Fanfare for the Warriors

After several years in France, the Art Ensemble of Chicago returned home in 1972 and almost immediately signed with Atlantic Records, a deal which produced live Bap-Tizum and this meticulously crafted studio release. Pianist Muhal Richard Abrams guests, and the music showcases everything the AEOC did well: it opens with an abstract soundscape and a poem from Joseph Jarman (“Illistrum”), then leaps into a raucous jump blues jam by Lester Bowie (“Barnyard Scuffel Shuffel”) followed by the debut of Roscoe Mitchell’s signature composition, “Nonaah.” Each of the seven tracks showcases one aspect of their artistic vision, and taken as a whole it marks them as one of the greatest, most creative groups in American musical history.