Nessa Records
Encyclopedia
Discography
- n-1 Lester BowieLester BowieLester Bowie was an American jazz trumpet player and composer. He was a member of the AACM, and cofounded the Art Ensemble of Chicago.-Biography:...
- Numbers 1 & 2Numbers 1 & 2Numbers 1 & 2 is a 1967 album by Lester Bowie featuring a line-up which later became the Art Ensemble of Chicago. It was released on the Nessa label and features performances by Bowie, Roscoe Mitchell, Malachi Favors, and Joseph Jarman.-Reception:...
(available in Art Ensemble Box – ncd-2500 and reissued complete as ncd-31/32) - n-2 Roscoe MitchellRoscoe MitchellRoscoe Mitchell is an African American composer, jazz instrumentalist and educator, mostly known for being "a technically superb—if idiosyncratic—saxophonist." He has been called "one of the key figures" in avant-garde jazz who has been "at the forefront of modern music" for the past...
- CongliptiousCongliptiousCongliptious is a 1968 album by Roscoe Mitchell's Art Ensemble which later became the Art Ensemble of Chicago. It was released on the Nessa label and features performances by Mitchell, Lester Bowie, Malachi Favors, and Robert Crowder...
(available in Art Ensemble Box – ncd-2500 and reissued complete as ncd-2) - n-3 Art Ensemble of ChicagoArt Ensemble of ChicagoThe Art Ensemble of Chicago is an avant-garde jazz ensemble that grew out of Chicago's AACM in the late 1960s. The group continues to tour and record through 2006, despite the deaths of two of the founding members....
- People in SorrowPeople in SorrowPeople in Sorrow is a 1969 album by the Art Ensemble of Chicago recorded in Boulogne for the French Pathé-Marconi label, later reissued in the US on Nessa Records...
(rights have reverted to EMI-France) - n-4 Art Ensemble of Chicago - Les Stances a SophieLes Stances a SophieLes Stances a Sophie is a 1970 soundtrack album by the Art Ensemble of Chicago recorded in Paris for a French film directed by Moshe Mizrahi and first released on the Pathé Marconi label in France and on Nessa Records in the U.S.. It features performances by Lester Bowie, Joseph Jarman, Roscoe...
(rights have reverted to EMI-France) - n-5 Roscoe Mitchell - Old/QuartetOld/QuartetOld/Quartet is an album recorded in 1967 by Roscoe Mitchell's Art Ensemble which later became known as the Art Ensemble of Chicago. It was released on the Nessa label in 1975 and features performances by Mitchell, Lester Bowie, Malachi Favors Maghostut and Phillip Wilson.-Reception:The Allmusic...
(available in Art Ensemble Box – ncd-2500) - n-6 Von FreemanVon FreemanEarle Lavon Freeman Sr. is an American hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist. He is the father of jazz saxophonist Chico Freeman.-Biography:...
- Have No Fear (cd issued in Japan w/extra track) - n-7 Warne MarshWarne MarshWarne Marion Marsh was an American tenor saxophonist born in Los Angeles.-Biography:Marsh came from an affluent background: his father was the cinematographer Oliver T. Marsh , and his mother Elizabeth was a violinist...
- All Music (available as ncd-7 w/7 bonus tracks) - n-8 Ben WebsterBen WebsterBenjamin Francis Webster , a.k.a. "The Brute" or "Frog," was an influential American jazz tenor saxophonist. Webster, born in Kansas City, Missouri, was considered one of the three most important "swing tenors" along with Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young...
- Did You Call? (rights have reverted to Ensayo-Spain) - n-9/10 Roscoe Mitchell - NonaahNonaahNonaah is a double album recorded in 1976-77 by Roscoe Mitchell. It was originally released on the Nessa label in 1977 and features solo, duo, trio and quartet performances by Mitchell, Anthony Braxton, Malachi Favors Muhal Richard Abrams, George Lewis, Henry Threadgill, Joseph Jarman, and Wallace...
(available as ncd-9/10 w/5 bonus tracks) - n-11 Von Freeman - Serenade & Blues (available as ncd-11 w/extra track)
- n-12 AirAir (jazz group)Air was a free jazz trio founded in 1971 by saxophone player Henry Threadgill, double bassist Fred Hopkins and drummer Steve McCall. They combined radical free improvisation with a strong sense of tune and equal emphasis on each instrument in the group....
- Air TimeAir TimeAir Time is an album by the improvisational collective Air featuring Henry Threadgill, Steve McCall, and Fred Hopkins performing three of Threadgill's compositions and one each by Hopkins and McCall.-Reception:...
(available as ncd-12) - n-13 Lucky ThompsonLucky ThompsonEli "Lucky" Thompson was a United States jazz tenor and soprano saxophonist...
- Body & Soul (rights have reverted to Ensayo – Spain) - n-14/15 Roscoe Mitchell - LRG/The Maze/SII Examples (available as ncd-14)
- n-16 Charles TylerCharles Tyler (musician)Charles Lacy Tyler was an American jazz baritone saxophonist.Tyler was born in Cadiz, Kentucky and spent his childhood years in Indiana, New York City and Cleveland, Ohio...
- Saga of the Outlaws (available as ncd-16) - n-17/18 Spontaneous Music EnsembleSpontaneous Music EnsembleThe Spontaneous Music Ensemble was a loose collection of free improvising musicians convened beginning in the mid-1960s by the late South London-based jazz drummer/trumpeter John Stevens and alto and soprano saxophonist Trevor Watts...
, Bobby BradfordBobby BradfordBobby Lee Bradford is an American jazz trumpeter, cornetist, bandleader, and composer. He is noted for his work with Ornette Coleman...
, John StevensJohn Stevens (drummer)John William Stevens was an English drummer. He was one of the most significant figures in early free improvisation, and a founding member of the Spontaneous Music Ensemble .-Biography:Stevens was born in Brentford, the son of a tap dancer...
- Live Vols. 1 & 2 (available as ncd-17/18) - n-19 Wadada Leo SmithWadada Leo SmithIshmael Wadada Leo Smith is a trumpeter and composer working primarily in the fields of avant-garde jazz and free improvisation.-Biography:...
- Spirit Catcher (available as ncd-19 w/extra track) - n-20 Roscoe Mitchell - Snurdy McGurdy (available as ncd-20 HDCD encoded)
- n-21 NRG EnsembleNRG EnsembleNRG Ensemble was an American jazz ensemble founded in the 1980s by saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist Hal Russell.The group's personnel was somewhat fluid, but included a core of drummer Steve Hunt, saxophonist Mars Williams, guitarist/trumpeter Brian Sandstrom, and bassist Kent Kessler. Their music...
- NRG Ensemble - n-22 Eddie JohnsonEddie Johnson (musician)Edwin Lawrence "Eddie" Johnson was an American jazz and blues tenor saxophonist. He was born in Napoleonville, Louisiana, United States....
- Indian Summer (available on lp only) - n-23 Fred AndersonFred Anderson (musician)Fred Anderson was an American jazz tenor saxophonist who was based in Chicago, Illinois. With a distinctive forward-bent playing posture, Anderson's playing was rooted in the swing music and hard bop idioms, but also incorporated innovations from free jazz, rendering him, as critics Ron Wynn and...
- The Missing Link (available as ncd-23 w/extra track) - n-24 Hal RussellHal RussellHal Russell was an American free jazz musician. He performed mainly on drums and saxophone, but occasionally on trumpet or vibraphone. Russel's fiery music was marked by significant humor, not unlike much of Dutch drummer Han Bennink's output...
/Mars WilliamsMars WilliamsMars Williams is an American jazz and rock saxophonist. Originally a ten year classical clarinetist after being exposed to Big Band and Dixieland Jazz by his trumpet playing father, Mars migrated to the saxophone in his senior year of high school, citing influences from Eric Dolphy, John Coltrane...
- Eftsoons (available on lp only) - n-25 NRG Ensemble - Generation (CD)
- ncd-26 Wadada Leo Smith- Procession of the Great Ancestry (CD)
- ncd-30 Von Freeman - Vonski Speaks" (CD)
- ncd-31/32 Lester Bowie - All the Numbers" (expanded reissue of n-1)