Axum is a solo album by American jazz flautist and composer James Newton recorded in 1981 and released on ECM the following year.[1]

Axum
Studio album by
Released1982
RecordedAugust 1981
StudioTonstudio Bauer
Ludwigsburg, W. Germany
GenreJazz
Length42:32
LabelECM
ECM 1214
ProducerManfred Eicher
James Newton chronology
The Mystery School
(1979)
Axum
(1982)
Portraits
(1982)

Reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [2]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings    [3]

Describing the album as “dazzling”, The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings says, “Newton’s vocalisations allow his pieces to develop with unprecedented depth, and his tone is quite remarkable.”[3]

The AllMusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 3 stars stating "James Newton's set of unaccompanied flute solos is generally more intriguing and diverse than one might expect. An expert at multiphonics (often humming through his flute in order to get more than one note at a time), Newton is also very strong at constructing logical yet utterly unpredictable improvisations. His playing on nine of his originals covers a fair amount of ground, and he alternates between three different types of flutes (his regular horn, alto flute and bass flute). Still, the results are more for specialized tastes."[2]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by James Newton

Side I
No.TitleLength
1."The Dabtara"3:24
2."Malak 'Uqabe"6:52
3."Solomon, Chief of Wise Men"4:44
4."Addis Ababa"2:56
5."Choir"4:32
Side II
No.TitleLength
1."Feeling"2:34
2."Axum"4:18
3."Susenyos and Werzelya"5:20
4."The Neser"7:59

Personnel

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References

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  1. ^ ECM discography Archived 2012-10-06 at the Wayback Machine accessed September 16, 2011
  2. ^ a b Yanow, S. Allmusic Review accessed September 16, 2011
  3. ^ a b Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1078. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.