Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Roscoe Mitchell and the Note Factory: Song for My Sister

314

Roscoe Mitchell and the Note Factory: Song for My Sister

By

Sign in to view read count
Roscoe Mitchell and the Note Factory: Song for My Sister
The band comes out swinging, lush, loose, rollicking, on the disc's title track, "Song for My Sister". Leader/multiple reedman Roscoe Mitchell on tenor sax, front line partner Corey Wilkes blowing trumpet. The band is filled with duos—two pianos, a pair of basses, a couple a drummers. "Song for My Sister", the song, is lush, full-bodied without being clamorous or cacophonous, lyrical, delicately-cut from a dense musical soundscape. Instrumentalists and solists are responsive to the musical flow, no stepping on each others toes. An eleven minute jazz symphony.

From there, Mitchell and his bandmates blow all over the globe: open, frenetic on "Sagitta"; eerie and third world on "this"; "When the Whistle Blows" is an ominous, churning caldron; "Megaplexian" tinks and rattles with haunted sounds; "Step One, Two, Three" broods darkly, like a mad funeral march; the closer, "Count Off", is a rumbling James Brown funk, with a free jazz sensibility, Mitchell's tenor a rough hewn growl, with a muted trumpet screaming softly behind his band saw attack in front of a snapping, cracking rhythm.

Stylistically diverse—a complex, cerebral, hugely rewarding set of songs.

www.pirecordings.com

Track Listing

Song for My Sister; Sagitta; this; When the Whistle Blows; The Megaplexian; Step One, Two, Three; The Inside of a Star; Wind Change; Count Off

Personnel

Roscoe Mitchell
saxophone

Roscoe Mitchell, reeds, percussion, bass recorder; Leon Dorsey, bass; Vijay Iyer, piano; Vincent Davis, drums; Gerald Cleaver, drums; Spenser Barefield, guitar; Jaribu Shahid, bass; Corey Wilkes, trumpet; Craig Taborn, piano

Album information

Title: Song for My Sister | Year Released: 2002 | Record Label: Pi Recordings

Comments

Tags


For the Love of Jazz
Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who create it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

You Can Help
To expand our coverage even further and develop new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for a modest $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination will vastly improve your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Sensual
Rachel Z
Over and Over
Tony Monaco Trio
Love Is Passing Thru
Roberto Magris

Popular

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.