| U.S.: $14 |
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| Canada: $15 |
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| Europe: $17 |
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| Asia/Australia: $19 |
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CAREI THOMAS FEEL FREE ENSEMBLE
MINING OUR BID'NESS
roar 04 CD
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Magicmysticmaestromentor (4M) |
| Listen |
Monsieur Duprée (Cartoon XV) |
A revelatory debut album by a 64 year old pianist/composer may beg
the question: where has Carei Thomas been all this time? Born in a
culturally diverse neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Thomas cut his musical
teeth in Chicago during a particularly fertile period for that city:
gigging with Sun Ra as an improvising vocalist in 1959-60, joining
up with the AACM for one hot minute in 1966, co-founding a group called
The Light with Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre (which also included Jerome
Cooper and Wadada Leo Smith), and forming the compositional concepts
that would provide a springboard for tireless exploration in the ensuing
decades. Thomas moved to Minneapolis in 1972, where, in the mode of
Horace Tapscott, he eschewed the industry-driven career path, choosing
instead to work within the Twin Cities' community. Recorded live
with a group that features, most notably, the unfettered talents of
Curlew saxophonist George Cartwright, Mining Our Bid'ness represents
the range of Thomas' no-boundaries Feel Free Ensemble, running
the gamut from gorgeous Ellingtonian ballads to combustible free jazz
testifying. Packaged in a mini-LP gatefold sleeve, with cover artwork
by Judith Lindbloom, and liner notes by, among other contributors,
Douglas Ewart and Anthony Cox. Until now, Thomas' name has been
known mostly to fellow musicians (David Murray, Sunny Murray and James
Newton are counted among his admirers); this CD serves as the first
opportunity for the general public to hear this important figure in
the world of creative improvised music.
"Thomas displays
an intuitive element for inspiring action from the musicians who surround
him....on this series of mostly quintet performances, he works wonders
as a stimulating wellspring of ideas." - Frank Rubolino, One Final
Note
"Like Duke Ellington, Thomas conducts via the piano,
using it to cue and cajole the ensemble... while his approach is considerably
more freewheeling than Ellington's, the end result is equally
appealing." - Rod Smith, Minneapolis Star Tribune
"His
compositions, in true AACM style, are harmonically complex and allow
for numerous changes of tempo and instrumentation... 'Tippy/One
Ahead' says more in nine minutes than most musicians do in a whole
album..." - Dan Warburton, The Wire
"[Thomas']
user-friendly compositions lighten the theoretical rigor of avant-jazz
with playful humor and friendly tunefulness." - Cecile Cloutier,
City Pages
"It seems that every few years, some unknown
treasure of American improvised music pops up after decades of toil
in relative obscurity... this is fine, passionate music... a pleasant
surprise, and [it] will surely please listeners as it did me."
- Jason Bivins, Cadence
"...[Thomas'] phrasing caresses
the ear and his melodies have a yearning quality that makes Cartwright
and Sandberg's in-out-and-back-in solos sound right at home...well
worth hearing." - Francois Couture, All Music Guide
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