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A Rite for All Souls, The Mark Harvey Group

Mark Harvey

Label: Americas Musicworks
Released: 2020
Duration: 96:49
Views: 378

Tracks

Disc 1, Track 1, duration=14:15 00:00 - Invocation/introit; 09:33 - Recitation (Ellis): Spel Against Demons. Disc 1, Track 2, duration=01:44 00:00 - Fanfare. Disc 1, Track 3, duration=33:01 00:00 - Recitation (Standish): The Second Coming; 02:01 - The Falconer; 12:58 - The Falcon; 28:26 - Recitation (Bloom): Orpheus; 31:08 - The Soul of Charon. Disc 2, Track 1, duration=27:08 00:00 - Prelude to Napalm: Rice Paper; 05:55 - Recitation (Ellis): Napalm: Rice Paper; 07:12 - Rite for the souls of the Children; 25:11 - Coda. Disc 2, Track 2, duration=09:41 00:00 - The Rite continued. Disc 2, Track 3, duration=11:08 00:00 - The Rite concluded.

Personnel

Mark Harvey

composer / conductor

Peter H. Bloom

flute

Craig Ellis

percussion

Michael Standish

percussion

Album Description

On October 31, 1971, with American democracy in turmoil, The Mark Harvey Group (Mark Harvey, brasswinds; Peter H. Bloom, woodwinds; and their late colleagues Craig Ellis and Michael Standish, percussion) composed and performed A Rite for All Souls at Boston’s venerable Old West Church – a powerful aesthetic response to the times. A Rite for All Souls was a single extended musical work of instrumental movements punctuated by brief recitations. The diversity of sonic experiences, the musical and poetic interactions, the theatrical gestures and stagecraft all combined to create a profound experience. A superb live concert recording of the 1971 performance, lost for nearly 5 decades, was re-discovered in 2018. The original reel-to-reel tapes were digitally remastered to create an audiophile-quality 2-CD set (with booklet) documenting the event. The album A Rite for All Souls was released in July 2020, to critical acclaim across the world. “Harvey and his colleagues created something which was part performance art, part jazz concert, and part religious ritual, in the hope of marshaling all manner of resources, both musical and spiritual, for the struggle for peace.....Harvey and his partners are indeed wrestling with demons here, and it is a potent thing to behold.” (Troy Dostert, AllAboutJazz.com) “A Rite for All Souls is a deeply engaging series of improvisations, sound worlds and rich musical expression.” (Donald Elfman, The New York City Jazz Record). “This music of bracing power was born of an alertness and sensitivity to prevailing musical currents, and offered its own strikingly original point of view on the free jazz revolution.” (Philip Clark, The Wire, UK). “The new album from The Mark Harvey Group, A Rite for All Souls (Americas Musicworks), captures a seminal live show from 1971….an indelible recording that characterizes the immediacy of free-jazz protest music at a consequential time in American history.…a release for the times, bringing the free jazz language of social justice to the fore.” - Jon Ross, Ear Relevant (July 2020) “A beautiful historical and musical document.” – Vittorio, Music Zoom, Italy, June 2020

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