Jazz Articles about Lester Bowie

About Lester Bowie

History of Jazz

In Circuses and Carnivals, Sideshows Brought Black Music To The Heartland

by Arthur R George
May 30, 2026

Black musicians in circus and carnival sideshow bands from the late 1800s well into the Twentieth Century brought ragtime and what would become jazz and rhythm and blues to white audiences deep into Midwest agricultural regions. Trumpeter Lester Bowie, later known for the avant-garde Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), Art Ensemble of Chicago, and Brass Fantasy, joined circus and carnival bands early in his career when he needed any job he could get, ...

Radio & Podcasts

Lester Bowie, Hayoung Lyou, and Bill Warfield

by Jerome Wilson
November 20, 2024

This particular show features recent music by Hayoung Lyou and Bill Warfield's Hell's Kitchen Funk Orchestra. It also has older work by Sheila Jordan and Roy Campbell and a pair of selections by Lester Bowie. Playlist Henry Threadgill Sextett “I Can't Wait Till I Get Home" from The Complete Novus & Columbia Recordings of Henry Threadgill & Air (Mosaic) 00:00 Charles Lloyd “The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow" from The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow (Blue ...

Album Review

Archie Shepp: Blase And Yasmina Revisited

Read "Blase And Yasmina Revisited" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
June 23, 2021

The three albums tenor saxophonist Archie Shepp recorded in Paris for BYG Records during one week in August 1969 tend to get overlooked in the slipstream of the dozen or so he made in the US for Impulse earlier in the decade. More is the pity, for as Blasé And Yasmina Revisited so resoundingly attests, the BYGs contain some of the most audacious, many splendored and deep roots music that Shepp has recorded in his still-kicking career (at the time ...

Interview

Remembering Lester Bowie

by Lazaro Vega
January 21, 2021

From the 1995-2003 archive: This article first appeared at All About Jazz in December 1999. Lester Bowie played several concerts and made one so far un-issued recording in the late 1990's with Kahil El'Zabar's Ritual Trio plus poetess Ntozake Shange. The evening of grooves, improvisation and poetry came to Grand Rapids, Michigan, in September 1998 and played the Urban Institute For Contemporary Arts. 200 attended. The artists drew upwards of 500 in Chicago and Philadelphia said El'Zabar. ...

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Album Review

Lester Bowie Brass Fantasy: When the Spirit Returns

Read "When the Spirit Returns" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
October 12, 2003

Lester Bowie led the pack of avant-garde trumpeters in his work with the Art Ensemble of Chicago, but his Brass Fantasy output was always in a more traditional vein, even when blending elements of funk, hip-hop, soul, rock, reggae, and any other musical influences that crossed the bandleader's mind.Bowie passsed away in 1999, but two years earlier he took his Brass Fantasy into the studio and laid down two hours worth of music. When the Spirit Returns is ...

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Album Review

Lester Bowie: American Gumbo

by Jim Santella
August 1, 1999

This two-disc package from 32 Jazz includes two fine albums from Muse Records: Fast Last! and Rope-A-Dope, which were recorded in 1974 and ’75 respectively. Both albums reflect the style of an emerging leader, a founding member of the AACM & Art Ensemble of Chicago, and a champion of the jazz avant-garde. Specific elements such as fingers running across the piano’s inside strings, scratchy bowed bass melodies, horn squeals and random squawks reflect the changes brought about in the name ...

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Album Review

Lester Bowie's Brass Fantasy: The Odyssey Of Funk & Popular Music, Vol. 1

by Jim Santella
March 1, 1999

The easy-going tuba saunter and its accompanying trumpet line make Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy unmistakably easy to spot. Easy to love, too. The leader’s unique vocalized trumpet antics provide comedy relief; however, Bowie’s emphasis remains on entertaining his audience through a variety of options. The Odyssey Of Funk & Popular Music, Vol. 1 incorporates R&B, doo-wop, opera, fluffy pop, punk rock, showy balladry, and rap in a jazz setting. The message, however, is simply that music is universal and speaks ...