The Great Pretender (1981)

About this title: This is one of trumpeter Lester Bowie's most accessible albums; certainly his brief versions of "It's Howdy Doody Time" and "When the Moon Comes over the Mountain" are not difficult to understand. But actually the bulk of this album is taken up with the 16-minute title cut and a variety of Bowie's colorful originals. The highly expressive trumpeter is mostly heard with a quartet (although "The Great Pretender" also adds two vocalists and baritonist Hamiet Bluiett) and this set offers many fine examples of his original approach to making music, technically avant-garde but also borrowing ... read more

Tracks:

1. The Greater Pretender [Ram]
2. It's Howdy Doody Time [Kean]
3. When the Doom (Moon) Comes over the Mountain (A.) Doom? (B.) When ... [Johnson/Smith/Woods]
4. Rios Negroes [Bowie]
5. Rose Drop [Bowie]
6. Oh, How the Ghost Sings [Bowie/Smith/William]

Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is further described below.