Levels and Degrees of Light

With *Levels and Degrees of Light* at age 37, pianist Muhal Richard Abrams began his storied career as a leader—not just in the sense of leading a recording session but a musical movement. A founder of the Chicago-based Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), Abrams was at the forefront of a mid-’60s shift toward self-determination for like-minded Black musicians to stage their own concerts and break down musical boundaries. What began as a small but determined communal effort ended up a major historical influence, so much so that Abrams was named an NEA Jazz Master in 2010. (He died in 2017 at age 87.) *Levels and Degrees of Light* features some of Abrams’ most notable AACM colleagues, including alto saxophonist Anthony Braxton (in his debut recorded appearance), tenor saxophonist Maurice McIntyre (later Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre), violinist Leroy Jenkins, and drummer Thurman Barker. There are three long pieces, the first of which finds Abrams playing not piano but clarinet: Floating free of any key center or tempo in an abstract chamber-like environment, he issues urgent cries over Gordon Emmanuel’s vibraphone and Barker’s measured cymbal work, following a haunting intro by vocalist Penelope Taylor. “The Bird Song” opens with more Abrams clarinet (in unison with violin), followed by poet David Moore in a lengthy unaccompanied reading, leading to twinned bassists Charles Clark and Leonard Jones bowing with ferocity against sound effects of chirping birds and a Braxton-McIntyre free-jazz blowout. “My Thoughts Are My Future - Now and Forever” has Abrams’ piano in the forefront, with Taylor returning, the saxophones featured to powerful effect and Emmanuel’s vibes exerting a mysterious pull.

Levels and Degrees of Light was the first recording under Muhal Richard Abrams' name and was a landmark album that launched the first in a long line of beautiful, musical salvos from the AACM toward the mainstream jazz world.