Recorded at the 1969 Free Jazz Meeting Baden-Baden, this album features some of the “who’s who” of the US and European avant-garde. Co-founder of the iconic Art Ensemble of Chicago, Trumpeter Lester Bowie was at the forefront of the new music. Jazz guru J. E. Berendt called Bowie’s extended composition Gittin’ To Know Y’All (parts I&II) “one of the most beautiful works of New-Jazz orchestral music that we know”. Highlights on the 23-minute Part I include Bowie’s opening trumpet foray over a deep-toned ostinato, impressive solos by pianist Dave Burrell, bassist Barre Phillips, trumpeter Kenny Wheeler, and trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff interspersed between powerful ensemble sections. The high-voltage ensemble play at the end of Part I weaves into Part II and the affective saxophone duo between Art Ensemble co-founders Joseph Jarman and Roscoe Mitchell. Norwegian guitarist Terje Rypdal’s composition Ved Soerevatn presents an “iridescent tone poem of an enchanted lake”, with Jarman on flute, singer Karin Krog, bassists Phillips and Palle Danielsson, and drummer Steve McCall creating the magic. Norwegian vocal star Karin Krog’s one-minute four-track overdub, For My Two J. B.’s, reflects a kaleidoscope of textures and hues, while on May Hunting Song, Dutch free jazz giant Wilhelm Breuker and Englishman Jon Surman pick up bass clarinets for a congenial musical conversation full of empathy and humor. An album that echoes the excitement and surprise generated by the best of the 60’s avant-garde.