Rashied Ali & Leroy Jenkins - Swift Are The Winds Of Life 2xLP

$44.98

Label: Survival

“Leroy and I never played together, and so we decided to get together. We came into the club when it was closed, I turned on the tape recorder and we just started playing, not even thinking that it was gonna turn out the way that it turned out, and that was the first and the last time we played. It was great thing; it was in the winter time. For the pictures we went up to Central Park where it was freezing cold and Valerie Wilmer took the pictures for us. It was just a whim.” - Rashied Ali

Part of Rashied Ali’s artistic strength involved turning improbable sound combinations into unchallenged masterpieces. After the pattern established by John Coltrane’s Interstellar Space, and Duo Exchange with Frank Lowe, the drummer stepped into a rather unlikely duet with violinist Leroy Jenkins for Swift Are The Winds Of Life. Five years with the Revolutionary Ensemble had established Jenkins as a composer; he designed all the pieces played on these 1975 duets with Ali. That record is re-issued on vinyl here for the first time in almost a half century. The LP is augmented by an informal phantom session in which Ali and Jenkins explore thoroughly other territoriesL standards, Coltrane’s music, and two untitled, unbridled improvisations. SR-512 is a deluxe 2xLP set packaged in an old-school tip-on gatefold jacket that includes Stanley Crouch’s original 1975 essay along with new liner notes and excerpts from an interview with Jenkins.

Sides C and D of this set are sourced from a poorly labeled, badly distorted reel of tape found in Rashied’s archive. The Survival team has taken every step to reduce distortion, hums, and other imperfections, yet the audio remains raw. So be it—we are thankful that this informal session was recorded, and that the tape survived. Extensive research has not uncovered an exact date or location for this recording. It seems to be a rehearsal for the 1975 recording of their Survival Records duo LP, although they do not play any of the pieces from Swift Are The Winds Of Life. And it most likely occurred at Ali’s recording studio at 77 Greene Street, Studio 77.

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