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The Jazz Composer's Orchestra / Michael Mantler


Guy Berger

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lineup:

    Soloists

    Don Cherry  (cornet)

    Gato Barbieri (tenor saxophone)

    Larry Coryell  (guitar)

    Roswell Rudd  (trombone)

    Pharoah Sanders  (tenor saxophone)

    Cecil Taylor  (piano)

    Orchestra conducted by Michael Mantler

    7 saxophones

        (Steve Lacy, Jimmy Lyons, Frank

        Wess, Lew Tabackin, Charles Davis,

        and others)

    7 brass

        (Randy Brecker, Bob Northern,

        Julius Watkins, Jimmy Knepper,          Howard Johnson, and others)

    piano

        (Carla Bley)

    5 basses

        (Steve Swallow, Charlie Haden,

        Reggie Workman, Eddie Gomez,

        Ron Carter, and others)

    drums

        (Andrew Cyrille, Beaver Harris)

    recorded January, May, June 1968

    New York

I haven't heard this, but the lineup is extremely intriguing. Worth picking up? What does the orchestra sound like?

Edited by Guy Berger
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Well I'll say what you were expecting, perhaps, but still: Most of it, the orchestral back/fore-ground, sounds dense but not forbidding and indeed enthralling, and the solos by turns aggressive, piercing, and monumentally structural. This comes highly recommended, I'd say pretty much each of the different "communications" alone would've been worth the price of admission.

Tangentially related, I also like the pictures (and other content of the booklet).

Edited by gnhrtg
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Tangentially related to this thread, any idea how I might find a copy of Moncur's Echoes Of Prayer? I passed up a reasonably priced copy a few years ago in Paris, and I've been kicking myself ever since. Any hope that it will show up on CD, my preferred medium?

Thanks,

Bertrand.

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[url=http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mendahl/jco.html]Whatever happened to Bob Carducci? Outstanding solo indeed on that Fontana LP!

Hell, I was wondering where he came from, too... not only where he went!

I sure wish somebody would get involved and reissue some of the other JCOA LPs, like the Moncur and the uh, Thornton, but I suppose the artists probably have the tapes. It's kind of surprising that nothing like that has happened, though.

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  • 1 year later...

Though not in print on CD, Jazz Realities (Fontana) is excellent!

Featuring Mantler, Carla Bley, Lacy, Kent Carter and Aldo Romano in a strong 1966 quintet formation, it's very high on my list of '60s jazz LPs.

There was a Japanese CD of this session released in the late '80s/early '90s, though ironically the vinyl is probably more common.

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Jazz Realities has been released on CD, by Fontana - I got a copy (Japanese import) at Tower a few years ago.

One of the tunes, Oni Puladi, by Carla Bley, is Ida Lupino played backwards........

just realized I missed part of post #15 - sorry about that Clifford.........

Edited by fkimbrough
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Tangentially related to this thread, any idea how I might find a copy of Moncur's Echoes Of Prayer? I passed up a reasonably priced copy a few years ago in Paris, and I've been kicking myself ever since. Any hope that it will show up on CD, my preferred medium?

Thanks,

Bertrand.

I have that on lp....

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Guest youmustbe

Yeah, the Pharaoh rev up is great...and the Cecil is terrific, what with Cyrille's drumming....I rememeber hearing something like this live, can't remember where. Mantler was always around that scene at the time.

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Yeah, the Pharaoh rev up is great...and the Cecil is terrific, what with Cyrille's drumming....I rememeber hearing something like this live, can't remember where. Mantler was always around that scene at the time.

It was at the Electric Circus. Cecil did his number straight off the record but Pharoah did something other than "Preview". I remember he was playing a contrabass clarinet rather than a tenor...I think it was a silver colored instrument. And Gato Barbieri was in the section, just like on the record. And everyone was whispering about...I think his name was Ron McClure...the guy who played in Lloyd's band with Jarrett and DeJohnette. He was flying all over the bass but nobody could hear what he was playing. The bass players were placed all around the performance space. Actually, you couldn't hear any of them too well. But Cecil and Cyrille tore it up.

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Guest youmustbe

Yeah! The Electric Circus! ( I remember going there in 65, Archie Shepp doing a Communist Party Benefit. And The Dom was downstairs, into the erly 70's if I remember.)

Andrew Cyrille told me that Mantler's orchestrations behind Cecil were taken from Cecil's solos.

O fcourse the Electric Circus became somethign else, I think Sly might have performed there...light shows and all that....getting fuzzy after all these years.

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If anyone knows where a CD copy of this album can be purchased (*), or is selling one, please PM! I'm aching to hear this record.

* If buying it directly from ECM in Munich for (approximately) $30 is the only route — well, I guess that's what I'll have to do. When it was available domestically (U.S.), it was around $13. :(

Edited by Late
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