Elixir is a live album by American avant-garde jazz composer, bandleader, and multi-instrumentalist Hal Russell's Chemical Feast recorded in Chicago in 1979 and released posthumously on the Atavistic label in 2001.

The Allmusic review awarded the album 4 stars stating "This CD possesses historical value as a rare document of the non-AACM Chicago avant-garde scene prior to its 1990s resurgence but the real reason to get it is that it just plain smokes". On All About Jazz Derek Taylor noted "The recording isn’t going to win any laurels for clean fidelity, but its very existence precludes any finger waving at its shortcomings. Russell’s discography is sparse enough as it currently stands. The prospect of future releases like this one is made all the more appealing considering he’s no longer with us and the source of the reservoir is his own personal stash" - Wikipedia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wyz4Er34V8&list=RD8wyz4Er34V8&start_radio=1

#HalRussell #Chicago #FreeJazz #Jazz #Music #MarsWilliams

Remembering Mars Williams from The Waitresses

(May 29, 1955-November 20, 2023)

#Music, #MarsWilliams, #TheWaitresses

Songs From The Big Book Of Love by Michael Zerang & The Blue Lights, released on Pink Palace in 2015

Martin Schray wrote for the Free Jazz Blog:

...their music reminds of the lost Tanger of William S. Burroughs and Paul Bowles, of the beat generation, hot jazz clubs, hard bop excesses, an exuberant life style and an atmosphere of anything goes. As a band leader percussionist Zerang, the son of Assyrian parents, is clearly in the tradition of Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers but he also cultivates his Eastern roots. The debut album of his band The Blue Lights includes eight original compositions by him and features the band playing a local club date in Chicago. And they set the house ablaze, no wonder considering that he has gathered Chicago’s top notch players like Mars Williams (sax), Dave Rempis (sax), Josh Berman (cornet) and Kent Kessler (b).

https://www.freejazzblog.org/2015/06/michael-zerang-and-blue-lights-songs.html

https://pinkpalace.bandcamp.com/album/songs-from-the-big-book-of-love

#michaelzerang #freejazz #chicago #marswilliams

Mars Williams Dies: Psychedelic Furs, The Waitresses Saxophonist Was 68
#News #Obituaries #MarsWilliams #Obituary #ThePsychedelicFurs #TheWaitresses

https://deadline.com/2023/12/mars-williams-dead-1235680793/