The African Game
Encyclopedia
The African Game is a live album
by George Russell released on the Blue Note
label in 1984, featuring performances by Russell with his Living Time Orchestra recorded in 1983 in Boston
. The Allmusic review by Richard S. Ginell awarded the album 3 stars and states "The African Game is a major statement, a highly eclectic, nine-part, 45-minute suite for augmented big band that attempts to depict no less than the evolution of the species from the beginning of time to the present from an African perspective. Well, yes, this theme has been taken on by many an ambitious artist in every field, but Russell's work is remarkably successful because it tries to embrace a massive world of sound in open, colorful, young-thinking terms, with degrees of timbral unity and emotion to keep the idioms from flying out of control".
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
by George Russell released on the Blue Note
Blue Note Records
Blue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. Francis Wolff became involved shortly afterwards. It derives its name from the characteristic "blue notes" of jazz and the blues. At the end of the 1950s, and in the early 1960s, Blue Note headquarters...
label in 1984, featuring performances by Russell with his Living Time Orchestra recorded in 1983 in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
. The Allmusic review by Richard S. Ginell awarded the album 3 stars and states "The African Game is a major statement, a highly eclectic, nine-part, 45-minute suite for augmented big band that attempts to depict no less than the evolution of the species from the beginning of time to the present from an African perspective. Well, yes, this theme has been taken on by many an ambitious artist in every field, but Russell's work is remarkably successful because it tries to embrace a massive world of sound in open, colorful, young-thinking terms, with degrees of timbral unity and emotion to keep the idioms from flying out of control".
Track listing
- All compositions by George Russell
- "Event I: Organic Life on Earth Begins" - 6:38
- "Event II: The Paleolithic Game" - 4:32
- "Event III: Consciousness" - 2:22
- "Event IV: The Survival Game" - 7:45
- "Event V: The Human Sensing of Unity with Nature" - 0:50
- "Event VI: African Empires" - 8:23
- "Event VII: Cartesian Man" - 3:28
- "Event VIII: The Mega-Minimalist Age" - 4:04
- "Event IX: The Future?" - 7:18
- Recorded live at Emmanuel Church, Boston, Massachusetts, June 18, 1983.
Personnel
- George Russell - conductorConductingConducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
, arrangerArrangementThe American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents... - Marc Rossi, Bruce BarthBruce BarthBruce Barth, born September 7, 1958 in Pasadena, California, is a jazz pianist. He has played the piano since the age of five. Barth's career had included major work with ensembles, as well as solo work...
- keyboardsMusical keyboardA musical keyboard is the set of adjacent depressible levers or keys on a musical instrument, particularly the piano. Keyboards typically contain keys for playing the twelve notes of the Western musical scale, with a combination of larger, longer keys and smaller, shorter keys that repeats at the... - George GarzoneGeorge GarzoneGeorge Garzone is a saxophonist and jazz educator residing in New York city.Saxophonist George Garzone is a member of The Fringe, a jazz trio founded in 1972 that includes bassist John Lockwood and drummer Bob Gullotti, that performs regularly in the Boston area and has toured world wide. The...
- tenor saxophoneTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
, soprano saxophoneSoprano saxophoneThe soprano saxophone is a variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument, invented in 1840. The soprano is the third smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists of the soprillo, sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, contrabass and tubax.A transposing instrument pitched in... - Gary Joynes - tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
- Dave Mann - alto saxophoneAlto saxophoneThe alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
, soprano saxophone, flute - Janis Steprans - alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute
- Brad Jones - baritone saxophoneBaritone saxophoneThe baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece...
, bass clarinetBass clarinetThe bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet...
, flute - Mike Peipman, Chris Passin, Roy Okutani, Mark Hervey - trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
- Peter Cirelli, Chip Kaner - tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
- Jeff Marsanskas - bass trombone
- Marshall Sealy - french horn
- Mark White - guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
- Bob Nieske - acoustic bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
- Bill Urmson - fender bassFender Jazz BassThe Jazz Bass was the second model of electric bass created by Leo Fender. The bass is distinct from the Precision Bass in that its tone is brighter and richer in the midrange and treble with less emphasis on the fundamental harmonic...
- Keith CopelandKeith CopelandKeith Copeland is a jazz drummer and music educator.- As a musician :His father Ray Copeland was a jazz trumpet player, and he learned some by watching him, but he decided to go into drums after study's Art Blakey's records with The Jazz Messengers. In his teens he was sitting in with Barry...
- drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - Dave Hagedorn - percussion
- Olu Bata: Joe Galeota, Lazaro Perez, Kuto Perez, Amaro Laria, Enrique Cardenas - African drumsDrumThe drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...