Generally speaking, humour is not a word associated with the avant-garde. And yet that quality is conspicuous by its presence on these seminal recordings by a group that has always asked questions of the very notion of a category, be it ‘in’ or ‘out ’, or whatever passes for the self-styled mainstream or alternative. AEC's ability to find the pithiest, cheekiest, most irreverent of musical phrases – usually a darting ascending run from the horns; a unison line that has an abrupt change of shape; the circus-like beat of a bass drum; off-the-wall but often politically charged poetry – injects great verve into the epic, serpentine arrangements and brings history into sharp focus. The laughing brass evokes Ellington's great horn players, on the one hand, but also broadens the scope of the music to reconnect with the blues and folk music at their most unexpurgated. This hits a height of incredible emotion on ‘Old Time Religion’, where the ambiance created on the two chord countrified groove is so vividly ancestral, it feels as if slaves are directed in song by rebel preachers. Then again ‘Rock Out’ is James Brown's ‘I Got You’ with a mischievous, maverick downbeat. That's what happens when music moves boldly from ancient to future.