Tribute to Lester is an album recorded in 2001 by the Art Ensemble of Chicago

Art Ensemble of Chicago

The 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....

 and released on ECM in 2003, their first release on the label since The Third Decade

The Third Decade

The Third Decade is a 1984 album by the Art Ensemble of Chicago released on the ECM label. It features performances by Lester Bowie, Joseph Jarman, Roscoe Mitchell, Malachi Favors Maghostut and Don Moye.-Reception:...

(1984). It features performances by Roscoe Mitchell

Roscoe Mitchell

Roscoe 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...

, Malachi Favors Maghostut and Don Moye

Don Moye

Famoudou Don Moye, is an American jazz percussionist and drummer. He is most known for his involvement with the Art Ensemble of Chicago and is noted for his mastery of African and Caribbean percussion instruments and rhythmic techniques.- Early life and Detroit Free Jazz :Moye was born in...

. The album was recorded following Joseph Jarman

Joseph Jarman

Joseph Jarman , is a jazz musician, composer and Shinshu Buddhist priest. He is perhaps best known as one of the first members of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and the Art Ensemble of Chicago.-Early life:Jarman grew up in Chicago, Illinois...

's temporary retirement from the group and the death of founding member Lester Bowie

Lester Bowie

Lester Bowie was an American jazz trumpet player and composer. He was a member of the AACM, and cofounded the Art Ensemble of Chicago.-Biography:...

 to whom it is dedicated.

Reception

The Allmusic review by Richard S. Ginell awarded the album 4 stars noting that "the group receives probably the most stunning, precisely etched recorded sound of its existence. Yet despite the retrospective nature of some of the selections, there is no overt nostalgia or compromise in the AEC's aesthetic stance, probably figuring that Bowie would have wanted it that way".

Track listing

1. "Sangaredi" (Moye) - 7:42
2. "Suite for Lester" (Mitchell) - 5:24
3. "Zero/Alternate Line" (Bowie, Mitchell) - 9:16
4. "Tutankhamun" (Favors) - 8:10
5. "As Clear as the Sun" (Favors, Mitchell, Moye) - 12:41
6. "He Speaks to Me Often in Dreams" (Favors, Mitchell, Moye) - 13:52
   • Recorded September 2001 in Chicago

Personnel

• Malachi Favors Maghostut: bass, percussion instruments
• Roscoe Mitchell
  Roscoe Mitchell
  Roscoe 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...
  
  : saxophones, clarinets, flute, percussion instruments
• Don Moye
  Don Moye
  Famoudou Don Moye, is an American jazz percussionist and drummer. He is most known for his involvement with the Art Ensemble of Chicago and is noted for his mastery of African and Caribbean percussion instruments and rhythmic techniques.- Early life and Detroit Free Jazz :Moye was born in...
  
  : drums, percussion