Neha Patil (Editor)

Last Year's Ghost

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Released
  
2007

Last Year's Ghost (2007)
  
Proliferation (2008)

Label
  
482 Music

Length
  
45:29

Release date
  
2007

Genre
  
Jazz

Producer
  
Mike Reed & Griffin Rodriguez

In the Context of (2006)
  
Last Year's Ghost (2007)

Artist
  
Mike Reed's Loose Assembly

Last Year's Ghost is the debut album by Loose Assembly, a quintet led by American jazz drummer Mike Reed featuring alto saxophonist Greg Ward, vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz, cellist Tomeka Reid and bassist Josh Abrams. It was released in 2007 on 482 Music. The recording started in 2005 and completed in 2006, but the original sessions were lost and the album is a re-creation of the lost recordings.

Contents

Reception

In his review for AllMusic, Michael G. Nastos says "It's a very interesting and accessible disc worth owning and listening closely to."

The Penguin Guide to Jazz notes that the album "has a highly distinctive sound, with the leader's accurate time-sense a key component on 'Day of the Head' and the later 'Ghost Writer', in double-waltz time."

All About Jazz published several reviews: Troy Collins states "A brilliant debut, Last Year's Ghost merges the austere reverence of chamber music with the scalding intensity of Chicago's historically ebullient free jazz." Jerry D'Souza says "The album impresses with its blend of the improvised and the composed." Nic Jones notes "Each listen seems to bring new rewards, which makes this one something of a rarity in itself."

In a review for JazzTimes, Forrest Dylan Bryant states "A unique quintet lineup with alto sax, vibes, cello and bass wraps a dark, velvety texture around vaguely nostalgic ballads, and adds density to surging, uptempo grooves."

The Point of Departure review by Bill Shoemaker describes the album as "a well-designed collection of hook-filled tunes and atmospheric interludes" and concludes "Just a few more recordings like Last Year’s Ghost and Mike Reed will be in the first rank of living American bandleaders."

Track listing

All compositions by Mike Reed except as indicated
  1. "Flowers" (Loose Assembly) – 2:14
  2. "Day of the Dead" – 7:13
  3. "Old Souls" – 2:20
  4. "Afterthoughts" – 6:32
  5. "1974" (Loose Assembly) – 1:51
  6. "The Entire State of Florida" – 7:34
  7. "Exorcism" (Loose Assembly) – 1:58
  8. "Simone's Crumbs" – 4:24
  9. "Temporary States" – 0:23
  10. "Ghost Writer" – 5:50
  11. "Dreaming with Jill" – 5:10

Personnel

  • Mike Reed – drums
  • Josh Abrams – bass
  • Jason Adasiewicz - vibraphone
  • Tomeka Reid – cello
  • Greg Ward – alto sax

    • Songs

    1Flowers2:14
    2Day of the Dead7:14
    3Old Souls2:21

    References

    Last Year's Ghost Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA