If Music Presents: You Need This - World Jazz Grooves compiled by Jean-Claude & Victor Kiswell and released on BBE in 2018.

..From its inspired opener: Vietnam veteran Billy Bang’s visceral New York social commentary ‘Illustration’ whose Watts Prophets inspired spoken word vocal is (sadly) as relevant today as it was in 1978; through to the album’s closer, a touching African township ballad titled ‘ITwenty-Five’, ‘World Jazz Grooves’ takes the road less travelled to provide a jaw-dropping journey through world jazz culture.

As Jean-Claude and Victor put it: “Jazz will always have its appeal: though influenced, jazz does not need to be dictated by trends. It has been experimented with by (almost) every population on the planet. It is its diversity, the fusing of various elements of different folklores, that allows jazz to constantly evolve and maintain its relevance.”

https://bbemusic.bandcamp.com/album/if-music-presents-you-need-this-world-jazz-grooves-compiled-by-jean-claude-victor-kiswell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPRZnRQu_hc&list=PL0_X8WOQtiS5bQ7MfMh03RCqRqQEm4c-b&index=1

#BBE #JeanClaude #VictorKiswell #Jazz #Music #BillyBang

Sweet Space is a live album by the Billy Bang Sextet, led by violinist Bang, and featuring tenor saxophonist Frank Lowe, alto saxophonist Luther Thomas, cornetist Butch Morris, pianist Curtis Clark, double bassist Wilber Morris, and drummer Steve McCall. It was recorded on November 15, 1979, at the Loeb Student Center of New York University in New York City, and was released on vinyl later that year by Anima Productions.

Bill Shoemaker of Point of Departure commented: "each musician played an integral role in creating an ebullient, deceptively shambling ensemble sound," and stated that Butch Morris's "Music for the Love of It" "has a supple grace that makes it a fine set-closer, possessing enough elasticity for each musician to momentarily stretch the material without disfiguring it." - Wikipedia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5TPhy0iYXs

#billybang #franklowe #butchmorris #stevemccall #freejazz #jazzviolin

Invitation is an album by the Billy Bang Quintet, led by violinist Bang, and featuring saxophonist Charles Tyler, pianist Curtis Clark, double bassist Wilber Morris, and drummer Dennis Charles. It was recorded on April 13–14, 1982, at Barigozzi Studios in Milano, Italy, and was released later that year by the Soul Note label.

Writing for The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide, Fred Goodman noted that Invitation, on which Bang's "depth as a composer, leader and instrumentalist [is] most in evidence," is "characterized by an unorthodox swing and will appeal to more traditionally minded listeners through [its] strong dedication to melody and rhythm." - Wikipedia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MFjPSh1wNw&list=OLAK5uy_nuLqnTaQ5depHJFStdoZ9wp0J9rL1cCPs

#billybang #jazzviolin #soulnote #freejazz

Kahil El'Zabar's The Ritual With Billy Bang, Malachi Favors – Another Kind Of Groove released on Sound Aspect in 1987

"Kahil El'Zabar (born Clifton Blackburn; November 11, 1953) is an American jazz multi-instrumentalist (mainly a percussionist) and composer.

El'Zabar was born in Chicago, Illinois. He attended Lake Forest College and joined the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) in the early 1970s, and became its chairman in 1975. During the 1970s, he formed the musical groups Ritual Trio and the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, both of which remain active..." - Wikipedia

This is a truly magical recording made in Germany by this incarnation of The Ritual Trio.

Billy Bang - Violin, Bells
Malachi Favors - Double-Bass, Percussion
Kahil El'Zabar - Drums, Flute, Berimbau, Bells

#KahilElZabar #billybang #malachifavors #freejazz #aacm #jazzviolin #chicagojazz #ritualtrio

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZ92I5kiof0

Bangception is a live album by violinist Billy Bang and drummer Dennis Charles. It was recorded on August 29, 1982, at the Jazz Festival Willisau [de] in Willisau, Switzerland, and was released on vinyl in 1983 by the hat MUSICS label.

Harvey Pekar of JazzTimes called the duo's rendition of Ornette Coleman's "Lonely Woman" "one of the most unique and moving versions of the composition ever recorded," and praised Charles' contribution to the album, stating that he "is no junior partner here... he and Bang often engage in exchanges and dialogues. Charles does not function primarily as an accompanist."

Writing for All About Jazz, Robert Spencer commented: "Are you aware of what a total gas Billy Bang is? Are you aware of the wild swinging emotionalism of his playing, the fervor, the inventiveness, the classical sense of order and the freewheeling sense of adventure?...

#billybang #dennischarles #lonelywoman #ornettecoleman #freejazz #jazzviolin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3nBrW4nzfI&list=OLAK5uy_n4nuAlfjsL_NAK8AecZIddbUOCkn1ghRs

Outline No. 12 is an album by Billy Bang. Featuring three ensemble works composed by Bang and conducted by Lawrence "Butch" Morris, it was recorded during July 1982 at OAO Studio in Brooklyn, New York, and was released on vinyl in 1983 by Celluloid Records.

Elsewhere's Graham Reid stated: "Most of this is written but Bang creates such odd arrangements, collisions, space and tones that it sounds... like free playing by musicians with a keen ear for each other. He's perhaps not wrong when he describes the piece 'Seeing Together' as taking us through 'a land of controlled folly'."

#billybang #jazzviolin #lawrencebutchmorris #franklowe #celluloidrecords

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1wv4AlFAqQ

Billy Bang - "Distinction Without A Difference" (1980)

#NowPlaying #BillyBang #vinyl #VinylRecords @vinylrecords

Kahil El'Zabar's The Ritual, (Billy Bang, Malachi Favors), Another Kind of Groove, Sound Aspects, 1986. There is something magical about the feel of this album.

#KahilElZabar #BillyBang #MalachiFavors #MalachiFavorsMaghostut