Procession (Live at Toulouse)

Procession (Live at Toulouse)
Procession (Live at Toulouse)
Live album by Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath
Released	1978
Recorded	May 10, 1977
Venue	Halle aux Grains, Toulouse, France
Genre	Free jazz
Label	Ogun; OG 524 / OGCD 040
Producer	Chris McGregor, Keith Beal, Hazel Miller
Brotherhood of Breath chronology

Procession (Live at Toulouse) is a live album by South African pianist and composer Chris McGregor's big band Brotherhood of Breath. It was recorded on May 10, 1977, at Halle aux Grains in Toulouse, France, and was released on LP by Ogun Records in 1978. In 2013, Ogun reissued the album on CD with three extra tracks.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]
The Guardian	^[6]
Tom Hull – on the Web	A−^[7]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	^[8]

In a review for AllMusic, Scott Yanow wrote: "Although the themes are strong, the emphasis is on improvising, particularly by the full group together, and there are plenty of intense sections... Recommended to open-eared listeners, this is one of the Brotherhood of Breath's best recordings."^[1]

The Guardian's John Fordham called the band "a cauldron of South African dance grooves, American free jazz and Duke Ellington harmonies," and commented: "This music sounds rough and unfinished, rather like a big-band version of Albert Ayler's early recordings. But it has Ayler's haunting mix of anguish, soul and hope, too."^[6]

Ken Waxman of Jazz Word stated: "the craftiness of the arrangements is such that sounds are both lilting and grounded in technical mastery. Adding just the bare minimum of notes to direct the band..., McGregor, plus bassists Johnny Dyanni and Harry Miller plus drummer Louis Moholo... effortlessly induce the beat. But at the same time stimulating horn vamps pull back enough so notable chases between trumpet triplets and slippery reed extensions are clearly heard."^[9]

Writing for The Quietus, Sean Kitching noted that the album provides "a taste of the full, gloriously melodic yet free jazz-squall of the group in full flight."^[10]

LP track listing

"Sunrise on the Sun" (Chris McGregor) – 17:30
"Sonia" (Mongezi Feza) – 4:35
"Kwhalo" (Dudu Pukwana) – 18:35

CD track listing

"You Ain't Gonna Know Me 'Cos You Think You Know Me" (Mongezi Feza) – 6:33
"Sunrise on the Sun" (Chris McGregor) – 17:10
"Sonia" (Mongezi Feza) – 8:42
"Kwhalo" (Dudu Pukwana) – 18:35
"TBS" (Chris McGregor) – 8:19
"Andromeda" (Chris McGregor) – 4:05

Personnel

Chris McGregor – piano
Dudu Pukwana – alto saxophone
Mike Osborne – alto saxophone
Evan Parker – tenor saxophone
Bruce Grant – baritone saxophone, flute
Harry Beckett – trumpet
Marc Charig – trumpet
Radu Malfatti – trombone
Johnny Dyani – bass
Harry Miller – bass
Louis Moholo – drums

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Yanow, Scott. "Chris McGregor: Live at Toulouse". AllMusic. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
^ "Chris McGregor - Procession". Jazz Music Archives. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
^ "Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath – Procession Live at Toulouse". Ogun Records. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
^ "Ogun Records discography". JazzLists. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
^ "Details for release: Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath — Procession (Live at Toulouse)". Exposé Online. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
^ ^a ^b Fordham, John (June 6, 2013). "Brotherhood of Breath: Procession: Live at Toulouse – review". The Guardian. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
^ Hull, Tom (April 4, 2022). "Music Week". Tom Hull – on the Web. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
^ Larkin, Colin, ed. (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Oxford University Press. p. 643.
^ Waxman, Ken (December 8, 2013). "Michel Doneda / Joris Rühl". Jazz Word. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
^ Kitching, Sean (July 15, 2014). "Louis Moholo-Moholo Unit". The Quietus. Retrieved March 12, 2023.