Tribute to Lester is an album recorded in 2001 by the Art Ensemble of Chicago and released on ECM in 2003, their first release on the label since The Third Decade (1984). It features performances by Roscoe Mitchell, Malachi Favors Maghostut and Don Moye. The album was recorded following Joseph Jarman's temporary retirement from the group and the death of founding member Lester Bowie 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".

Tribute to Lester

Track listing

"Sangaredi" (Moye) - 7:42

"Suite for Lester" (Mitchell) - 5:24

"Zero/Alternate Line" (Bowie, Mitchell) - 9:16

"Tutankhamun" (Favors) - 8:10

"As Clear as the Sun" (Favors, Mitchell, Moye) - 12:41

"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: saxophones, clarinets, flute, percussion instruments

Don Moye: drums, percussion

References

2003 albums

ECM Records albums

Art Ensemble of Chicago albums

Tribute albums

Albums produced by Manfred Eicher

Tribute to Lester