Album Notes

In 1966-67 two albums issued on Revelation, "New Dance" and "Permutations", established Anthony Ortega as a master of advanced Jazz improvization. For years afterwards, dedicated fans treasured these sessions and finally persuaded Werner X. Uehlinger of the Swiss label, Hat Hut, to reissue most of the Revelation tracks on this CD. It was awarded a 1990 prize for reissue of the year in France and led to a number of European concerts and albums. Ortega considers it his "signature work." As critic Art Lange wrote: "In retrospect, it was this lyricism, plus his restraint and and sense of contemplation--a sparce controlled manner of expression that sculptured new lines out of spontaneous alterations of tempos and dynamics--that set Ortega's playing apart. Unlike most improvisers, who embellish or orniment their material, Ortega was here stripping away the musicical excess, replacing it with elastic, elliptical statements that reshaped and redefined the music from its emotional core."