SONDHEIM, ALAN - Ritual-All-7-70

Alan Sondheim was the young, exuberant leader of a pack of improvisers living in a communal loft in Providence, Rhode Island. Undaunted by attempts to categorize electronic music as the province of academic tinkerers -- a cold, unfriendly realm, with its own authorities, audiences and mystique -- they plunged fearlessly, joyously and unselfconsciously into the medium, discovering new ways to express their ideas. Performers: Ruth Ann Hutchinson: vocals; Chris Mattheson: bass; Barry Sugarman: bongo, table; J.P.: drums; Robert Poholek: cornet, trumpet; Alan Sondheim: xylophone, alto saxophone, sona, classical, electric and hawaiian guitars, English horn, bansari koto, clarinet, suling. - ESP-Disk.