One of the best and most popular free jazz/funk groups. The band’s 1980 Moers Music debut, No Wave, featured James Ulmer (guitar), David Murray (10or saxophone), Amin Al (electric bass) and Ronald Shannon Jackson (drums). Ulmer was the MRE’s baby as he has been the only constant in the group’s 20-year history. Murray has made a few returns and Jackson has been in and off. In the late ’90s, the lineup of the group varied from album to album. Pharoah and John Zorn, Hamiet Bluiett (Knights of Power), and Arthur Blythe (Crossfire) recorded with the group. Jamaaladeen Tcuma was the drummer who replaced Ali. Ulmer has helped to keep the band alive, but it is easy to miss their earlier records. These were made in the days when Ornette Coleman’s Dancing in Your Head was still very fresh in listeners’ minds. Allmusic
