The Great Pretender (Lester Bowie album)

The Great Pretender is the debut album by American jazz trumpeter Lester Bowie, recorded in June 1981 and released on ECM later that year.

Reception
The AllMusic review by Michael G. Nastos stated: "The Great Pretender is a perfect title for this effort, a mix of funk and humor, gospel and jazz, with no small points of reference to Dizzy Gillespie, early doo wop, Mahalia Jackson, James Brown, and Sun Ra... The Great Pretender falls just short of Bowie's magnum opus The 5th Power, but not by much in terms of sheer modernism. It's utterly enjoyable creative jazz, worthy of a space in your collection."

Track listing

 * 1) "The Great Pretender" (Buck Ram) – 16:22
 * 2) "It's Howdy Doody Time" (Edward Kean) – 2:08
 * 3) "When the Doom (Moon) Comes over the Mountain" (Harry M. Woods, Howard E. Johnson; Lester Bowie (arr.)) – 3:39
 * 4) "Rios Negroes" (Bowie) – 7:17
 * 5) "Rose Drop" (Bowie) – 7:28
 * 6) "Oh, How the Ghost Sings" (Bowie, Donald Smith, Fred Williams, Phillip Wilson, Manfred Eicher, Martin Wieland) 5:50

Personnel

 * Lester Bowie – trumpet
 * Donald Smith – piano, organ
 * Fred Williams – bass, electric bass
 * Phillip Wilson – drums

Additional musicians ("The Great Pretender")

 * Hamiet Bluiett – baritone saxophone
 * Fontella Bass – vocal
 * David Peaston – vocal

Technical personnel

 * Manfred Eicher – producer
 * Martin Wieland – engineer
 * Dieter Rehm – cover design, cover photography
 * Helmut Frühauf – liner photography