah, if I found such a great price locally (if I order online, it will get 25-30€ more expensive due to taxes and fees). I don't think I can justify the acquisition ...

[greggery peccary]

On 10/6/2018 at 7:19 PM, greggery peccary said:

$82 including shipping to preorder through importcds.com

I'm in.

importcds.com

import cds has a coupon code "TAKE10" that can be used to reduce the price to about $70 plus shipping.