“In the midst of the historic events surrounding the 50th anniversary of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), I wanted to highlight my explorations into new artistic territory, as represented by the series of trio project showcased in this recording.
“I began work on these trios when Jeff Gauthier and Alex Cline contacted me to say they wanted to honor me for my 71st birthday and 45th anniversary of AACM by inviting me to be a part of Angel City Festive 2011. Alex Cline wanted to do an arrangement of my composition ‘People in Sorrow’ (‘For People in Sorrow: an Homage’ by Alex Cline for a twelve-piece ensemble with Will Salmon conducting). For the same occasion I decided to write a composition, titled ‘Angel City’, for my first trio. Trio number one consists of two of my colleagues at Mills College, James Fei and William Winant, and myself. ‘Angel City’ was premiered at the REDCAT Theater on Sunday, October 2, 2011, Los Angeles, California.
“The second trio was formed after a friend and local supporter of new music, Harry Bernstein, called me to mention that Tyshawn Sorey was playing a solo concert at his home and asked me if I would and play a piece with Tyshawn at this concert. This was my first time meeting Tyshawn Sorey, and I found him to be an amazing musician. After that performance I had an opportunity to do some more music with Tyshawn Sorey and decided to add Hugh Ragin, a musician I’ve worked with since the mid-1970s, who I met when I was giving a workshop at the Creative Music Foundation in Woodstock, New York. This occasion led to the formation of the second trio.
“The third trio formed when I was scheduled to play at the Café Oto in London. A bold young London drummer named Kikanju Baku wrote me an email saying he wanted to play with me and sent me some of his music to listen to. I was very impressed with the music he sent me, and on the second night of my performance at Café Oto I invited him to sit in with the trio of John Edwards, Tani Tabbal, and myself. I’ve worked with Craig Taborn since the late 1990s. He has been a member of several of my bands and is a musician of the highest caliber. Putting these musicians together resulted in the formation of trio three.
“The fourth trio features two musicians I have had the pleasure of working with since the mid-1970s, Tani Tabbal and Jaribu Shahid. They were members of the Sound Ensemble, the first groups I established outside of the Art Ensemble of Chicago after returning to the United States from Europe in the early 1970s. They are also founding members of the Creative Arts Collective (CAC), the musicians’ collective I founded modeled on the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). To me, it was always a given that Tani and Jaribu would be my fourth trio for the performances at the Museum of Contemporary Art.” (Roscoe Mitchell. From the liner notes.)
Performers: Roscoe Mitchell (si/s/a/bs-sx/fl/pl/b-recorder/pc), Hugh Ragin (tp/p-tp), Tyshawn Sorey (tb/pi/dr/pc), James Fey (si/a-sx/ca-cl/electronics), Craig Taborn (pi/og/electronics), Jaribu Shihad (bs/bs-gt/pc), Kikanju Baku/Tani Tabbal (dr/pc), William Winant (pc/tubular bells/glockenspiel/vb/mb/rototoms/cymbal/bs drum/wood block/timpani)
1. Spatial Aspects Of The Sound
2. Panoply
3. Prelude To A Rose
4. Dancing In The Canyon
5. EP 7849
6. Bells For The South Side
7. Prelude To The Card Game, Cards For Drums, And The Final Hand
8. The Last Chord
9. Six Gongs And Two Woodblocks
10. R509A Twenty B
11. Red Moon In The Sky/Odwalla
