VARIOUS ARTISTS – Jazz Actuel: A Collection Of Avant Garde/Free Jazz/Psychedelia From The BYG/Actuel Catalog 1969-71. Charly/Snapper SNAJ 707 CD. FACTORY SEALED NEW 3-CD BOX SET. UK release. Issued in 2001. Comes in a clamshell box with a 36-page illustrated insert booklet.
TRACKS:
DISC ONE:
01) Sunny Murray – Red Cross (7:49)
02) Archie Shepp – Blasé (10:25)
03) Steve Lacy – Note (4:27)
04) Daevid Allen – Memories (3:36)
05) Sonny Sharrock – Soon (7:53)
06) Grachan Moncur III – Exploration (10:40)
07) Clifford Thornton – Pan-African Festival (7:48)
08) Jacques Coursil – Black Suite, Part 2 (excerpt) (6:30)
09) Dave Burrell – Echo (20:14)
DISC TWO:
01) Sun Ra & His Solar-Myth Arkestra – The Utter-Nots (11:18)
02) Arthur Jones – Brother B (7:23)
03) Burton Greene Ensemble – From “Out Of Bartok” (5:06)
04) Art Ensemble Of Chicago – Get In Line (5:42)
05) Andrew Cyrille – Pioneering (4:33)
06) Paul Bley – Ramblin’ (5:45)
07) Frank Wright – One For John / China, Part 2 (16:40)
08) Acting Trio – Cello Discordato No. 9 (7:40)
09) Dewey Redman – Tank (4:47)
DISC THREE:
01) Don Cherry – Teo-Teo-Can (excerpt) (4:16)
02) Anthony Braxton – B-Xo NO147a (excerpt) (6:24)
03) Jimmy Lyons – Premonitions (7:35)
04) Claude Delcloo / Arthur Jones – Africanasia, Part 1 (excerpt) (6:08)
05) Musica Elettronica Viva – The Sound Pool, Part 1A (3:42)
06) Kenneth Terroade – Blessing (17:55)
07) Gong – Squeezing Sponges Over Policemen’s Heads / Foghat Digs Holes In Space (6:34)
08) Alan Silva & The Celestrial Communication Orchestra – The Seasons, Part 6 (22:30)
DESCRIPTION: This wonderful, reasonably priced boxed set sampler containing the cream of the BYG/Actuel catalogue 1969-1971 is a must have purchase. Then again, let’s face facts. A 3-CD set of (mostly) free jazz (plus a smattering of electronica and psychedelia) that ends with a twenty-minute freakout from an ensemble named the Celestial Communication Orchestra isn't going to be everybody's bag. If, however, you're up for that, you're going to have a great time with this anthology, and it's historically important as well as a great, if inevitably bracing, listen. BYG Records could only have happened in the sixties. Its founders had the artistically admirable but commercially catastrophic idea that they should flood the record shops with dozens of free jazz albums from the many Afro-American musicians who'd drifted to France in 1969. It was an interesting period for free jazz as most of the original figureheads were dead or out of the public eye. Only Sun Ra, as productive as ever (and represented here), was still relatively high profile. The focus thus shifted to trusted lieutenants (such as Archie Shepp, Sonny Murray and Don Cherry) or the newer generation, particularly the AACM school from Chicago. All of these were recorded in depth by BYG and are present in this generous and eclectic compilation, along with permanent mavericks like Steve Lacy and Paul Bley, and a number of less well-known but equally interesting players like Anthony Braxton and Sonny Sharrock. If your only idea of free jazz is what Lester Bangs used to call "skronk", you'll be surprised by the diversity of music here, which isn't all loud, intense wailing, with much of it being reflective, or making use of African and Asian musical ideas. The liner note booklet contains genuinely engaging and informative writing from compilers Thurston Moore and Byron Coley. SIDE BAR, Adventures in collecting music: Back in 1972, after the BYG label had ceased to be, no doubt to the dismay of Peters International Inc. (record importers), a bunch of BYG titles were dumped on the US cut-out market. Some of these titles hit the cut-out rack at one of the two campus town bookstores, where I was attending college at the time, giving me my first taste of improvisational free-jazz. With limited funds and virgin ears I entered the world of Sun Ra (a 3-LP live set), Alan Silva, and The Art Ensemble Of Chicago. Wallpaper music this ain’t, but I persevered and discovered a whole new dimension to music. Think of improvisational free-form jazz as an aural abstract painting. And buy this great collection!
THIS ITEM IS NEW AND UNPLAYED. Used items will include condition details for inserts, disc, and jewel case/digi-pak/mini-jacket.
NOTE TO POTENTIAL BUYERS: If the tray card, bar code, jewel case, insert, or digi-pak is punched, marked, or cut in any manner, denoting a promotional/review copy, I will state that as part of the item description. Also if an issue is a "music club" edition, that will be noted in the item description. (The below information last updated 5/22/23)
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