Calling All Mothers is an album by American jazz group the NRG Ensemble, their first after the death of bandleader, and multi-instrumentalist Hal Russell, which was recorded in 1993 and released on the Quinnah label.
| Calling All Mothers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1994 | |||
| Recorded | November 1993 at Streetville Studios, Chicago | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 55:51 | |||
| Label | Quinnah Records Q05 | |||
| Producer | Mars Williams & Steve Lake | |||
| NRG Ensemble chronology | ||||
| ||||
Reception edit
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| DownBeat | [3] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz |  [2] |
The AllMusic review by William York states that "the album has a nice element of diversity, yet it still coheres well... They play virtually every piece like it's an encore, but, fortunately, the material is strong enough to sustain such intensity".[1]
The DownBeat review by Bill Shoemaker states: "Though the set includes three Russell pieces utilizing everything from nimble swing pastiches to full-bore sax blasts, the compositional strengths of Williams, Hunt and newcomer multi-reedist Ken Vandermark preclude the possibility of NRG ever becoming a ghost band."[3]
Track listing edit
- "Punch and Judy (For Fred Anderson)" (Ken Vandermark) - 5:26
- "Chasin' My Tail" (Mars Williams) - 3:28
- "Memory Seek" (Steve Hunt) - 8:32
- "Symposium/Mr. Happy" (Williams) - 5:07
- "You Never Buy Me Anything" (NRG Ensemble) - 6:27
- "American Tan (For Stanley Kubrick)" (Vandermark) - 7:16
- "Kiteless String" (Williams) - 3:18
- "Calling All Mothers" (Hal Russell) - 4:50
- "You're My Dream" (Hal Russell) - 3:56
- "Beneath the Weather (For Steve Lacy)" (Vandermark) - 3:57
- "sraM" (Hal Russell) - 4:20
Personnel edit
- Mars Williams - tenor saxophone, alto saxophone, soprano saxophone
- Ken Vandermark - tenor saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet
- Brian Sandstrom - bass, trumpet, electric guitar
- Kent Kessler - bass, bass guitar, didgeridoo
- Steve Hunt -- drums, vibraphone, marimba, didgeridoo
References edit
- ^ a b York, William. NRG Ensemble – Calling All Mothers: Review at AllMusic. Retrieved May 7, 2014.
- ^ Cook, Richard; Brian Morton (2002). The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD. The Penguin Guide to Jazz (6th ed.). London: Penguin. p. 1121. ISBN 0140515216.
- ^ a b Shoemaker, Bill. Calling All Mothers review. Down Beat September 95: page 46. Print.