The Mermaid's Purse: Live at Chatham College, 1976

In 1976 the Entourage Music and Theatre Ensemble reached a creative zenith. The nomadic troupe had just released The Neptune Collection, its iconic second album for Moses Asch’s Folkways Records, and decided to present the music to audiences across the rust belt in its most miasmic, elemental form. Extended stretches of full-group improvisation mingled with folk-tune like melodies during these performances, which featured multiple dancers spontaneously interpreting the music, at times in elaborate costume. Like contemporaries Popol Vuh, Sandy Bull, and Don Cherry, Entourage fused jazz and strains of traditional music from around the world to form a singular, kaleidoscopic vision of musical liberation. The Mermaid’s Purse: Live at Chatham College 1976 is the most complete, best-preserved audio recording of these performances, featuring music from across the Entourage catalog. It is being released for the first time 45 years after its recording, and features liner notes by lone surviving member Wall Matthews.

Track Listing

101	Days / Percussion Solo / King's Birdcage	Entourage Music and Theatre Ensemble	08:13
102	Theme / Gypsies	Entourage Music and Theatre Ensemble	04:28
103	Neptune Rising / A Butterfly Impaled on a Dart (Solo for Viola)	Entourage Music and Theatre Ensemble	07:09
104	Giraffes We Ride Through Lightning Spilling	Entourage Music and Theatre Ensemble	02:07
105	Nature Spirits	Entourage Music and Theatre Ensemble	05:57
106	Silver Drum / Daleth	Entourage Music and Theatre Ensemble	05:54
107	Incantation for the Death of Self	Entourage Music and Theatre Ensemble	02:17
108	Euphoric Bells / Druid Dance	Entourage Music and Theatre Ensemble	05:25
109	Space Needle Suicide	Entourage Music and Theatre Ensemble	03:55
110	The Mermaid's Purse	Entourage Music and Theatre Ensemble	03:03
111	Sleazy Sue	Entourage Music and Theatre Ensemble	04:01
112	Aperture	Entourage Music and Theatre Ensemble	03:34
113	Soft Fist / Cleopatra Music / Harbinger	Entourage Music and Theatre Ensemble	12:09
114	Outer Tiger / Days (Reprise)	Entourage Music and Theatre Ensemble	06:02