Gil Evans - Pacific Standard Time
Released - 1975
Recording and Session Information
Manhattan Towers, NYC, April 9, 1958
Johnny Coles, Louis Mucci, Ernie Royal, trumpet; Joe Bennett, Tom Mitchell, Frank Rehak, trombone; Julius Watkins, French horn; Harvey Phillips, tuba; Cannonball Adderley, alto sax; Jerry Sanfino, reeds; Gil Evans, piano, arranger, conductor; Chuck Wayne, guitar; Paul Chambers, bass; Art Blakey, drums.
St. Louis Blues
King Porter Stomp
Lester Leaps In
'Round Midnight
Manhattan Towers, NYC, May 2, 1958
Johnny Coles, Louis Mucci, Ernie Royal, trumpet; Joe Bennett, Tom Mitchell, Frank Rehak, trombone; Julius Watkins, French horn; Bill Barber, tuba; Cannonball Adderley, alto sax; Phil Bodner, reeds; Gil Evans, piano, arranger, conductor; Chuck Wayne, guitar; Paul Chambers, bass; Philly Joe Jones, drums.
Willow Tree
Manhattan Towers, NYC, May 21, 1958
Johnny Coles, Louis Mucci, Ernie Royal, trumpet; Joe Bennett, Tom Mitchell, Frank Rehak, trombone; Julius Watkins, French horn; Bill Barber, tuba; Cannonball Adderley, alto sax; Phil Bodner, reeds; Gil Evans, piano, arranger, conductor; Chuck Wayne, guitar; Paul Chambers, bass; Art Blakey, drums.
Struttin' With Some Barbecue
Manhattan Towers, NYC, May 26, 1958
Johnny Coles, Louis Mucci, Clyde Reasinger, trumpet; Joe Bennett, Tom Mitchell, Frank Rehak, trombone; Julius Watkins, French horn; Bill Barber, tuba; Cannonball Adderley, alto sax; Phil Bodner, reeds; Gil Evans, piano, arranger, conductor; Chuck Wayne, guitar; Paul Chambers, bass; Art Blakey, drums.
Manteca
Bird Feathers
NYC, circa early 1959
Johnny Coles, Louis Mucci, Allen Smith, trumpet; Bill Elton, Curtis Fuller, Dick Lieb, trombone; Bob Northern, French horn; Bill Barber, tuba; Steve Lacy, soprano sax; Al Block, woodwinds; Gil Evans, piano, arranger, conductor; Chuck Wayne, guitar; Dick Carter, bass; Dennis Charles, drums.
Davenport Blues
Straight, No Chaser
Django
NYC, February 5, 1959
Johnny Coles, Louis Mucci, Danny Stiles, trumpet; Jimmy Cleveland, Curtis Fuller, Rod Levitt, trombone; Earl Chapin, French horn; Bill Barber, tuba; Steve Lacy, soprano sax; Budd Johnson, tenor sax, clarinet; Ed Caine, woodwinds; Gil Evans, piano, arranger, conductor; Ray Crawford, guitar; Tommy Potter, bass; Elvin Jones, drums.
Ballad Of The Sad Young Men
Joy Spring
Chant Of The Weed
La Nevada (theme)
Track Listing
| Side One | ||
| Title | Author | Recording Date |
| St. Louis Blues | W. C. Handy | April 9 1958 |
| King Porter Stomp | Ferd "Jelly Roll" Morton | April 9 1958 |
| Willow Tree | Andy Razaf-T. "Fats" Waller | May 2 1958 |
| Struttin' With Some Barbecue | D.Raye-L.H. Armstrong | May 21 1958 |
| Side Two | ||
| Lester Leaps In | L. Young | April 9 1958 |
| Round Midnight | Hanighen-Williams-Monk | April 9 1958 |
| Manteca | D. Gillespie-G.Fuller | May 26 1958 |
| Bird Feathers | C. Parker | May 26 1958 |
| Side Three | ||
| Davenport Blues | B.Breiderbecke | Early 1959 |
| Straight, No Chaser | T.Monk | Early 1959 |
| Ballad Of The Sad Young Men | F.Landesman-T.Wolf | February 5 1959 |
| Joy Spring | C. Brown | February 5 1959 |
| Side Four | ||
| Django | J.Lewis | Early 1959 |
| Chant Of The Weed | D.Redman | February 5 1959 |
| Theme | G.Evans | February 5 1959 |
Liner Notes
GREAT JAZZ STANDARDS
Gil Evans, composer, arranger and musician par excellence is one of the great voices in contemporary music. From his association with the Claude Thornhill Orchestra through his now classic collaborations with Miles Davis and Cannonball Adderley, Gil's writing has been one of the yardsticks against which all other writing must be measured.
For this album Gil has chosen a number of compositions by jazz greats and given them imaginative and often unusual re-workings. Although personalizing the compositions as only he can, Gil still manages to retain much of the original flavor of the pieces. This is particularly evident in Straight No Chaser, Django and Chant of the Weed. The players chosen for the album are among the best in the business and the soloists are truly outstanding.
DAVENPORT BLUES is a vehicle for the beautifully lyrical trumpet of Johnny Coles. His solo is marvelously constructed using space, inflection, a wide variety of scales, a fat, funky sound and imaginative articulation to excellent advantage.
Gil provides the soloist with the best possible backdrop using gorgeous, full, opulent orchestration. The plaintive, mournful low brass voicings recall Gil's collaboration with Miles on "Porgy and Bess." Dick Lieb's rich bass trombone sound and Bill Barber's singing tuba are welcome bonuses.
STRAIGHT, NO CHASER opens with Gil at the piano trilling and playing odd syncopations and repeated note figures in his best Monk style. The melody is stated very simply in octaves by the entire ensemble. John Coles opens the soloing with four humorous and imaginative choruses. His note choices and extremely effective use of interpolation (i.e., 'American Patrol,' 'Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree,' 'Thanks for the Memories') are strongly reminiscent of early Miles Davis.
Soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy plays three very Monkish choruses using the theme as the point of reference. This solo is a reminder of why many musicians think Lacy is one of the best interpreters of Monk's music.
Next trombonist Curtis Fuller with his impeccable time, infectious swing and gorgeous sound, plays three striding choruses accompanied by fragments of the theme from the ensemble. Gil follows with a lean, fragmented solo in the manner of Monk using the theme as his point of departure.
Dig how Gil builds the climax by thickening the texture, i.e.,
1st CHORUS
Melody in octaves
2nd CHORUS
Melody in octaves
Melody a 3rd above
3rd CHORUS
Melody in octaves
Melody a 3rd above
4th CHORUS
Melody in octaves
Melody a 3rd above
Theme inverted
Background fragments
(from behind
trombone solo)
Soprano theme
5th CHORUS
Melody in octaves
Melody a 3rd above
Theme inverted
Background fragments
Soprano improvisation
Gil brings the piece to a conclusion with the trills which opened the composition.
The beautiful BALLAD OF THE SAD YOUNG MEN opens with Gil playing a blues motif which quickly dissipates itself ending in the bottom register of the piano. This ségues into the spiritual like theme stated very simply and beautifully by the trombone of Jimmy Cleveland. Shimmering, sparkling impressionistic orchestration help make this one of the album's highlights. The theme returns over a chorale-like accompaniment by the trombones. The proceedings terminate with a church-like 4-2-3 melodic turn in trombone.
JOY SPRING receives a very unusual treatment in that the melody is stated only once, on the final chorus of the composition. This extremely brief track (only 3 choruses) opens with a rare full-fledged Gil Evans solo followed by a very thoughtful guitar improvisation accompanied by the tutti ensemble. Finally the boppish melody appears simply stated in octaves (including tuba). The track comes to an end with a quiet quasi cadenza in guitar.
Next comes DJANGO, the John Lewis masterpiece, in a treatment hauntingly reminiscent of the M.J.Q. version in its pristine purity. The instrumentation of the band is ideally suited to the courtlike character of the composition. Gil engages in a provocative dialogue with Steve Lacy's soprano sax (shades of John Lewis and Milt Jackson). After a contrapuntal double time secton and a reprise from piano, Johnny Coles sculpts a beautiful solo with not a superfluous note. A riff like figure builds gradually spurting Coles on to a soulful, bluesy excursion. (Dig the similarlity between Erskine Hawkins' 'After Hours" and this section.) Next an interesting duet ensues between Coles and Lacy leading unexpectedly to a return of the chorale-like beginning. (A memorable performance.)
CHANT OF THE WEED, Don Redman' opus, opens with Budd Johnson's lich, full-throated clarinet setting the mood. The rest of the composition alternates between a whole tone passage characteristic of the original recording and Budd's soulful clarinet. The ensemble out with clarinet obligato is particularly effective.
The final cut THEME opens with Gil riffin' while Elvin Jones and company get it on. After an octave theme statement, Budd (this time on tenor) constructs an imaginative solo based on thematic material. Check out the brass background with 3/4 imposed on 4/4. Guitarist Ray Crawford builds a strong blues-inflected solo on a two-chord vamp. (Whew, I don't believe Elvin!!!) Next Mr. Jones solos with verve and imagination employing poly-rhythms, colors and great rhythmic drive. The theme returns in the full ensemble highlighted by piccolo and the playing of Elvin Jones.
All in all a hell of an album. Sempre Gil! !!
NEW BOTTLE OLD WINE
It is difficult to imagine that this album was made over seventeen years ago — one year before Miles Davis' prophetic modal album "Kind of Blue," one year before Ornette Coleman's arrival in New York and one year before publication of George Russell's revolutionary magnum opus The Lydian Chromatic Concept. "New Bottle Old Wine" is still remarkably fresh, vital, contemporary in sound and conception and forward looking even now.
As with the now classic Miles Davis collaborations this album is a joint effort between two giants of this music, Gil Evans and Julian 'Cannonball' Adderiey. Gil has been since his early work with the Claude Thornhill band and the Miles Davis Nonet, a trail blazer and pacesetter with his imaginative and often startlingly daring orchestral concepts. Cannonball has, since his arrival in New York in the mid-1950's, established himself as one of the important musicians of our era irrespective of genre.
This album consists of compositions written by and/or associated with major figures in this music including Louis, Lester, Bird and Dizzy, all of whom transformed the aesthetic vis-a-vis the improvisor. The rest, W C Handy Jelly Roll Morton, Fats Waller and Thelonious Monk are all important composers.
Cannonball with his ultra personal and warmly beautiful sound opens THE ST LOUIS BLUES with an excellent paraphrase of the melody. The second chorus spotlights a background of trilling guitar and sustained chords vaguely reminiscent of Armstrong's "West End Blues." The next section, in minor, with muted brass and using substitute chords is especially beautiful and evolves into a Cannonball double time. Punching antiphonal brass undergird Cannonball's theme restatement and lead back to the original swing tempo. Check out Harvey Phillip's tuba on the restatement.
Art Blakey's drum break leading to a Cannonball cadenza begins KING PORTER STOMP As with the earlier King Oliver version, Gil chooses to accent the sectionalized character of the composition via brilliant and highly differentiated orchestration- (I can't help but feel that were Jelly Roll scoring the piece today he might have done it this way.) Cannonball's solo is hot and replete with false fingerings a la Lester Young. The excitement in the final chorus is achieved through instrumental build up and is absolutely breathtaking. (Only Gil could bring off the Lionel Hampton ending without sounding corny.)
Gil's James P Johnson-like piano opens WILLOW TREE followed by Cannonball's beautiful lead playing on the melody over light and transparent scoring.
Following an ensemble section of contrasting instrumental colors, Cannonball weaves his solo quoting "It Could Happen To You" and gradually moving 'outside' tonally.
John Coles' trumpet solo is tasteful and played with beautiful conception. Cannonball's solo over descending seventh chords brings the piece to a close. (Dig the bass trombone and Gil's echo of the melody on the end.)
STRUTTIN' WITH SOME BARBEQUE opens with Bill Barber on tuba playing the familiar line most often associated with Louis Armstrong. Frank Rehak contributes a fluent, leaping solo accompanied by the melody fragmented.
A unison brass line leads into a soaring Cannonball solo. The brass unison returns and the track concludes with Cannonball quoting from "Green Dolphin Street" over a trombone pedal and resolving into a bitonal chord.
Side two opens with a very fast version of LESTER LEAPS IN with the saxes in harmony The ensemble writing is virtuosic and impeccably played. Cannonball is superb and both Chuck Wayne and Frank Rehak aquit themselves admirably The ensemble out, reharmonized and imaginatively orchestrated, culminates in a beboppish alto and guitar fragment.
Monk's masterpiece, ROUND MIDNIGHT. is treated sensitively and is highlighted by beautiful sconng and Cannonball's superlative effort. Of special note are the attractive writing between guitar and piano, the scoring between flute, horn and muted trumpet and the imaginative use of the tuba in the ensemble.
Guitar trills against muted brass lead to the scoring tour de force of the album — MANTECA.
The familiar ostinato starts, thickens, moves outside the key, while at the same Mme in half tempo; flute, guitar and light ensemble play the bridge reharmonized and orchestrated in an impressionistic fashion. The head begins, and in the next bridge Cannonball plays a beautiful lead over the top of the section. Running true to form, Gil throws us a curve by moving to a swing tempo (instead of the usual Afro-Cuban) for the blowing. Cannonball has plenty of stretching out room and makes the most of it. Paul Chambers contributes a very thoughtful solo counter-pointed by flute. The final section finds all of the ostinato elements of Dizzy's original recording present and accounted for.
The final track on the album, BIRD FEATHERS, opens with the drums (Blakey) playing the melody followed by a repeated statement in unison trumpet and flute a la Bird and Dizzy Cannonball plays a classic bebop solo replete with interpolations (i.e., 'Stay Sweet as You are') turnarounds and coruscating lines. Following some interplay between Cannonball and the brass section, Frank Rehak plays a jumping solo. Next John Coles is featured accompanied by a unison line which gradually gives way to block chords, Art Blakey plays an excellent solo leading to some four bar exchanges with the ensemble. Next an exciting shout chorus leads to a well constructed arco solo by bassist Paul Chambers accompanied by some sympathetic comping by guitarist Chuck Wayne, Cannonball returns briefly over some riff-like figures leading back to the small band and ultimately to the opening drum figure.
DAVE BAKER
No comments:
Post a Comment