GEORGE RUSSELL SEXTET featuring Don Ellis & Eric Dolphy – 1 2 3 4 5 6extet (LP-1969)

Label: Riverside Records – RS-3043

Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation / Country: US / Released: 1969

Style: Post Bop, Modal

From the albums Ezz-thetics (1961), The Outer View (1962) and The Stratus Seekers (1962)

Cover [Art], Design – Byron Goto, Henry Epstein

Design [Liner] – Joe Lebow

Engineer [Re-recording] – Jimmy Czak

Liner Notes – Martin Williams

Producer – Orrin Keepnews

A1 - Nardis (by – Miles Davis) ...................................................................... 4:34

        bass clarinet – Eric Dolphy

        piano – George Russell

        trumpet – Don Ellis

        trombone – Dave Baker

        bass – Steve Swallow

        drums – Joe Hunt

A2 - Au Privave (by – Charlie Parker) .......................................................... 6:21

        piano – George Russell

        tenor Saxophone – Paul Plummer

        trombone – Garnett Brown

        trumpet – Don Ellis

        bass – Steve Swallow

        drums – Pete La Roca

A3 - 'Round Midnight (by – Williams / Monk) .............................................. 6:29

        alto saxophone – Eric Dolphy

        piano – GeorgeRussell

        trombone – Dave Baker

        trumpet – Don Ellis

        bass – Steve Swallow

        drums – Joe Hunt

B1 - Blues In Orbit (by – George Russell) .................................................... 7:24

        piano – George Russell

        trumpet – Don Ellis

        alto saxophone – John Pierce

        tenor saxophone – Paul Plummer

        trombone – Dave Baker

        bass – Steve Swallow

        drums – Joe Hunt

B2 - The Stratus Seekers (by – George Russell) .......................................... 6:52

        piano – George Russell

        trumpet – Don Ellis

        alto saxophone – John Pierce

        tenor saxophone – Paul Plummer

        trombone – Dave Baker

        bass – Steve Swallow

        drums – Joe Hunt

B3 - Thoughts (by – George Russell) ........................................................... 5:26

        bass clarinet – Eric Dolphy

        piano – George Russell

        trumpet – Don Ellis

        trombone – Dave Baker

        bass – Steve Swallow

        drums – Joe Hunt

A late 60s issue of material from some of Russell's earlier albums on Riverside – great sides from the early 60s featuring Russell at the head of a group of some of the better young modernists of the age...

 George Russell / Eric Dolphy

If Stratusphunk (october 1960) was perhaps too academic (despite Stratusphunk), Ezz-thetics (may 1961) topped anything he had done before, despite including only three original Russell compositions. Trumpeter Don Ellis, trombonist Dave Baker, clarinetist Eric Dolphy, bassist Steve Swallow and drummer Joe Hunt struck an eerie balance between bebop, cool jazz and free jazz (particularly in Ezz-thetics). A septet with Ellis, Baker and Swallow recorded the complex Blues In Orbit and The Stratus Seekers, the highlights of The Stratus Seekers (january 1962).

This LP compilation features Russell-conceived three versions, as well as the three originals compositions:

From the album ''Ezz-thetics'' (Riverside Records RLP-9375)

A1 - Nardis / written-by – Miles Davis

A3 - 'Round Midnight /  written-by – Williams, Monk

B3 - Thoughts / written-by – George Russell

from the album ''The Outer View'' (Riverside Records RLP-9440)

A2 - Au Privave / written-by – Charlie Parker

from the album '' The Stratus Seekers'' (Riverside Records RLP-9412)

B1 - Blues In Orbit / written-by – George Russell

B2 - The Stratus Seekers / written-by – George Russell

A true masterpiece, Ezz-Thetics is pianist/arranger George Russell's definitive 1961 sextet recording from the earliest phase of his multi-decade career. On par with such iconic albums as Oliver Nelson's Blues and the Abstract Truth (Impulse!, 1961), Mal Waldron's The Quest (Riverside, 1961) and Andrew Hill's Point of Departure (Blue Note, 1964), Ezz-Thetics traffics in the same advanced but accessible strain of avant-garde-influenced post-bop.

Author of The Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization (pub. 1953), Russell's seminal concepts of improvisation, based on scales rather than chords, became the driving force behind the early modal explorations of Miles Davis and John Coltrane. This pioneering session offers a singular and visionary view of classic post-bop that is ageless in its perfection.

Russell's bands fluctuated with different players but always sounded so modern and creative but this edition of the sextet was special because it had Eric Dolphy playing alto and bass clarinet. Dolphy joined for a few months and made this album (Ezz-Thetics, 1961) with Don Ellis on trumpet, who was later to make his mark as a bandleader, David Baker on trombone, the wonderful and forgotten drummer Joe Hunt and the recording debut of Steve Swallow, playing accoustic bass make this a once in a lifetime session. Dolphy's energy and creativity make this recording significant but Ellis is on fire as well and this was to be the last recording by David Baker on trombone who, how says producer Orrin Keepnews, sounds both avant-guard and funky at the same time. Baker was playing with a dislocated jaw and right after this recording had an operation and switched from trombone to cello. Baker to this day is one of the leading educators in Jazz and classical music. Russell's piano is spare like Monk's and is so effective in solo and the fills for the horn players. The highlight of this recording is one of the most unique versions of Monk's ''Round Midnight'. There are so many highlights to this album that one should hear it all and marvel at the very contemporary concept and sound of 1961 date.

Supported by subtle counterpoint and an elegant arrangement, Miles Davis' exotic "Nardis" is given a haunting reading, reveals Russell's minimalist angularity behind the piano, while Dolphy displays a keening, expressive aspect in contrast to Ellis' dulcet trumpet.

Using the blues as a basic framework, Baker's contribution, "Thoughts," incorporates free-form sections at regular intervals, exposing the fine line between tradition and innovation.

A prescient rendition of Thelonious Monk's "'Round Midnight" acts as a showpiece for Dolphy. Opening with a free-form section of tiny instrumental sounds and highly vocalized brass effects, it pre-dates the work of the AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Music) by almost a decade. A brilliant study in dynamics and virtuosity, Dolphy's alto solo is legendary. Incorporating intervallic leaps and register changes with a highly vocalized tone and mellifluous phrasing, he offers a definitive statement on a hallowed theme...

Note:

After 1963, Russell relocated to Scandinavia and turned to extended multi-stylistic works for orchestra implementing his idea of vertical form, such as the 28-minute Othello Ballet Suite and the Electronic Organ Sonata No. 1, collected on Othello Ballet Suite (november 1967), and especially the Electronic Sonata For Souls Loved By Nature (april 1969), his masterpiece, a chaotic fusion of jazz, classical, ethnic, blues and electronic music, performed by an enthusiastic set of players (including trumpeter Manfred Schoof, tenor saxophonist Jan Garbarek, guitarist Terje Rypdal, drummer John Christensen). A new version in three movements (recorded in october 1970) appeared on Essence (1971), together with the Concerto for Self-Accompanied Guitar (january 1968).

If you do not have "Ezz-thetics" and "The Stratus Seekers" albums, buy them as soon as possible. Very recommended.

Enjoy!

If you find it, buy this album!

DON ELLIS (Big Band) – Tears Of Joy (2LP-1971)

Label: CBS – S 67216

Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Gatefold / Country: Netherlands / Released: 1971

Style: Fusion, Improvisation

Recorded May 20-23, 1971 at Basin Street West in San Francisco.

Artwork By [Cover] – Maria Eckstein

Engineer – Roy Segal

Photography By [Back Cover] – Earle Corry, Fred Selden

Supervised By [Sound], Mixed By – Phil Macy

A1 - Tears Of Joy . . . . . . . . . . 2:59

A2 - 5/4 Getaway . . . . . . . . . . 7:50

A3 - Bulgarian Bulge . . . . . . . . . . 4:54

A4 - Get It Together . . . . . . . . . . 5:14

        (Written-By, Arranged By – Sam Falzone)

B1 - Quiet Longing . . . . . . . . . . 3:49

B2 - Blues In Elf . . . . . . . . . . . 6:42

B3 - Loss . . . . . . . . . . 8:26

C1 - How's This For Openers? . . . . . . . . . . 8:38

C2 - Samba Bajada . . . . . . . . . . . 11:32

        (Written-By, Arranged By – Hank Levy)

D1 - Strawberry Soup . . . . . . . . . . . 17:36

D2 - Euphoric Acid . . . . . . . . . . 4:29

        (Written-By, Arranged By – Fred Selden)

All song written-by, arranged by – Don Ellis except: A4, C2, D2

Big Band:

DON ELLIS – trumpet [quarter tone], flugelhorn [four-valve], drums

JIM SAWYER – trombone

KENNY SAWHILL – bass trombone

BRUCE MacKAY / JACK CAUDILL / PAUL BOGOSIAN – trumpet

DOUG BIXBY – tuba, trombone [contrabass]

KENNETH NELSON – french horn

MILCHO LEVIEV – piano

DENNIS PARKER – bass

LEE PASTORA – congas

RALPH HUMPHREY / RON DUNN – drums

+

Woodwind Quartet:

SAM FALZONE – clarinet

JON CLARKE – oboe

LONNIE SHETTER – alto saxophone

FRED SELDEN – alto saxophone, flute

+

String Quartet:

ELLEN SMITH – viola

ALFREDO EBAT – violin [first]

EARLE CORRY – violin [second]

CHRISTINE ERMACOFF – cello

Recorded in 1971, Tears of Joy is a Don Ellis classic. The sheer musical strength of this ensemble is pretty much unparalleled in his career. The trumpeter/leader had backed off -- a bit -- from some of his outlandish and beautifully excessive use of strange and unconventional time signatures, though there is no lack of pioneering experimentalism in tone, color, arrangement, or style. This double LP features a string quartet, a brass octet (four trumpets, tuba, bass trombone, trombone, and French horn), four winds, and a rhythm section boasting two drummers, a percussionist, a bassist, and the Bulgarian jazz piano wizard Milcho Leviev. This is a sprawling album. First vinyl is made up of short- to mid-length pieces, the most notable of which are the intense adrenaline surge of "5/4 Getaway" (with a killer string arrangement by Hank Levy, one of three arrangers on this set) and the blazing Eastern European klezmer meets Bulgarian wedding music meets hard bop blues of "Bulgarian Bulge." Leviev's solo on the latter comes right out of the knotty, full-on bore of the tune's melody (written by Ellis, who scored all but three selections), and cites everyone from Wynton Kelly to Scott Joplin to Mal Waldron. Elsewhere, such as on "Quiet Longing," the strings are utilized as the base and texture of color. One can hear Gil Evans' influence here, and in the restrained tenderness of this short work one can also hear Ellis' profound lyricism in his flügelhorn solo. The second LP's first moment, "How's This for Openers?," is a knotty composition that touches on bolero, Aaron Copland, and operatic overture. Levy's "Samba Bajada" is a swinging opus that uses tropes from early Deodato in his bossa years, Sergio Mendes, and Jobim, and weaves them through with an elegant, punchy sense of hard bop and the American theater. On the 17-plus minute "Strawberry Soup" (with a vocal quartet in the background), Ellis gets to show what his band is capable of in its different formations. Full of both subtle and garish colors, timbral grace and vulgarity, elegant and roughly hewn textures, and a controlled yet wildly divergent set of dynamics, this tune is one of the most adventurous and most brilliantly composed, arranged, and executed works to come out of the modern big band literature. It is virtually a big-band concerto. Ultimately, Tears of Joy stands as a singular achievement in a career full of them by a musical auteur whose creativity seemingly knew few if any bounds.

_ Review by Thom Jurek 

If you find it, buy this album!