Lester Bowie's Brass Fantasy

Lester Bowie - born in Frederick, Maryland on October 11, 1941 - was an American jazz trumpeter who was seen to be a pioneer of avant-garde and contemporary jazz from the early 1970s until his death in 1999. Bowie grew up in St. Louis and honed his craft playing in local groups performing with the likes of Little Milton and Albert King before he moved to Chicago and was the bandleader for soul singer Fontella Bass. In 1969 he became a founding member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and the Art Ensemble of Chicago. During this period Bowie always sought to challenge himself and was involved in a number of different groups including Brass Fantasy, a nonet he founded in 1984. In this group, Lester Bowie explored jazz music’s links to other styles of popular music. Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy released a series of albums that found the group performing originals alongside their unique versions of songs by artists like Michael Jackson, Willie Nelson, Whitney Houston, Lloyd Price, James Brown, Sade, Bobby McFerrin, and many others. Between 1985 and 1999, the band released eight albums including I Only Have Eyes for You (1985), Avant Pop (1986), Serious Fun (1989), The Fire This Time (1992) and The Odyssey of Funk & Popular Music (1999). Lester Bowie died of liver cancer on November 8, 1999 at the age of 58.

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