Rashied Ali - Swift Are the Winds of Life (2LP Expanded Edition)

Rashied Ali - Swift Are the Winds of Life (2LP Expanded Edition)Part of Rashied Ali's artistic strength involved turning improbable sound combinations into unchallenged masterpieces. After the pattern established by Interstellar Space and Duo Exchange, Ali stepped into a rather unlikely duet with violinist Leroy Jenkins for Swift are the Winds of Life. Five years with the Revolutionary Ensemble had helped establish Jenkins as a composer already; he designed all the pieces played in the 1975 studio duets with Ali.

Part of Rashied Ali's artistic strength involved turning improbable sound combinations into unchallenged masterpieces. After the pattern established by Interstellar Space and Duo Exchange, Ali stepped into a rather unlikely duet with violinist Leroy Jenkins for Swift are the Winds of Life.

Five years with the Revolutionary Ensemble had helped establish Jenkins as a composer already; he designed all the pieces played in the 1975 studio duets with Ali.

That record is issued on vinyl here for the first time in almost a half century. It's augmented by an informal phantom session in which Ali and Jenkins explore thoroughly other territories-standards, Coltrane's music, and two untitled, unbridled improvisations. Survival Records SR-512 is a deluxe 2-LP set in an old-school tip-on gatefold jacket that includes Stanley Crouch's original essay along with new liner notes and excerpts from an interview with Jenkins.

From 1972 until his death in 2009, Rashied Ali operated Survival Records as the primary record label for his work as a leader and other projects. Through that time, Ali documented every phase of his career as a musician.  Under the custodianship of the Ali family, Survival Records was revived in 2019 as a platform for improved, definitive reissues of the original LP releases as well as additional, hitherto unreleased performances from Ali's archive. 

Survival releases have been optimized through the practices of Grammy-nominated veteran mastering engineer Joe Lizzi, the musical acuity of drummer George Schuller, and historical input from researcher Ben Young-overseen by the Estate of Rashied Ali.