{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox album | name = Bangception | type = live | artist = [[Billy Bang]] and [[Dennis Charles]] | cover = Bang_Charles_Bangception_1.jpg | alt = | released = 1983 | recorded = August 29, 1982 | venue = Jazz Festival Willisau, Switzerland | studio = | genre = [[Free jazz]] | length = 41:46 | label = [[Hat Hut Records|hat MUSICS]]<br /><small>3512</small><br />hatOLOGY<br /><small>517</small> | producer = | chronology = [[Billy Bang]] | prev_title = [[Outline No. 12]] | prev_year = 1983 | next_title = [[The Fire from Within]] | next_year = 1984 | misc = {{Extra album cover | header = Reissue cover | type = live | cover = Bang_Charles_Bangception_2.jpg | border = | alt = | }} }} '''''Bangception''''' is a live album by violinist [[Billy Bang]] and drummer [[Dennis Charles]]. It was recorded on August 29, 1982, at the {{ill|Jazz Festival Willisau|de}} in [[Willisau]], Switzerland, and was released on vinyl in 1983 by the [[Hat Hut Records|hat MUSICS]] label. In 1998, the album was reissued on CD with the title ''Bangception, Willisau 1982'' on the hatOLOGY label.<ref name="allmusic">{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/bangception-willisau-1982-mw0000331191 |title=Billy Bang: Bangception, Willisau 1982 |first=Thom |last=Jurek |website=AllMusic |access-date=June 2, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jazzmusicarchives.com/album/billy-bang/billy-bang-and-dennis-charles-bangception(live) |title=Billy Bang and Dennis Charles - Bangception |website=Jazz Music Archives |access-date=June 2, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jazzlists.com/SJ_Label_HatHut_MUSICS.htm |title=HatHut MUSICS discography |website=JazzLists |access-date=June 2, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jazzlists.com/SJ_Label_HatHut_O_500.htm |title=HatHut hatOLOGY discography (501-599) |website=JazzLists |access-date=June 2, 2023}}</ref>
==Reception== {{Music ratings | rev1 = [[AllMusic]] | rev1Score = {{rating|4|5}}<ref name="allmusic" /> | rev2 = ''[[The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD]]'' | rev2Score = {{rating|3|4}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cook |first1=Richard |last2=Morton |first2=Brian |title=The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD |publisher=Penguin Books |year=2000 |pages=85 }}</ref> | rev3 = ''[[The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide]]'' | rev3Score = {{rating|2|5}}<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Swenson |editor-first=John |title=The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide |publisher=Random House |year=1985 |pages=18 }}</ref> | rev4 = [[Tom Hull – on the Web]] | rev4Score = B+<ref>{{cite web |last=Hull |first=Tom |url=https://www.tomhull.com/ocston/nm/shop/jazz-60s.html |title=Jazz (1960–70s) (Reference) |website=Tom Hull – on the Web |accessdate=June 2, 2023}}</ref> | rev5 = ''[[The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz]]'' | rev5Score = {{rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Larkin |editor-first=Colin |title=The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz |publisher=Virgin Books |year=2004 |pages=54 }}</ref> }} In a review for [[AllMusic]], Thom Jurek described the album as "a full frontal attack on the senses," with the musicians "crisscrossing back and forth over the great divide of improvisational phraseology." He wrote: "while it is true that this is a skeletal set, as full of space as it is 'music,' it is very satisfying nonetheless."<ref name="allmusic" />
[[Harvey Pekar]] of ''[[JazzTimes]]'' called the duo's rendition of [[Ornette Coleman]]'s "[[Lonely Woman (composition)|Lonely Woman]]" "one of the most unique and moving versions of the composition ever recorded," and praised Charles' contribution to the album, stating that he "is no junior partner here... he and Bang often engage in exchanges and dialogues. Charles does not function primarily as an accompanist."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://jazztimes.com/reviews/albums/billy-bangdennis-charles-bangception-willisau-1982 |title=Billy Bang/Dennis Charles: Bangception Willisau 1982 |first=Harvey |last=Pekar |date=December 1, 1998 |website=JazzTimes |access-date=June 2, 2023}}</ref>
Writing for ''[[All About Jazz]]'', Robert Spencer commented: "Are you aware of what a total gas Billy Bang is? Are you aware of the wild swinging emotionalism of his playing, the fervor, the inventiveness, the classical sense of order and the freewheeling sense of adventure?... And then there is the vast and much-missed Denis Charles, a rhythmic wizard who proves here to be a superb foil for Bang's high-intensity string music-for-a-new-century violin explorations."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.allaboutjazz.com/hep-to-hathut-by-robert-spencer |title=Hep To HatHut |first=Robert |last=Spencer |date=November 19, 2003 |website=All About Jazz |access-date=June 2, 2023}}</ref>
==Track listing==
# "Air Traffic Control" (Billy Bang, Dennis Charles) – 14:19 # "[[Lonely Woman (composition)|Lonely Woman]]" ([[Ornette Coleman]]) – 6:13 # "Thelonious" ([[Thelonious Monk]]) – 7:21 # "Closer to the Flower" (Billy Bang) – 6:47 # "Know Your Enemy" (Bilal A. Rahman) – 7:06
== Personnel == * [[Billy Bang]] – violin * [[Dennis Charles]] – drums
==References== {{Reflist}}
[[Category:1983 live albums]] [[Category:1983 collaborative albums]] [[Category:Billy Bang live albums]] [[Category:Denis Charles live albums]] [[Category:Hathut Records live albums]]