Browse by Artist: REVOLUTIONARY ENSEMBLE

Artist:	REVOLUTIONARY ENSEMBLE
Title:	Vietnam
Label:	ESP-DISK
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	ESPDISK 3007CD

"Debut recording by one of the classic avant-garde groups: the Revolutionary Ensemble. Featuring violinist Leroy Jenkins (formerly a member of the AACM), bassist Sirone and percussionist Jerome Cooper, the group was an early example of chamber music within the avant-garde format, one that emphasized subtlety within its instrumentation (string instruments instead of saxophones) and compositions. The band existed primarily from 1971-1977, building a worldwide reputation as one of the premier avant-garde groups. Vietnam was the group's first recording." Remastered CD in digipack format.

Artist:	REVOLUTIONARY ENSEMBLE
Title:	The Psyche
Label:	MUTABLEMUSIC
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.50
Catalog #:	MUTABLE 17514

The Revolutionary Ensemble was: Leroy Jenkins (violin), Sirone (bass), Jerome Cooper (drums, piano). "Long awaited reissue of the Revolutionary Ensemble's 1975 album The Psyche. This group introduced New York to decided musical advances, many pioneered by Chicago's A.A.C.M. musicians. Ex-Chicagoan Leroy Jenkins, who played violin, of all unheard-of modern jazz instruments, had formed his concept from classical, swing, blues, and modern elements and had been one of the radicals who discovered new concepts of sound, space, and musical relationships in the late 1960s. Jerome Cooper had been a somewhat later Chicago explorer, while Sirone's freedom of motion had grown out of work with the most visionary New Yorkers. If you doubt the expressive capacity of stringed instruments, The Psyche should change your mind: Jenkins and Sirone have many ways of bowing and plucking, along with dramatic passages high and low on their instruments. Careful listening and sensitive responses sustain this music; accompaniments to solos grow into intense interplay. The ensemble regularly re-forms into solo, duet, and trio combinations, aided by the players' doubling instruments. Jenkins' mastery of thematic improvisation, including motive recall and motivic transformation, provides an especially valuable unifying element."

Artist:	REVOLUTIONARY ENSEMBLE
Title:	Beyond The Boundary Of Time
Label:	MUTABLEMUSIC
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	MUTABLE 17532

Leroy Jenkins (violin), Sirone (bass) and Jerome Cooper (drums, balaphone, chiramia, Yamaha PSR 1500). "Beyond The Boundary Of Time documents the last live performance of the legendary Revolutionary Ensemble before Leroy Jenkins' death in 2007. This recording was made of a performance on May 25, 2005 in Warsaw, Poland. In the 1970s, the Revolutionary Ensemble introduced New York to decided musical advances, many pioneered by Chicago's A.A.C.M. musicians. Ex-Chicagoan Leroy Jenkins, who played violin, of all unheard-of modern jazz instruments, had formed his concept from classical, swing, blues, and modern elements and had been one of the radicals who discovered new concepts of sound, space, and musical relationships in the late 1960s. Jerome Cooper had been a somewhat later Chicago explorer, while Sirone's freedom of motion had grown out of work with the most visionary New Yorkers. Extensive rehearsal led this cooperative trio to a shared, free sense of dynamics, momentum, and form, and a wholly unique sound: their instrumental recombinations yielded a surprising variety of textures and colors. Most of all, these highly sophisticated personalities played together to create an ensemble music even larger than the sum of its parts. After the long overdue reissue in 2004 of their 1975 recording The Psyche on Mutable Music, the Revolutionary Ensemble -- Leroy Jenkins (violin), Sirone (bass), and Jerome Cooper (drums, keyboards) -- reunited for both recording and performances. On this live set, each musician is represented by one of their own compositions - 'Configuration' by Sirone, 'Usami' by Leroy Jenkins, and 'Le-Si-Jer' by Jerome Cooper, as well as two group improvisations. All three of these great musicians are at the top of their form here, and one envies the Warsaw audience that attended what turns out to have been their final performance together. Their remarkable realization of the ensemble ideal was still revelatory and still revolutionary."

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