10. Art Ensemble of ChicagoUrban Bushmen
This was the first Art Ensemble record that I that I managed to buy. And the great thing about that record is it’s a gig, and it’s a double LP, and you get to hear, almost the history of jazz, or the history of black music. I remember to totally zoning out to side three, there’s a track called ‘Ancestral Meditation’ that’s super, super quiet. That use of dynamics in a gig, where there’s this really kind of boisterous playing, and a lot of humour, to then have this moment where they just completely quieten down – it’s almost like, I wouldn’t say it’s like a Wandelweiser record, but it’s just these really long tones. If you played it to someone who didn’t know what it was, they would probably think it was a contemporary composer. It’s really, really beautiful. It really opened up my ears.
