View basket “Live at Art D’Lugoff’s Top of the Gate Vol. 2” has been added to your basket. Les Stances à Sophie Art Ensemble of Chicago SKU: SJRLP418 Barcode: 5026328004181 24.00 £24.00 Genre: Jazz Label: Soul Jazz Released Date: 3rd October 2018 Buying Format: 2LP Out of stock Back Order Add to your Wishlist Description Product Info As the legendary Art Ensemble Of Chicago celebrates its 50th anniversary, Soul Jazz Records release a new, fully re-mastered edition of the group’s seminal 1970 album ‘Les Stances à Sophie’, which features the great singer Fontella Bass on the opening track ‘Theme de Yoyo’, a stunning 9-min opus that continues to startle and compel new audiences today. Drawing upon the mutual soul and funk background of Bass and her then husband Lester Bowie with all the power of the Art Ensemble Of Chicago’s collective musicianship on board, ‘Theme de Yoyo’ is powerfully funky, soulful and free at the same time, a classic fusion of black music styles. The Art Ensemble explored many areas of popular black music during their career. For instance, their ‘Ancient to the Future: Tribute to the Masters’ album covered songs by artists such as James Brown, Fela Kuti and Jimi Hendrix. This however, remains a pinnacle moment in their exploration of black dance music. The Art Ensemble Of Chicago are one of the most important and radical jazz groups to come out of the USA. ‘Les Stances à Sophie’ was recorded in Paris in 1970 and features regular Art Ensemble members (Lester Bowie, Joseph Jarman, Roscoe Mitchell and Malachi Flavors) alongside newly recruited drummer Don Moye and guest Fontella Bass on vocals and piano. Fontella Bass already had a successful career as a soul singer – ‘Rescue Me’ was her biggest hit in the Sixties. She and Lester Bowie first met in St Louis while working with legendary rhythm and blues producer Oliver Sain. Vocals (and lyrics), alongside a constant drum and bass beat, were new elements to the music of the Art Ensemble at this time. Musicians such as Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane spearheaded the free jazz movement at the start of the 1960s. Far from simply defining a musical concept, they also began to redefine the concept of the African-American musician in society. A new period of self-respect and spirituality among musicians paralleled the Civil Rights Movement led by Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, encouraging self-determination and empowerment in every African-American musician. The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) was formed in Chicago in 1965 by Muhal Richard Abrams with members including future Art Ensemble of Chicago members Bowie, Jarman, Mitchell and Flavors, as well as others including Anthony Braxton and Amina Claudine Myers. The AACM explored experimental music and began promoting concerts, teaching music and Black history and offering spiritual guidance to youngsters in the Chicago community. Out of this The Art Ensemble was formed in 1968 and in June 1969 the group headed for France. ‘Les Stances á Sophie’ was originally released on EMI France in 1970 and later in the US on Nessa Records. Soul Jazz Records first released the album in 2000. Now ten years out of print, they are releasing it once more in this new fully re-mastered edition. ‘Les Stances á Sophie’ came about when Israeli film director Moshe Misrahi befriended the group and asked them to record a soundtrack to a (then unmade) French New Wave film of the same name. During a two-year period in France the group recorded an astonishing amount of music – over fifteen albums recorded for various labels such as BYG, Freedom, Nessa, Arista and EMI – before returning to America in 1971 to continue their journey. The Art Ensemble Of Chicago’s musical soundtrack remains perhaps the definitive release from this period, a stunning exploration of radical jazz music and, with with the rare addition of vocalist Fontella Bass on ‘Theme De Yoyo’, an unashamedly powerful celebration of Great Black Music. Artist Art Ensemble of Chicago Genre Jazz , Soul / Funk Label Soul Jazz Buying Options 2LP Format 2LP Condition New Country United Kingdom Track Listings Theme De Yoyo Theme De Celine Variations Sur Un Theme De Monteverdi (i) Variations Sur Un Theme De Monteverdi (ii) Proverbes (i) Theme Amour Universal Theme Libre Proverbes (ii) Share this On Facebook On Twitter Via Email More from Art Ensemble of Chicago and more from Jazz View Product Quick View Art Ensemble of Chicago Tutankaman Jazz | Org Music | 1LP Released 22nd February 2019 £20.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Art Ensemble of Chicago Tutankaman £20.00 Genre: Jazz Label: Org Music SKU: 0711574837113 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 22nd February 2019 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Alice Coltrane Eternity Jazz | Antarctica | 1LP Released 12th April 2019 £27.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Alice Coltrane Eternity £27.00 Genre: Jazz Label: Antarctica SKU: ASH311 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 12th April 2019 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Rich Ruth I Survived, It’s Over Jazz | Third Man Records | 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 12th August 2022 £15.00 - £18.00 Select options Rich Ruth I Survived, It’s Over £15.00 - £18.00 Genre: Jazz Label: Third Man Records Formats: 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 12th August 2022 Read More Select options View Product Quick View Ella Fitzgerald Ella: The Lost Berlin Tapes Jazz | Verve | 2LP Released 16th October 2020 £26.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Ella Fitzgerald Ella: The Lost Berlin Tapes £26.00 Genre: Jazz Label: Verve SKU: 745009 Formats: 2LP Released Date: 16th October 2020 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Paco De Lucia, Al Di Meola & John McLaughlin Saturday Night In San Francisco Jazz | Ear Music | 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 1st July 2022 £23.00 - £26.00 Select options Paco De Lucia, Al Di Meola & John McLaughlin Saturday Night In San Francisco £23.00 - £26.00 Genre: Jazz Label: Ear Music Formats: 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 1st July 2022 Read More Select options View Product Quick View Nimbus Collective Live In Lotusland Jazz | Pure Pleasure | 180g, 3LP, Gatefold Sleeve Released 11th August 2023 £78.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Nimbus Collective Live In Lotusland £78.00 Genre: Jazz Label: Pure Pleasure SKU: NS4257 Formats: 180g, 3LP, Gatefold Sleeve Released Date: 11th August 2023 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Snarky Puppy Sylva Jazz | Ground Up Music | 1LP Released 4th November 2016 £20.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Snarky Puppy Sylva £20.00 Genre: Jazz Label: Ground Up Music SKU: 4722259 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 4th November 2016 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Dizzy Gillespie Paris ….Always (Volume Two) Jazz | Birdland | 1LP, Includes CD Released 18th November 2013 £17.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Dizzy Gillespie Paris ….Always (Volume Two) £17.00 Genre: Jazz Label: Birdland SKU: BIRD003 Formats: 1LP, Includes CD Released Date: 18th November 2013 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Eric Dolphy Out To Lunch Jazz | Blue Note | 180g, 1LP Released 24th September 2021 £22.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Eric Dolphy Out To Lunch £22.00 Genre: Jazz Label: Blue Note SKU: 3587502 Formats: 180g, 1LP Released Date: 24th September 2021 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Les McCann & Eddie Harris Swiss Movement (Atlantic 75 Series) Jazz | Analogue Productions (Atlantic 75 Series) | 2LP, 45rpm, Gatefold Sleeve Released 25th December 2025 £75.00 Pre Order View Pre/Back Orders Les McCann & Eddie Harris Swiss Movement (Atlantic 75 Series) £75.00 Genre: Jazz Label: Analogue Productions (Atlantic 75 Series) SKU: AAPA 071-45 Formats: 2LP, 45rpm, Gatefold Sleeve Released Date: 25th December 2025 Read More Pre Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Pat Metheny Dream Box Jazz | Modern Recordings | 2LP Released 16th June 2023 £28.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Pat Metheny Dream Box £28.00 Genre: Jazz Label: Modern Recordings SKU: 4050538891690 Formats: 2LP Released Date: 16th June 2023 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders See more in Jazz Start again
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