Muhal Richard Abrams

Song For All is a set of eight compositions by Muhal Richard Abrams for a mid-sized band, recorded at East Side Sound in New York on April 26 to 29, 1994 and released by Black Saint in 1997. Abrams had co-founded the AACM in Chicago in 1965 and moved to New York in 1977. In 1990 he had been the first recipient of the Danish JAZZPAR award. Here he writes for brass, reeds, vibraphone and rhythm, with his own piano and synthesizer inside the ensemble.

The players are trumpeter Eddie Allen, trombonist Craig Harris, Aaron Stewart on tenor and soprano saxophones, Bryan Carrott on vibraphone and percussion and Reggie Nicholson on drums, with Brad Jones on bass and Richarda Abrams credited for voice. Jon Rosenberg engineered, Abrams produced with Frank Tafuri coordinating, and Flavio Bonandrini was executive producer. Abrams also painted the cover, and Quincy Troupe wrote the liner notes. The title track opens the album at about six and a half minutes. The weight of the record sits in the middle, with GMBR at nearly fourteen minutes and Over The Same Over at about twenty, the longest piece. Dabadubada, Marching With Honor, Linetime and Steamin' Up The Road fill out the programme, and the short Imagine closes it in about four minutes, for a total of more than 75 minutes.

This is the Black Saint CD 120161-2, first released in 1997.