Gary McFarland "Soft Samba"

[Shrdlu]

I've liked Gary McFarland's work - what little I've heard - for many years, and I did a little digging on AMG. The album "Soft Samba" sounded interesting, and I was pretty sure that I'd heard a track from it on the radio in the late 60s or early 70s (on Arch McKirdy's "Relax With Me" in Australia - who remembers that?).

I'm not sure whether it has been reissued in the U.S. (I'm too lazy to look ), but Mundo in Japan has it available as one of those attractive gatefold mini-LP CDs (in the same series as "Wave" and "Tide" by Jobim) so I ordered a copy.

Well, I just love it, and recommend it to you all!

It has a pretty impressive cast: Kenny Burrell on all but two tracks, and those have Jobim (on guitar); Richard Davis is on bass; the drummers and percussionists include Willie Bobo and Arnie Wise (who was with Bill Evans for the memorable Town Hall album); and there's also a bit of flute, and Jimmy Cleveland on trombone.

It's a very unusual setup, as the melodies are stated by McFarland in wordless vocals in unison with his vibes. On the surface of it, it could be considered as just some guy humming in the shower, but it is much deeper than that, as it's all so well done, thanks to the quality of Gary's arrangements. One of its strong points is that it all does sound so casual. But it is not at all trivial.

I like the song selection: Gary turns several sow's ears into silk purses.

Anyway, the bottom line is: do you like it, and I do. I've been going around humming it to myself for the last several days. The acid test was to let my 19-year-old daughter hear it. When she pronounced her disapproval, my enjoyment was confirmed!

The original studio sound (by a certain RVG) is excellent, and the remastering on the Japanese Universal CD is top-notch.

[vibes]

Shrdlu, where did you order this one from? I've considered ordering it before too. It's always sounded interesting, and I really like McFarland's work on the vibes.

[jazzbo]

I have an earlier cd version of this from Japan, and I agree it's a nice album indeed. McFarand is an interesting arranger and writer and performer, he always had a thoughtful and original slant for an album it seems. . . .

[Free For All]

McFarland did a recording w/Bill Evans and some kind of ensemble- I think it was on Verve. I assume it was included in the Evans Verve box, but has it ever been released by itself on CD? Evans and McFarland seem like they'd be a good match.

[vibes]

Free For All, you are correct. That album is in the Verve box and has never been on CD elsewhere. That was my initial exposure to McFarland - it's a GREAT album. Very, very interesting arrangements, very sublime. I'd like to hear more music along these lines, if McFarland ever recorded any.

[Shrdlu]

Vibes, I ordered it from Mundo

http://www.mediawars.ne.jp/~mundo/cdjapan/link.html

Ray Mizutani answers the emails and is very friendly. (Click on G for Gary to see this CD, not M for McFarland.) The email and payment details are all there on that website. Or, no doubt, you could get it through Hiroshi Tanno, or, even, hmv.co.jp

Used LPs can also be had. I was going to order one, but the people asked too much for "postage and handling", so I switched to CD. The Japanese CD is of LP quality, no question.

The album Gary did with Bill Evans sure is good. I have only seen it in the Verve box set, and I'm too lazy to check whether it's available separately.

[sidewinder]

Wow - I've come across a decent 2nd hand LP copy of this one in the racks but was put off mainly because of the very negative AMG review, which gave the impression that it was total muzak. Will try to get a listen to it next time I'm in the shop. McFarland's work has always impressed - I particularly like 'How to Get Ahead In Business Without Really Trying' (issued on Verve as a doubleCD with Brookmeyer's 'Gloomy Sunday') and also the 'Profiles' LP on Impulse. A very sad loss to jazz with his early death, under tragic circumstances.

[vibes]

I finally listened to Shrdlu's recommendation and picked this one up. The wordless vocals are a major turn-off to me. To be honest, the music kind of reminds me of the elevator music my grandfather used to have playing in his dental office. It would be nice if the vibes were a little higher in the mix too. Very relaxing music, whatever the case.

[vibes]

Don't forget Steve Kuhn/Gary McFarland OCTOBER SUITE (which has been reissued).

I have this one and it's WAY better than SOFT SAMBA. No vibraphone from McFarland on OCTOBER SUITE, unfortunately.

[Shrdlu]

Sorry that you didn't like "Soft Samba", Vibes. It's quite haunting, for me.

I did pick up the "Oktober Suite" recently, after scanning the Verve mini LP list again, and bearing in mind that there is a time limit on these. Here's the link, by the way

http://www.vervemusicgroup.com/series.aspx?sid=7

The earliest of these go off in May 2005, but they only made one production run according to Ken Druker at Verve, so they may disappear before then; it's happened before. I haven't come across any with poor sound, and I have by now fallen in love with mini LPs.

This album is very different, and it will take me awhile to get next to it. My first impressions are that it's very good, and I think I'm going to like it quite a lot. They did a fine job of replicating the Impulse gatefold cover. Ideally, all my Impulse CDs would be in this format, but who's that rich?