Fontella Bass (1940 - )
Related: American music - jazz
Biography
Fontella Bass (born July 3, 1940 in St. Louis, Missouri) is an American soul singer.
[...] She is primarily known for "Rescue Me", an original composition with an aggressive bass and drum work by Maurice White, of the future Earth, Wind, & Fire. The song shot up the charts in the fall and winter of 1965. After a month-long run at the top of the R&B charts, the song reached #4 at the pop charts.
[...] In 1970 Fontella Bass recorded two albums with the Art Ensemble of Chicago, The Art Ensemble of Chicago with Fontella Bass and Les Stances A Sophie. The latter was the soundtrack from the French movie of the same title. Bass' vocals, backed by the powerful, pulsating push of the band has allowed the "Theme De YoYo" to remain an underground cult classic ever since.
[...] Like many outstanding artists of her time, Bass experienced a revival of interest. Her still powerful tones can be heard on the 2002 Cinematic Orchestra album, 'Everyday'.
See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fontella_Bass [Jan 2006]
See also: Stances de Sophie, Les (1970) [IMDb link]
Art Ensemble of Chicago
The Art Ensemble of Chicago is an avant-garde jazz ensemble that grew out of Chicago's AACM in the late 1960s. The group continues to tour and record through 2004, despite the deaths of two of the founding members. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Ensemble_of_Chicago [Jan 2005]
"Comme à La Radio" (Brigitte Fontaine; Areski; Art Ensemble Of Chicago)
Les Stances a Sophie (1969) - Art Ensemble Of Chicago
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Les Stances a Sophie (1969) - Art Ensemble Of Chicago
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In 1969 the newly formed Art Ensemble left their home city and headed for France, there acquiring drummer Don Moye and a more precise title. Their two-year stay yielded some 15 albums, including this glorious oddity, a soundtrack to an obscure French New Wave film recorded before an inch of footage was shot. The film is now forgotten, but the music is superb. Many will know "Theme De Yoyo"--a glorious R&B romp with off-the-wall vocals from Fontella Bass, she of "Rescue Me" but also wife of AEC trumpeter Lester Bowie--from its inclusion on the The Universal Sounds of America compilation some five years ago. That track, however, is untypical of the ebullient, riotously inventive mix of abstract soundscapes, anthemic statements and idiosyncratic solos that make up the rest of this set. "Theme Armour Universal" shows a strong Joujouka influence, while a more formal side to the Ensemble is revealed in two variations on a Monteverdi theme. Elsewhere, walls of percussion--all AEC members were drummers as well as hornmen--give way to steely sax or trumpet solos that scorch a passage before them. This set might be 30 years old, but age has not lessened its impact. --Simon Adams, Amazon.co.uk Review