AOTW December 11-17

[Free For All]

I know we recently had Gil's Hendrix project up for review, but I really have been wanting to talk about this one. It's one I've owned for a couple of decades now and frequently listen to. BTW, I checked and there are currently affordable copies available on Amazon, although I expect many here already possess it.

There are so many things to love on this recording. For me the main feature is Gil's ensemble writing. His combination of instruments and use of unusual registers reminds me of Stravinsky. His voicings are very worthy of study, such as the way he puts the ninth of the minor chord a minor ninth below the third on Las Vegas Tango. He treats major sevenths and roots on major chords in a similar way, as does Brookmeyer and Bill Holman. Gil's arranging and orchestration is some seriously deep shit.

The contribution of the various soloists really make this work for me. The guest artists really seem to have an emotional connection to the material, as opposed to just "phoning it in", if you know what I mean. Wayne Shorter has several outstanding moments and sounds very comfortable in his surroundings. Jimmy Cleveland, Thad Jones, Phil Woods and Kenny Burrell all have great moments. Elvin really seems to be enjoying himself, and really hooks up with Paul Chambers and the other bassists nicely. Frequently the best word that comes to mind to describe the overall ensemble sound is "haunting". Dolphy plays in the ensemble on several cuts. I wish he had gotten to blow a little!

I sat and listened to this all the way through as I prepared to write this tonight, and I can't really find fault with much. Sure, some of the ensemble passages are a bit loose, apparently under-rehearsed (as with some of the Miles collaborations) but this doesn't really bother me all that much- it seems to actually contribute to the reckless, improvisatory mood.

Great cover, too. Very "sixties".

Just a great, great side IMHO. I look forward to your comments when the time comes.

[Free For All]

I'll add that one favorite moment comes at about 12:15 into Willie Dixon's Spoonful, when the trumpets come in with a beautiful counterline waaaaaay at the bottom of their range.

Dramatic, haunting, all that. Gives me a chill.

[John Tapscott]

This is a great choice and actually considered it for my own AOTW choice. I really like this album, and look forward to hearing it again. As recall, the CD has several bonus tracks.

[Chuck Nessa]

Gil frequently had "low" instruments playing at the top of their range and "high" instruments down at the bottom. That was one of the "secrets" of his orchestral sound.

Everybody has their tricks.

[danasgoodstuff]

This and the one featuring Canonball(New Wine Old Bottles? I have on a 2fer and get the sessions confused) are my fav Gil w/out Miles. I esp'ly like the bonus track of Spoonful, so much so that I have been know to put it and the renditions by Howlin Wolf, Charlie Patton, Cream, PBBB and the MGs together on mix tapes. After this Gil seemed to lose his attention to detail and just let his bands jam within v. loose parameters... Not that there's anythings wrong with that.

Think how much better Muddy With Brass coulda been if Gil had done the charts... I know that Gil had wanted to work with Louis and Lester, were there any other projects that didn't come to fruition?

Edited December 9, 2005 by danasgoodstuff

[ghost of miles]

This and the one featuring Canonball(New Wine Old Bottles? I have on a 2fer and get the sessions confused) are my fav Gil w/out Miles. I esp'ly like the bonus track of Spoonful, so much so that I have been know to put it and the renditions by Howlin Wolf, Charlie Patton, Cream, PBBB and the MGs together on mix tapes. After this Gil seemed to lose his attention to detail and just let his bands jam within v. loose parameters... Not that there's anythings wrong with that.

Think how much better Muddy With Brass coulda been if Gil had done the charts... I know that Gil had wanted to work with Louis and Lester, were there any other projects that didn't come to fruition?

Had he talked or thought about actually doing an album with Hendrix before Hendrix died?

Good AOTW pick. I'll pull it out right now and give it a spin.

[JSngry]

My understanding is that yes, a project with Hendrix was in the works.

[clifford_thornton]

What about a project with Richard Pryor?

Anyway, I really should quit putting this LP off and pick it up next time I see it.

[medjuck]

Think how much better Muddy With Brass coulda been if Gil had done the charts... I know that Gil had wanted to work with Louis and Lester, were there any other projects that didn't come to fruition?

I always loved Gil's quote about Lester: something like,"He wanted to make an album with me but I guess he wanted to die more."

Edited December 12, 2005 by medjuck

[Chuck Nessa]

I always loved Gil's quote about Lester: something like,"He wanted to make an album with me but I guess he wanted to die more."

I think the "imaginary" Hendrix date and the "vaporous" Prez dates would have been disasters.

He should have done a Ray Crawford date. If I was a millionaire, I'd have paid for that one.

[medjuck]

I always loved Gil's quote about Lester: something like,"He wanted to make an album with me but I guess he wanted to die more."

I think the "imaginary" Hendrix date and the "vaporous" Prez dates would have been disasters.

He should have done a Ray Crawford date. If I was a millionaire, I'd have paid for that one.

I think "Out of the Cool" is as close as we get with that one.

[clifford_thornton]

Despite the fact that Cecil was pissed about it (for reasons we may never know), I still like the idea behind Into the Hot and wish Gil had sponsored more projects of artists he wasn't personally involved with. I mean shit, he recorded a version of Alan Shorter's "Parabola" - what if he had written notes for Orgasm? It might have meant a whole 'nother Verve in the '60s - or not.

[John Tapscott]

Listened to this a couple of times today. It is a really great record. Charts, solos, everything really comes together on this date. I find the additional tracks every bit as fine as the original LP tracks. Concorde and Spoonful are as good as anything else here. Kenny Burrell is superb (I think I have an Kenny Burrell LP with Gil arrangements - can't remember the name of it, though - going to have to get that one out). And I love Thad Jones in any context.

What really grabs me about this recording is its clarity. I really can't think of any other word to describe it - there's a certain clarity and crispness to the charts and the lines and even the playing that is not quite present on other Evans recordings. That's not to put down any other Evans record, heavens, I'm a big Gil fan, but there's something a bit different here. Maybe it's the recording quality, which is very good, BTW.

Edited December 14, 2005 by John Tapscott

[JSngry]

Every time I listen to "The Barbara Song" (which is quite often), I am transported to a world that moves at the speed of prescription-only cough syrup, a world full of slow-moving big hairy spiders the size of urban office buildings that hardly make a sound as they trample their way across the cottony surroundings. To hear Wayne repeatedly emerge in fits and futs out of that ooze, only to willingly and gladly repeatedly get pulled back into it, is one of life's rarer pleasures.

And that's just the first cut (on the original album, anyway - I still always start the CD with it. Codiene is highly addictive...).

[medjuck]

Every time I listen to "The Barbara Song" (which is quite often), I am transported to a world that moves at the speed of prescription-only cough syrup, a world full of slow-moving big hairy spiders the size of urban office buildings that hardly make a sound as they trample their way across the cottony surroundings. To hear Wayne repeatedly emerge in fits and futs out of that ooze, only to willingly and gladly repeatedly get pulled back into it, is one of life's rarer pleasures.

And that's just the first cut (on the original album, anyway - I still always start the CD with it. Codiene is highly addictive...).

It's funny: Gil claimed that one of the reasons he left Claude Thornhill was that Thornhill loved those "clouds of sound that just hung there and created a kind of stasis". I can't find the exact quote but I did find this one:"The sound became a little too somber for my taste....It began to have a hypnotic effect at times. The band could put you too sleep."

He could be describing a lot of this record-- especially in its lp form. I love it nevertheless. (And a lot of Thornhill too.)

[Rooster_Ties]

Has anybody here heard the sketches from the original sessions that Gil never wanted released -- the ones that were released on LP sometime in the 70's or early 80's (if I remember right). I'm sure Gil was right for wanting them kept in the can - but I have to admit to being curious about them (since they snuck out).

Were there any important soloists featured on the "sketches"??

[Chuck Nessa]

Has anybody here heard the sketches from the original sessions that Gil never wanted released -- the ones that were released on LP sometime in the 70's or early 80's (if I remember right). I'm sure Gil was right for wanting them kept in the can - but I have to admit to being curious about them (since they snuck out).

Were there any important soloists featured on the "sketches"??

Tony Studd and rhythm.

[JSngry]

That vault ablum was released in 1973. Only two quartet tunes, and nothing of interest, probably, to anybody other than absolute completists. "Sketches" is putting it a bit broadly, I think. "Warmup takes" would be more like it. That's how Gil himself described them. Mostly piano playing, but if you want to hear Gil's piano at length, and to much better advantage, get the Heroes & Anti-Heroes duets with Konitz. That's more like it!

[medjuck]

"Absolute completist". That's me. I've got them and have digitized them so can make you a copy if you like.

I think they're interesting but I can understand why Gil didn't want them released.

[JSngry]

Thanks to this thread for sending me off on a three day saturation listening to this album. It does ramble in spots, but such a glorious ramble it is. What I was most struck by this time around was how much detail and activity there was on the inside of the music. Not in the horns, mind you, but in the other inside - the rhythm section and the various "odd" instruments like the harp and the violin. Seems like there's all these details going on that just add to the overall color and density. It served to remind me yet again that the Evens of the 70s & beyond, which was often all about color, density, and interior detail from the non-horn parts of the band, was not a sudden dereliction of duty, but a natural conceptual evolution.

And "The Barbara Song" still takes me to a place that no other music does. It was this one and "Bilbao" from Out Of The Cool that prompted me to check out Lotte Lenya's Weil readings (the Columbia sessions). To hear the originals is an ear-opener itself, but to hear how thoroughly Gil reimagined them is even more of one. If you're not at all familiar with these songs in their original form, you're missing out on both ends, I tell you.