Mandance

Man Dance
Studio album by Ronald Shannon Jackson and The Decoding Society
Released	1982
Recorded	June 1982
Studio	Electric Lady Studios, NYC
Genre	Free jazz
Length	41:06
Label	Antilles AN 1008
Producer	David Breskin, Ronald Shannon Jackson
Ronald Shannon Jackson chronology
Nasty (1981) Man Dance (1982) Barbeque Dog (1983)

Man Dance is an album by Ronald Shannon Jackson and The Decoding Society, recorded in 1982 for the Antilles label.[1] It was produced with money Jackson made on a European tour, and taped the day after the band’s return. Three tracks were done seven months earlier, with a different trumpet and an additional sax.[2]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Robert Christgau	A−[4]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[5]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	[6]

The AllMusic review by Scott Yanow stated: "The ensemble-oriented 'free funk' music of drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson's Decoding Society never can be accused of being overly mellow or lacking in excitement ... The frenetic and intense ensembles (essentially everyone solos at once) would not be classified as relaxing background music."[3] NPR thought that "the spiky Afro-pop guitar, two grumbling electric basses and melodies played in several keys at once are all out of Ornette Coleman's band Prime Time. But the Decoding Society had a lazier lope and wasn't quite so eager to fill all the available space."[7]

Track listing

All compositions by Ronald Shannon Jackson.

1. "Man Dance" - 4:32
2. "Iola" - 5:24
3. "Spanking" - 3:07
4. "Catman" - 6:42
5. "The Art of Levitation" - 1:24
6. "Belly Button" - 4:45
7. "Giraffe" - 3:09
8. "When Souls Speak" - 5:48
9. "Alice in the Congo" - 6:09

Personnel

• Ronald Shannon Jackson – drums
• David Gordon (tracks 1, 2 & 8), Henry Scott (tracks 3-7 & 9) – trumpet, flugelhorn
• Zane Massey – tenor saxophone, alto saxophone, soprano saxophone
• Lee Rozie – tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone (tracks 1, 2 & 8)
• Vernon Reid – electric guitar, steel guitar, Roland guitar synthesizer, banjo
• Melvin Gibbs – electric bass
• Reverend Bruce Johnson – fretless electric bass, electric bass

References

1. Jazzlists: Antilles 1000 series discography accessed November 1, 2016
2. Blumenthal, Bob (November 16, 1982). "Decoding jazz: Ronald Shannon Jackson's high society". The Boston Phoenix. Retrieved October 2, 2024.
3. Yanow, Scott. Mandance – Review at AllMusic. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
4. "Robert Christgau: Album: Ronald Shannon Jackson and the Decoding Society: Mandance". www.robertchristgau.com.
5. Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 4. MUZE. p. 540.
6. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 110. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
7. "A Double Dose Of Ronald Shannon Jackson's Free-Funk". NPR.org.

External links

• Ronald Shannon Jackson on "Mandance", accessed November 1, 2016