Rabble Without A Cause, September 25: Black Artist Group and Die Like A Dog

Featuring a recently discovered live recording of the Black Artist Group from over 50 years ago, plus a reissue of Die Like A Dog’s 1994 tribute to Albert Ayler

The St. Louis-based multidisciplinary arts collective Black Artist Group (BAG) released only studio album in their existence, in 1973. For Peace And Liberty - In Paris, Dec 1972 is a recording, previously thought lost, at Maison De L’ORTF in the French capital made shortly before the release of that studio release.

The group of musicians, on this recording, were: Oliver Lake on sax, Baikida Carroll and Floyd LeFlore on trumpet, Joseph Bowie on trombone and Charles 'Bobo' Shaw on drums. Here’s a video of BAG performing in 1973.

In 1993, Peter Brötzmann (alto and tenor saxophone) and Toshinori Kondo (trumpet and electronics) got together with William Parker (double bass) and Hamid Drake (drums) to record their tribute to Albert Ayler. The album was released in 1994, thirty years ago. Fragments of Music, Life and Death of Albert Ayler has been remastered and reissued on vinyl only. You can still obtain digital downloads of the original release.

Peter Brötzmann reflected on the origins of this performance:

The idea of expressing my love of and admiration for Albert Ayler - both man and music - in a musical statement is not new. We both tried to do similar or almost identical things at the same point in time, each independently and without knowing anything about each other - each of us within his own culture.

You can listen live in Ottawa at 93.1 on the FM dial or online at CKCUFM.com. The show will also be available for on demand streaming.