Human Arts Ensemble

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The Human Arts Ensemble was a creative jazz collective that existed in St. Louis in the early 1970s and incorporated elements of rock , rhythm and blues and funk into its jazz improvisations .

Charles Bobo Shaw performing with the Human Arts Ensemble (1976 in Rivbea Studio, New York )

Band history

The formation Human Arts Ensemble was founded (together with its umbrella organization Human Arts Association ) by the poet Ajulé Rutlin and the musicians Carol Marshall, James Mashall and Charles Bobo Shaw shortly after the Black Artists Group (BAG) was formed; saxophonist Luther Thomas soon joined . In contrast to the BAG, which only accepted African-American musicians as members and saw themselves as part of the black power movement, the Human Arts Ensemble offered the opportunity to also accept white musicians (such as Carol and James Marshall). The organization has always had an "anti-commercial ethos"; the ensemble was dedicated to "the free and meaningful expression of human values".

The Human Arts Ensemble was more diffuse and more ad hoc than the Black Artists Group , founded in 1968 ; with the ensemble u. a. Joseph Bowie , Oliver Lake , Floyd LeFlore , Baikida Carroll and JD Parran , as well as the teenage Marty Ehrlich . The members of the organization sponsored events ranging from jam sessions to more elaborate projects such as a Jazz & Poetry cycle on the myths of the Hopi Indians. In 1972 the Human Arts Ensemble released the debut album Poem of Gratitude , followed by Whisper of Dharma . For this purpose, the marshals brought back Tibetan and Indian instruments from a trip. 1973 appeared the album Under the Sun (with Oliver Lake and Lester Bowie as guest musicians) on the ensemble's own label Committee for Universal Justice ; In 1975 it was re-released by Arista / Freedom. The ensemble played a mixture of jazz, funk, blues, free music and ethnic sounds on two long tracks.

In 1974 Shaw moved to New York, toured and recorded under the band name Human Arts Ensemble ; In 1978 the ensemble finally ended its activity. Groups like Defunkt or Luther Thomas' band Dizzaz came into their heir in the 1980s.

Luther Thomas

Discography

  • Poem of Gratitude (Universal Justice Records, 1972, with Ajulé, Luther Thomas, James, and Carol Marshall)
  • Whisper of Dharma (Universal Justice Records, 1972, with Floyd LeFlore , Joseph Bowie, JD Parran, James Marshall, Oliver Lake, Gene Lake , Charles Bobo Shaw, Bakida Yasseen )
  • Luther Thomas & Human Arts Ensemble: Banana - The Lost Session, St. Louis, 1973 (Atavistic, 1973, ed. 2001, with Abdullah Yakub, James Marshall, Charles Bobo Shaw, Carol Marshall)
  • Luther Thomas Human Arts Ensemble Directs the Saint Louis Missouri Creative Ensemble: Funky Donkey (Circle or Creative Consciousness Records rec. 1973, ed. 1977, with Floyd LeFlore, Harold Pudgey Atterbury, Lester Bowie, Joseph Bowie, JD Parran, Marvin Horne, Eric Foreman, Charles Bobo Shaw, Abdullah Yakub, Rocky Washington)
  • Under the Sun (Universal Justice, 1973, with Lester Bowie, Victor Reef, JD Parran, Marty Ehrlich, Oliver Lake, James Marshall, Kwame Graham, Butch Smith, Charles Bobo Shaw, Vincent Terrell, Abdulla Yakub, Alan Suits, Carol Marshall)
  • Charles Bobo Shaw & The Human Arts Ensemble: Streets of St. Louis (Moers Music, rec. 1974, ed. 1978, with Lester Bowie, Joseph Bowie, Julius Hemphill, Hamiet Bluiett , Abdul Wadud , Dominique Gaumont )
  • Charles Bobo Shaw & The Human Arts Ensemble: Çonceré Ntasiah (Universal Justice, 1978, with Joseph Bowie, Julius Hemphill, Abdul Wadud, François Nyomo Mantuila , Alex Blake )
  • Charles Bobo Shaw / Human Arts Ensemble Featuring Joseph Bowie: Junk Trap ( Black Saint , 1978, with Joseph Bowie, Luther Thomas, James Emery , John Lindberg )
  • The Human Arts Ensemble Live Vol. I (Circle Records, 1978, same line-up)
  • The Human Arts Ensemble Live Vol. I (Circle Records, 1978, same line-up)
  • The James Marshall Human Arts Ensemble Autonomous Oblast (Freedonia Music, rec. 1975/76, ed. 2008, with Thurman Thomas, Maurice Malik King, Luther Thomas, Greg Mills, Rick Saffron, Carl Arzinia Richards, Jim Miller, Jay Zelenka, Carol Marshall)

literature

  • Todd S. Jenkins: Free Jazz and Free Improvisation: An Encyclopedia, Volume 2 , 2004, p. 179.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Joachim-Ernst Berendt, Günther Huesmann: The Jazz Book: From Ragtime to the 21st Century . 2005, p. 1980
  2. ^ A b Benjamin Looker BAG: 'Point from which Creation Begins': the Black Artists' Group of St. Louis . 2004, p. 89
  3. ^ Leonard Feather , Ira Gitler : The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. Oxford University Press, New York 1999, ISBN 0-19-532000-X .
  4. ^ Dennis Owsley City of Gabriels: The History of Jazz in St. Louis, 1895-1973 . 2006, page 183
  5. ^ Todd S. Jenkins: Free Jazz and Free Improvisation: An Encyclopedia, Volume 2 , p. 179
  6. ↑ In February 1978 Charles Bobo Shaw & Human Arts Ensemble were still performing in the La Mama Children's Workshop (236 E 3rd Street). See New York Magazine, February 13, 1978. In May the formation was on a European tour and performed at the Moers Festival and in Tilburg , among others . see. The Human Arts Ensemble Live (Circle Records) and Moers International New Jazz Festival: 12-15 May 1978
  7. ↑ republished with another title by Atavistic 2001
  8. ^ Human Arts Ensemble Discography