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1.
U City Blues 07:03
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2.
Untitled 07:54
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3.
Life Light 32:00
4.
India 17:39
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about

Illuminations, a December 2016 release from Freedonia Music is a newly remastered version of the James Marshall Human Arts Trio recording dating from 1980. James was a co-founder and driving force behind the Human Arts Ensemble and as such his performing and recording output was almost exclusively ensemble work. This recording is atypical. With drum set and percussion accompaniment, Illuminations showcases his unique voice and improvisational style on alto, tenor and soprano saxophones. Marshall's solos range from lyric to incendiary, are profound and passionate in feeling, intelligent and exacting in execution. In addition to the original studio tracks we have included an 18 minute piece from the late 1970's mastered for this release.

Musician Milo Fine reviewing the original Illuminations release in Cadence (1985) says Marshall is "eloquently getting on with the business at a hand--a sincere heartfelt music" with "Trane as a good reference as the spiritual feel". "Marshall... shows himself to be an expressive and indefatigable player".

James Marshall passed away in April of 2016 at the age of 73. This re-release of Illuminations is dedicated to his memory. An insatiable lover and humble student of jazz, classical, and the many indigenous musical cultures of our world, he devoted his life to a music with little to no commercial potential, a totally free music, limitless in artistic and spiritual possibilities, uncompromising in its social implications. He was a Zen band leader who led by not leading, inspiring others with his creative vision. In spite of innumerable performances over many decades the James Marshall Human Arts Ensemble's recorded output was small. Writing about one such recording, Autonomous Oblast, which didn't see the light of day until its 2008 release on the Freedonia Music label, Stef Gijssels in his Free Jazz Blog touches on the essential and defining aspects of Marshall's aesthetic and directional influence:

"The pleasure is in the spontaneous creation, the deeply felt unity of the musicians playing without boundaries and restrictions, yet fully respectful to each other and to the musical end result... there are no solos, it's just one gigantic spontaneous musical movement, a sound evolving following its own inherent dynamical logic and emotional dynamics, unsteered and unplanned, a wild tidal wave of sound alternated with slow and subdued moments and with musicians joining in to add shades and color, depth and emotional accents. You need great musicians to accomplish that, and that's what this band was, when it recorded this phenomenal piece of music in the mid-70s."

credits

released April 30, 2017

James Marshall: alto, soprano, tenor sax & flute
Frank Micheaux: drums
Jay Zelenka: percussion, whistles
Michael Castro: nadaswarum, brass cymbals (track 4)
Alan Suits: nadaswarum, tavil, Tibetan trumpet,
brass cymbals (track 4)


All compositions by James Marshall

Tracks 1,2 & 3 recorded March 1979
Track 4 recorded in the mid 1970's
Mastering 2016: Tazu Marshall & Jay Zelenka
Cover art: James Marshal © 2016
Produced by JZ/Freedonia Music

In memory of James Marshall.
Thanks for the music, amigo!

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Freedonia Music St. Louis, Missouri

Freedonia Music was born in 2006 to promote Creative Improvised Music.
Offering a
catalog of archival performances and contemporary recordings of New Music from the heart of the heartlands. Music to wake up your ears!

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