Of the Essence
by Ra Bishop
Warsaw Cubicle
Other Ghosts
dobryak
Peter Hoff
Richard Blute
Barnaba Siegel
rusty1973
Neil Hobkirk
Dan Clucas
billmazza
Ryan Bruce
seedtickeast
sageone51
David Park
Matt Sumera
halehf
A. J. Herring
daves
timothy daisy
llyfre
aberdones
Austin Simpson
Keith G Berg
Ulrich Jonas
Robbie Kline
Len van der Wolf
Daniel Karrer
NOst
Rudolf Häuserer
guidedbyjon0
Tilli72
jazzhound
jbchi
kalmykov0615
Abel Baptista
Robert Bielecki
Michael Perri
David Morrissey
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Streaming + DownloadIncludes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.Purchasable with gift cardDownload available in 16-bit/44.1kHz.
$12 USD or more
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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital AlbumHigh-quality gatefold digipak, with artwork by Paul Kass.
Includes unlimited streaming of Of the Essence via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.Download available in 16-bit/44.1kHz.ships out within 3 daysedition of 100Purchasable with gift card$12 USD or more
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Overtones
29:19
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The Ladder
13:31
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about
In the early 1990s, trombonist Jeb Bishop became an essential part of Chicago’s musically and geographically outward-looking jazz community. His mastery of the full spectrum of trombone language, from earthy melody to abstract sound effects, made him indispensable in every band he joined—including the Vandermark 5, Peter Brötzmann’s Chicago Tentet, School Days, and Engines—and the indelible quality of his compositions made his recordings with his own bands landmarks of the era. Bishop left Chicago for a decade in 2012, spending years in North Carolina and then Massachusetts, where he forged enduring relationships with saxophonist Jorrit Dijkstra and pianist Pandelis Karayorgis. When he returned to town in 2022, he knew that he couldn’t just pick up where he left off. As he told the Reader at the time, “It’s not gonna be like I’ve never left, and I don’t want it to be. You can’t go back like that. Chicago’s not the same. I’m not the same.”
While Bishop has kept up ties with old mates, including drummers Tim Daisy and Weasel Walter, his new ensemble Ra Bishop features two players affiliated with the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (a community he didn’t engage with much before his move) and another who was still in high school when Bishop left town. Avreeayl Ra first played with Bishop shortly after his return, when the drummer joined the Chicago Edge Ensemble led by guitarist Dan Phillips; since the 1960s, Ra has contributed his versatile and dynamic playing to the music of Sun Ra, Phil Cohran, Nicole Mitchell, and countless others. Woodwinds and didgeridoo player Edward Wilkerson Jr. has led intriguingly orchestrated ensembles such as Shadow Vignettes and Eight Bold Souls since the 1980s, and he’s a vital participant in the total improv collective Extraordinary Popular Delusions. And since moving to Chicago in 2022, pianist Erez Dessel has become a ubiquitous presence in ad hoc improvising groups as well a member of Ken Vandermark’s Edition Redux. Ra Bishop’s debut CD, Of the Essence (Amalgam), features a quartet set recorded live at the Hungry Brain last year; the download adds a set without Dessel, who arrived late from a recording session elsewhere in town. The music is completely improvised, but the ensemble transitions fluidly between complex pointillism, earthy grooving, and primal shamanism while patiently developing each aspect of the music. This concert celebrates the album’s release.
- Written by Bill Meyer for the Chicago Reader
====================================
A truly multi-generational group, the ensemble Ra Bishop embodies an extraordinary breadth of combined experience. Master percussionist Avreeayl Ra (Professor Longhair, Sun Ra Arkestra) and the singular trombonist Jeb Bishop (Jeb Bishop Trio/Quartet, Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet) first worked together in bands led by guitarist Dan Phillips. Since Bishop's move back to Chicago in 2022, the two have sought ways to deepen their collaboration in new settings. For this trio and quartet performance at Chicago's Hungry Brain in March 2024, they were joined by veteran composer/bandleader/improviser Edward Wilkerson Jr (8 Bold Souls, Shadow Vignettes) on woodwinds, and on piano the remarkable and intrepid newcomer Erez Dessel, a more recent arrival in Chicago who has quickly made himself heard there.
The first set recorded that night in March was the trio of Wilkerson, Ra, and Bishop, while Dessel, coming from a recording session that day, joined them for the second set. Both sets find the musicians immediately and fearlessly exploring a wide range of territory, the bassless lineup promoting agility and a move to unconventional textures. The distinctive and fascinating results are heard on the group's debut CD Of the Essence, which contains the quartet set from that evening, while the trio set is available as a download, also from Amalgam.
While Bishop has kept up ties with old mates, including drummers Tim Daisy and Weasel Walter, his new ensemble Ra Bishop features two players affiliated with the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (a community he didn’t engage with much before his move) and another who was still in high school when Bishop left town. Avreeayl Ra first played with Bishop shortly after his return, when the drummer joined the Chicago Edge Ensemble led by guitarist Dan Phillips; since the 1960s, Ra has contributed his versatile and dynamic playing to the music of Sun Ra, Phil Cohran, Nicole Mitchell, and countless others. Woodwinds and didgeridoo player Edward Wilkerson Jr. has led intriguingly orchestrated ensembles such as Shadow Vignettes and Eight Bold Souls since the 1980s, and he’s a vital participant in the total improv collective Extraordinary Popular Delusions. And since moving to Chicago in 2022, pianist Erez Dessel has become a ubiquitous presence in ad hoc improvising groups as well a member of Ken Vandermark’s Edition Redux. Ra Bishop’s debut CD, Of the Essence (Amalgam), features a quartet set recorded live at the Hungry Brain last year; the download adds a set without Dessel, who arrived late from a recording session elsewhere in town. The music is completely improvised, but the ensemble transitions fluidly between complex pointillism, earthy grooving, and primal shamanism while patiently developing each aspect of the music. This concert celebrates the album’s release.
- Written by Bill Meyer for the Chicago Reader
====================================
A truly multi-generational group, the ensemble Ra Bishop embodies an extraordinary breadth of combined experience. Master percussionist Avreeayl Ra (Professor Longhair, Sun Ra Arkestra) and the singular trombonist Jeb Bishop (Jeb Bishop Trio/Quartet, Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet) first worked together in bands led by guitarist Dan Phillips. Since Bishop's move back to Chicago in 2022, the two have sought ways to deepen their collaboration in new settings. For this trio and quartet performance at Chicago's Hungry Brain in March 2024, they were joined by veteran composer/bandleader/improviser Edward Wilkerson Jr (8 Bold Souls, Shadow Vignettes) on woodwinds, and on piano the remarkable and intrepid newcomer Erez Dessel, a more recent arrival in Chicago who has quickly made himself heard there.
The first set recorded that night in March was the trio of Wilkerson, Ra, and Bishop, while Dessel, coming from a recording session that day, joined them for the second set. Both sets find the musicians immediately and fearlessly exploring a wide range of territory, the bassless lineup promoting agility and a move to unconventional textures. The distinctive and fascinating results are heard on the group's debut CD Of the Essence, which contains the quartet set from that evening, while the trio set is available as a download, also from Amalgam.
credits
released April 4, 2025
Recorded live at the Hungry Brain, Chicago, IL, on March 3, 2024, by Bill Harris
Mixed and mastered by Bill Harris
Artwork by Paul Kass: “Route 1” (2014)
Photography by James Prinz
paulkassart.com
Recorded live at the Hungry Brain, Chicago, IL, on March 3, 2024, by Bill Harris
Mixed and mastered by Bill Harris
Artwork by Paul Kass: “Route 1” (2014)
Photography by James Prinz
paulkassart.com
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Ra Bishop Chicago, Illinois