Nice Guys (album)

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For the 2005 film of the same name, see Nice Guys
Nice Guys
Nice Guys.jpg
Studio album by
Art Ensemble of Chicago
ReleasedJanuary 1, 1979
RecordedMay 1978
StudioTonstudio Bauer, Ludwigsburg, West Germany
GenreJazz
Length44:35
LabelECM
ECM 1126
ProducerManfred Eicher
Art Ensemble of Chicago chronology
Kabalaba
(1974) 		Nice Guys
(1979) 		Live in Berlin
(1978)

Nice Guys is a 1979 album by the Art Ensemble of Chicago, their first to appear on the ECM label.[1][2][3][4]

Reception[]

The Allmusic review by Al Campbell awarded the album 4½ stars noting that "Nice Guys was the first Art Ensemble of Chicago album released after a five-year recording hiatus and the group's first for the ECM label. During those five years, the Art Ensemble toured Europe and continued to expand its compositional, improvisational, and theatrical jazz fundamentals, captured abundantly on Nice Guys... the album reveals how the AEC managed to turn individual compositions into a fully realized, surprisingly accessible, avant garde group collective".[5] Down Beat critic Art Lange writes that Nice Guys, while not the Art Ensemble's best album, "is possibly their most representative, a variegated showcase illustrating much of what they do best."[6]The Penguin Guide to Jazz awarded the album 3 stars out of 4 stating "'much of the music seems almost formulaic, the improvisation limited".[7]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic4.5/5 stars[5]
Penguin Guide to Jazz (8th ed.)3/4 stars[7]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide4/5 stars[8]

Track listing[]

  1. "Ja" (Lester Bowie) – 8:43
  2. "Nice Guys" (Roscoe Mitchell) – 1:45
  3. "Folkus" (Don Moye) – 11:03
  4. "597–59" (Joseph Jarman) – 6:46
  5. "CYP" (Mitchell) – 4:53
  6. "Dreaming of the Master" (Jarman) – 11:40

Personnel[]

  • Lester Bowie: trumpet, celeste, bass drum
  • Malachi Favors Maghostut: bass, percussion instruments, melodica
  • Joseph Jarman: saxophones, clarinets, percussion instruments, vocal
  • Roscoe Mitchell: saxophones, clarinets, flute, percussion instruments
  • Don Moye: drums, percussion, vocal

References[]

  1. ^ Art Ensemble of Chicago discography accessed 22, July, 2009
  2. ^ Jazzlists: Art Ensemble Of Chicago discography, accessed November 26, 2017
  3. ^ ECM Records Catalog: 1100 series, accessed November 26, 2017
  4. ^ ECM Records Catalogue, accessed November 26, 2017
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b Campbell, A. Allmusic Review accessed July 27, 2011.
  6. ^ Lange, Art (1994), Wynn, Ron (ed.), All Music Guide to Jazz, San Francisco: Miller Freeman, p. 48, ISBN 0-87930-308-5
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b Cook, Richard; Brian Morton (2006) [1992]. The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. The Penguin Guide to Jazz (8th ed.). London: Penguin. pp. 54. ISBN 978-0-141-02327-4.
  8. ^ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 14. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
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