Lester Bowie

pedaltonekid · Heavyweight Member Joined: 15 Nov 2001 Posts: 1711

Anyone ever heard of this guy. A friend of mine gave me a CD called "Brass Fantasy." It is an awesome CD. I am not usually much of a jazz fan, but this guy does some really cool stuff.

pfrank · Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2002 1:44 pm Post subject:

Anyone ever heard of Lester Bowie? You bet! Anyone ever heard of The Art Ensemble of Chicago? New Directions?
Very sad that he died before his time, but like the other immortals discussed here, his playing lives on...and what playing! Probably the most flexable trumpeter ever! (He could literally speak words through his trumpet, pedal tones were part of his normal register) Lester had a sense of humor and love for music transmitted in every note!

[ This Message was edited by: pfrank on 2002-06-24 16:47 ]

BADBOY-DON · Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2002 2:41 pm Post subject:

[quote]
On 2002-06-24 16:44, pfrank wrote:
Anyone ever heard of Lester Bowie? You bet! Anyone ever heard of The Art Ensemble of Chicago? New Directions?
Very sad that he died before his time, but like the other immortals discussed here, his playing lives on...and what playing! Probably the most flexable trumpeter ever! (He could literally speak words through his trumpet, pedal tones were part of his normal register) Lester had a sense of humor and love for music transmitted in every note!

<font size=-2>[ This Message was edited by: pfrank on 2002-06-24 16:47 ]</

Lester was and still is sooooooooooo beautiful.
Type in his name in any search engine and enjoy the story of a beautifully talented human being...gone too soon.
He gave soooooooooo much to all of us through his association with the learning centers and colleges throughout the world.
LONG LIVE HIS WONDERFUL FREE-JAZZ SPIRIT.
I miss reading about his latest projects...as he was always UP TO SOMETHIN'

)

mark936 · Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2002 9:42 pm Post subject:

I have only one CD by him.

I think it's him and a drummer.

Lots of soloing in the pedal tone range.

Interesting listening to someone stretch the boundaries. Got to keep an open mind.

It's probably better than it sounds.

At least that's why I give it run thru about four times a year.

mm

Larry Smithee · Heavyweight Member Joined: 11 Nov 2001 Posts: 4399

My favorite Lester Brown quote is
"If you can play bebop you can play anything."
Larry Smithee

dales · Posted: Sat Jun 29, 2002 10:04 am Post subject:

That must the Lester Bowie/Philip Wilson trumpet/drums duet. Didn't know it was ever on CD. I'll buy it from you if you ever get tired of it.

Larry Smithee · Heavyweight Member Joined: 11 Nov 2001 Posts: 4399

PH · Posted: Sun Jun 30, 2002 4:47 am Post subject:

Lester & Don Cherry were my boyhood heroes! I went straight from baseball cards to Art Ensemble of Chicago records.

He was a magnificent musician and a brilliant, fun-loving man. I hung out with him all night one night back in the '70s in Sydney, Australia. The evening culminated in a new tattoo (a trumpet with flames spewing from the bell) for Lester at 4am!

His solo "Jazz Death" on Roscoe Mitchell's record called "Congliptious" is one of the 8 or 10 most important trumpet solos in the history of jazz IMHO!

[ This Message was edited by: PH on 2002-06-30 07:48 ]

dales · Posted: Sun Jun 30, 2002 10:00 am Post subject:

There's a moment in the live Art Ensemble record _Kabalaba_ where Lester is playing one of his animated unaccompanied solos. The mike picks up a derisive sounding whistle from the audience. Lester plays "I love you too" back through the horn and then expounds on it. Fabulous...

BADBOY-DON · Posted: Mon Jul 08, 2002 8:14 am Post subject:

pfrank · Posted: Mon Jul 08, 2002 8:45 am Post subject:

How heartening to see all this Lester praise... It always seemed to me that Lester Bowie had already been in HEAVEN: The Art Ensemble Of Chicago! I used to go to their shows to see and hear Lester, but also to see that great group and the HUGE collection of percussion instruments from around the world. I love interesting percussion and would have paid to just look...

Lester's music always gave me the feeling of creative inclusivness; the feeling that I TOO could go out and express myself. I think that's an important message in this age when star worship is all too common.

Last saturday we decided to drive north to find a beach, and I took a bunch of long-time unheard tapes for the ride. On one, a compilation of things from American Clave (Kip Hanrahan's lable) there was this funk tune, and then this VOICE playing/jumping/twisting comments on trumpet: It had to be Lester. He was the HUMANity in the mix!

[ This Message was edited by: pfrank on 2002-07-08 12:01 ]

BADBOY-DON · Posted: Mon Jul 08, 2002 2:00 pm Post subject: