This is a previously unreleased 2
CD (or 3 LP) “live” recording of the Gil Evans Orchestra from October 26, 1986 held at ‘The Fabrik’ venue as part of the eleventh Hamburg
Jazz Festival. It showcases Evans’ talent as a bandleader/arranger extraordinaire
(and electric piano player) in the third and final phase of his career as a
star in the jazz world. We’re lucky that a German broadcaster brought its microphones
to record this event at a great location where the ambiance was good and where
guest players like Victor Lewis and Marilyn Mazur had been added to an already
formidable line-up.
Gil’s Orchestra was of course, like no other – unconventional, challenging to play in and to listen to, unpredictable, extraordinary and unique, lacking discipline and yet disciplined, with just a look or a pointed finger from the maestro to direct operations. The ensemble consisted of people who didn’t ordinarily play together (but who wanted to play for Gil). Musical tension was created by players in different styles and by the juxtaposition of various musical differences. Gil loved “the teetering on the edge” feeling that was the band’s ‘modus operandi’.
The music is as different as is possible to be from the superbly crafted arrangements prepared for the Claude Thornhill Orchestra or ‘The Birth of the Cool’ band or the Davis/Evans collaborations (Miles Ahead, Porgy and Bess, Sketches Of Spain) where Gil would sometimes agonise for days about the placing of a note in the score. Here, we have the free-flowing, Jimi Hendrix-influenced, collective improvisations, huge sonic performances dominated by synths and electronic instruments, some neat section play, and ‘free’ solos with the building and release of tension throughout. Gil was fascinated by unusual sounds and many are included here – Bullock’s plangent guitar sound adds to his lustrous choice of chords, Levin’s synthesiser can provide backdrops which would normally need at least twelve conventional instruments. Soloff’s lead trumpet – Gillespie influenced but well into free and rock styles.
Many of the band’s usual repertoire are included here – Tony William’s There Comes a Time morphs into Zawinul’s Birdland. Hendrix’s Stone Free, Up from the Skies, Little Wing, and Voodoo Chile. Levin’s Subway, Delmar Brown’s extraordinary feature Sometimes and Gil’s own Orgone (previously known as Gone or Gone, Gone, Gone). Tracks range from 8 mins to 23 mins in length.
Some critics castigated Gil saying these extended pieces were self-indulgent, the solos were too long, the intros interminable. They missed the point of this spectacular, spontaneous, unpredictable, dumbfounding group where wild tumults of sound contrasted with “washes of music” to assail the listener’s ear. The very essence of jazz “The Sound of Surprise”. Dave Brownlow
The Gil Evans Orchestra Live At Fabrik NDR Kulture D77101
Lew S
No comments :
Post a Comment