In a review for AllMusic, David R. Adler wrote: "Together the three players reach ecstatic, uproarious heights, sounding something like late Coltrane meets Bartók. Silva's instrument lends a good deal of symphonic magnitude, its high-pitched string section passages and thundering, timpanic, low-register motifs giving the impression that there are scores of people on-stage, not just three."[2]
Glenn Astarita, writing for All About Jazz, stated: "With this release, the trio's liberating improvisational forays are steered by Silva's complex chord progressions and polytonal mosaics. Throughout this 7-part suite, the musicians pursue a rite of passage that is at times, mind-boggling... Jordan melds furious exchanges with Silva's grand opuses and massive walls of sound... the trio manages to equate turmoil and upheaval with a comprehensive and well-defined sense of purpose. Strongly Recommended!"[3]
Charlie Wilmoth of Dusted Magazine commented: "Silva... hyperactively punches out dense orchestra hits, avalanche-like cymbal crashes and moaning oboe bleats, often all at the same time, loading the mix with weird and joyous layers of sound... Parker's... wounded groans and frantic plucks play a critical role in establishing the mood... Silva... has found a solution to the problem of how to incorporate synthetic sounds into a free jazz context, and while I'm not sure I'd like to hear his solution attempted by a lesser player, I'll be returning to Emancipation Suite #1 again and again."[4]
In an article for Billboard, Steve Graybow wrote that the album, which finds Silva "approximating an entire orchestra on his synthesizer," "can be likened to a well-structured melée, as Silva creates dense orchestrations behind Jordan's dissonant lines, and Parker alternately holds down the bottom and jumps into the fray to trade solos."[5]
Track listing
Composed by Alan Silva, Edward "Kidd" Jordan, and William Parker.
"Introduction by Patricia Nicholson Parker" – 0:38
