Milwaukee Tapes Vol. 1 (1980)
Saxophonist Fred Anderson was one of the visionaries to help launch the Chicago-based Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) back in the 1960s, putting together band members who would eventually become theArt Ensemble of Chicago. For various reasons, it took until the '90s for the sage master's work to register with folks outside Chicago, but Anderson's been busy playing all along, as this 1980 concert album underscores. Here he's joined by trumpeter Billy Brimfield, bassist Larry Hayrod, and already-accomplished young drummer Hamid Drake (with whom Anderson's collaborated with scores of times since). Another volume in Atavistic's Unheard Music Series, this unreleased live 8-track recording session from a forgotten space in Milwaukee. True to form, Anderson blows long and hard throughout, but Brimfield handles the gale-force woodwind, matching the tenor's wind and velocity with numerous brassy counterpunches. For those who've wondered what Fred Anderson was doing between his original launch and resurgent popularity in the '90s, this is potent proof that jazz was far from dead in the Midwest back in the '80s.--Tad Hendrickson