Bobby Zankel

On every label there are records that can be called landmarks and that's what we have here, a magnum opus by the late great master Muhal Richard Abrams. Some years before his death he received a commission from Bobby Zankel and his Warriors of the Wonderful Sound to write new big band music for this Philadelphian ensemble. He composed the 70 pages and 16 parts of “Soundpath” and attended the first rehearsals. It premiered in 2012 but only in 2018 – some months after Abrams passed away – a second opportunity to present it publically was possible, during the October Revolution festival. Some adaptations were made: Zankel invited Marty Ehrlich (who worked closely with Muhal) as the conductor and some extra instrumentalists familiar with the master’s musical visions were added. The concert received a second standing ovation and the 17 musicians went to the studio the next day. This is the resulting document that makes us all incredibly proud.

Fred Ho & The Saxophone Liberation Front - Snake-Eaters (2011) {Mutable-Big Red Media 002}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 351 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 142 Mb
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© 2011 Mutable Music / Big Red Media | 002
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Experimental / Modern Creative / Saxophone

Snake-Eaters debuts Fred Ho's Saxophone Liberation Front, featuring composer Ho on baritone saxophone and Hafez Modirzadeh (soprano), Bobby Zankel (alto) and Salim Washington (tenor). Darker than Blue, inspired by Curtis Mayfield's song, We the People Who are Darker than Blue, employs shifting meters (including a blues section in 11/8 and 11.5 /8), 12-tone serialism, compound meter ostinati, and Lydian chromatic approaches to orchestration. Ho's Yellow Power, Yellow Soul Suite coincides with the soon-to-be publication of the Drs. Roger Buckley and Tamara Roberts' festschrift by the same title, and includes the previously recorded "Fishing Song of the East China Sea" (originally a flute trio with bass violin on the out-of-print recording by Fred Ho and the Asian American Art Ensemble, Bamboo that Snaps Back; and the now-defunct Brooklyn Sax Quartet recording The Far Side of Here), as well as Afro-Asian adaptations of other Asian folk songs.

Fred Ho & The Green Monster Big Band - Celestial Green Monster (2009) {Mutable Music–Big Red Media 001}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 449 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 174 Mb
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© 2009 Mutable Music / Big Red Media | 001
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Experimental / Modern Creative / Modern Big Band / Saxophone

Asian-American baritone saxophonist Fred Ho has been a champion of freedom and expressionism in modern creative jazz for some time. A continuing battle with cancer has inspired him to assemble the Green Monster Big Band, with reference to the famed left-field wall at Fenway Park in Boston, but more directly related to the huge sound and diverse ideas this juggernaut ensemble represents. Ho is influenced by the '60s big bands, television or movie themes, and the psychedelic rock he grew up with, all present on this ambitious program.

Fred Ho & Quincy Saul - The Music of Cal Massey (2011) {Mutable Music-Big Red Media 004}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 383 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 149 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 22 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2011 Mutable Music / Big Red Media | 004
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Experimental / Modern Creative / Modern Small Band

Calvin Massey (1928-1972) is virtually unknown with the exception of both highly knowledgeable jazz scholars and a small coterie of illustrious musicians who remain alive and were immensely indebted to Massey s musical influence and mentorship. Massey was a father figure and close friend to many of the greatest jazz musicians of the post-World War era until his early death in 1972. Massey was a trumpeter, but was most noted as a composer of magisterial works, of which his epic opus was The Black Liberation Movement Suite, an extended work of nine movements. Until now, the work had never been recorded in its entirety. Cal Massey ranked among the greatest jazz composers of the 20th century, included with Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk and Sun Ra.

Fred Ho & The Green Monster Big Band - The Sweet Science Suite: A Scientific Soul Music Honoring Of Muhammad Ali (2011)
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 427 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 178 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 23 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2011 Mutable Music / Big Red Media | 003
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Experimental / Modern Creative / Modern Big Band / Saxophone

During the war against advanced colo-rectal cancer (from 2006), which included two primary tumors and two recurrences, Fred Ho, hammered by massive chemo and radiation, found inspiration in the fight for his life from watching movies of The Greatest, Muhammad Ali. Ali s bold, militant, defiant and spirited resistance to the forces of American racism, combined with his élan, grace and humor (both poetical and personal), his indisputable athletic abilities and genius, and the inspiration to the world s peoples (especially the oppressed) and their embrace of him, served as constant inspiration to Fred Ho. During one of his recovery periods, Ho decided to compose a work for his Green Monster Big Band to honor The Greatest.