Lester Bowie's Brass Fantasy - Fire This Time

1992 release

During this live recording of the Brass Fantasy at the Moonwalker Club in Aarburg, Switzerland, Lester Bowie and his nonet go through many phases of jazz, funk, and progressive music. Old favorites of the Brass Fantasy are complemented by some new material. Arrangements are assigned to notables such as brother Byron Bowie, Steve Turre, E.J. Allen, and Earl McIntyre. Trumpeters Lester Bowie, Allen, Gerald Brazel, and Tony Barrero are joined by Vincent Chancey on French horn, Frank Lacy and Luis Bonilla on trombone, Bob Stewart on tuba, Vinnie Johnson on drums (replacing Phillip Wilson who was murdered in the streets of N.Y.C. weeks before this performance), and Famoudou Don Moye on other percussions. Of the well-known pieces, there are non-vocal versions of the soul ballad "The Great Pretender" and the slow gospel dirge blues "For Louis" (Armstrong) dedicated to Wilson. Funk, in its myriad conjugations, rears up on the fun Ray Charles number "Night Time," and on the harder, marching band-like Michael Jackson tune "Remember the Time," as well as on Jackson's hot-to-heavy dance tune "Black or White." 

AllMusic Review by Michael G. Nastos