JohnS Posted July 15, 2004 Report Posted July 15, 2004 Thanks for the tap Mike. I was thinking about "Sonny Rollins Plus Four" or the Gillespie/Stitt/Rollins "Sonny Side Up", both fine albums and good candidates for AOTW but it seems that Geprge Russell has it by popular demand. This is a great album that can be listened to time and time again. Quote
Bill Nelson Posted July 15, 2004 Report Posted July 15, 2004 It's the 'Ne Plus Ultra' * of East Coast Cool! * the Supreme Shit Quote
king ubu Posted July 15, 2004 Report Posted July 15, 2004 * the Supreme Shit A great one indeed! Hope to get a chance to spin it in time! ubu Quote
jazzbo Posted July 15, 2004 Report Posted July 15, 2004 Alright! Just got a copy of the RCA France cd, cuz my Koch one skips badly! Quote
king ubu Posted July 15, 2004 Report Posted July 15, 2004 Alright! Just got a copy of the RCA France cd, cuz my Koch one skips badly! The old jewel case one? (That's how I got it) Or is there a newer one? Quote
jazzbo Posted July 15, 2004 Report Posted July 15, 2004 Jewelcase. . . there may be a newer one but I didn't get it. Quote
Chuck Nessa Posted July 15, 2004 Report Posted July 15, 2004 I first bought this in '62 and still play it. I wish it included the Columbia recording of All About Rosie (most of the same players 6 months later). After listened to the Jazz Workshop disc I usually go on a '50s Russell kick and dig out "Rosie" and the Hal McKusicks. Quote
mikeweil Posted July 15, 2004 Report Posted July 15, 2004 What I like the best about this is the merging of rhythmic patterns with the abstract contrapuntal lines. This one turned me on to Barry Galbraith and Hal McKusick. I then found George Russell arrangements on albums by Teddy Charles, McKusick and others - this opened up a musical world. Great choice! I have the 1987 RCA Bluebird CD - bought the French CD for a friend years later, compared the sound and found it to be absolutely identical! Quote
Late Posted July 15, 2004 Report Posted July 15, 2004 At last! Great choice. One thing I always forget about this album: the largest configuration here is only a sextet. For some reason, with all the colors Russell gets out of the ensemble, it sometimes feels like a nonet or larger. I'll go out on a limb here and say that, for "jazz" recordings, this album may be the most harmonically advanced of its time (1956). I also can't think of any other albums previous to this one that could stand as a musical precedent or model. It seems to have simply occurred, fully formed, on the scene. Now, that is likely not the case, as I'm sure Russell had his mentors and influences, but, at least discographically speaking, it does seem the case. I don't understand the Lydian Chromatic Concept (of Tonal Organization) that well, but I think I'm hearing a fair amount of "fourthy" chording, which Russell may have first heard in Stravinsky's writing? Maybe someone more musically trained can clue me in. What is your favorite track from this recording? Quote
mikeweil Posted July 18, 2004 Report Posted July 18, 2004 I wish it included the Columbia recording of All About Rosie (most of the same players 6 months later). For those interested, "All About Rosie" was reissued on CD as part of the Columbia Legacy CD "The Birth of the Third Stream" in 1996. Quote
JSngry Posted July 19, 2004 Report Posted July 19, 2004 A favorite of mine. Visionary, and if the widespread fullfillment of the vision was more by osmosis than by direct/blatant influence, so much the better. Quote
king ubu Posted July 19, 2004 Report Posted July 19, 2004 I wish it included the Columbia recording of All About Rosie (most of the same players 6 months later). For those interested, "All About Rosie" was reissued on CD as part of the Columbia Legacy CD "The Birth of the Third Stream" in 1996. A great disc! And All About Rosie is indeed a killer! I wish they'd reissue the Modern Jazz Society disc in its entirety! Quote
jazzbo Posted July 19, 2004 Report Posted July 19, 2004 (edited) Well, I listened to this twice yesterday, one time through the new copy of the French cd that I just got to replace the Koch version that skipped, and once to the Koch version to refresh myself as to where it skipped. Oddly, on my new player, the Koch didn't seem to skip, which it did on every other player I've had, or if it did I missed it this time! Anyway, a great and exciting listen. I've always liked this and I'm especially glad to have the two alternates on the end, and I've always felt that "I'll Remember April" ERR I MEAN "Concerto for Billy the Kid" is a real powerhouse, especially the stereo alternate that has that fantastic Evans solo where he quotes Monk among others. . . I really love that selection, could play it over and over. (And dig that siren on the stereo alternate of "Blewitt"!) Farmer, McKusick, Evans, Bauer: everyone plays so well, and the writing is right there for them. In some ways I don't think Russell ever topped this one. Edited July 19, 2004 by jazzbo Quote
mikeweil Posted July 19, 2004 Report Posted July 19, 2004 ... especially the stereo alternate that has that fantastic Evans solo where he quotes Monk among others. . . This is the Bill Evans I like the best!!! Quote
jazzbo Posted July 19, 2004 Report Posted July 19, 2004 I think I have learned to like ALL the Bill Evans'. . . though this was the one that I found EASIEST to love! Quote
JohnS Posted July 19, 2004 Author Report Posted July 19, 2004 Russell is a real individual, instanly recognisable. I love his scoring for the horns and guitar, no one else ever did quite the same thing. And the compositions have a driving quality which again is quite individual. All the players here fit Russell's music perfectly. I dig that siren too. Does the session with Paul Motian sound a bit muddy compared to the other dates? It had a different enginer. Thinking about this period I'm not sure that the recordings by Hal McKusickon RCA and Decca ever got the the critical attention they deserve. Same goes for Teddy Charles. Quote
garthsj Posted August 5, 2004 Report Posted August 5, 2004 I have been in and out of town, so I come late to the praise for this seminal album. I believe that we had a detailed discussion of the Jazz Workshop series in this forum several months ago. This album, and the Hal McKusick Workshop have always been favorites of mine over the years, and I have had to champion this music in arguments with others who only see John Coltrane as the legacy of the late fifties ... Somehow this music was largely forgotten by the general jazz fan, but many musicians I interviewed over the years were very much aware of it, and its important influence. It is gratifying to see newer jazz fans discovering this music for the first time. Isn't it interesting how many important albums from this period featured Art Farmer and Bill Evans? ... And what a pity that Hal McKusick made so few albums in his own name. 1956-1962 was an incredibly rich period for jazz on both coasts. There are so many wonderful iconic albums from that period that all of us jazz lovers know them by heart. I wonder how many albums from the last six years will have the same impact forty years from now? Garth, Houston. Quote
mikeweil Posted August 24, 2004 Report Posted August 24, 2004 In the liner notes to the GRP Decca selection CD of McKusick's LPs for that label, the writer points out how many great Russell arrangements were recorded with McKusick in the band, on three Russell LPs for Decca and RCA, and three McKusick LPs for Decca and RCA. Farmer and Evans on much of them. A great admirable body of work, and among the few I try to get a complete collection of. Quote
sidewinder Posted November 5, 2006 Report Posted November 5, 2006 (edited) Up again with this thread. Just been listening to the RCA vinyl - so many great performances on this session, McKusick, Evans, Galbraith, Farmer. It has to be one of the greatest jazz sessions of all time. 'Visionary' indeed. Edited November 5, 2006 by sidewinder Quote
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