George Russell
George Russell & The Living Time Orchestra: The 80th Birthday Concert
© 2005 Concept Publishing (616892635727)
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NEA American Jazz Master, the legendary George Russell and the LTO: Fiery big band music with the electric power of funk and rock- "The baddest, funkiest big band in jazz. One of the world's great jazz aggragations." BBC Magazine. AVAILABLE AT AMAZON.COM.
tracks
- 1 Listen to the Silence (excerpt)
- 2 Announcement
- 3 Electronic Sonata for Souls Loved by Nature
- 4 The African Game
- 5 It's About Time
- 6 So What
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George Russell and the Living Time Orchestra have been thrilling audiences throughout the world for almost two decades. Described as "the living embodiment of vibrancy," the LTO is an international 15 member aggregation under the direction of George Russell, who has been a leading catalyst for contemporary music since the late 1940s, when he was the first jazz composer to embrace both Afro-Cuban rhythms (Cubano Be/Cubano Bop) and the innovations of Igor Stravinsky (A Bird in Igor's Yard). Russell's theoretical work influenced Miles Davis and John Coltrane, and has continued to influence generations of musicians for over fifty years.
This double CD, a special advance purchase prior to release in October, 2005, was recorded live on a tour commemorating Russell's 80th year in 2003. It contains the extended work, "The African Game, nominated for two Grammy awards in 1985. The nine "events" are the story of evolution from early beginnings in Africa to glimpses of the future, the themes filled with lush harmonies and polyrhythmic accents. "Masterpiece may be too modest an accolade." Musician Magazine.. "One of the most significant new album releases of the past several years." Robert Palmer, the New York Times.
"Electronic Sonata for Souls Loved by Nature," (nature likes those who give into her, but she loves those who do not), uses an electronic tape as a palette on which the music is played, moving in and out of phase, merging past and future, making forays into the Middle East, African percussion, rock and funk. "One of the first successful fusions of jazz and electronic music in the 1970s."
Russell's latest work, "It's About Time," features the extraordinary Palle Mikkelborg on amplified trumpet. "A beautiful ballad that mutates into strutting rock-jazz." John Waters.
Russell's arrangement of the classic Miles Davis solo on "So What" originally debuted on the Blue Note CD of the same name, and was named "Jazz Album of the Year" by the Jazz Journal international critic's poll. "So What" once again confirms Russell's stature as one of the greatest composer/bandleaders in jazz." Jack Cooke, Wire Magazine.
Andy Sheppard on tenor, Palle Mikkelborg and Stanton Davis on trumpets, Richie Morales (Spyro Gyra) on drums, Dave Bargeron on trombone and Mike Walker on guitar are stellar soloists in this band of virtuosos.
From the liner notes by Marty Khan: "The music spans a full 360 degrees--at the same time primal and highly evolved, Familiar and comforting, but urgent and challenging. Steeped in ancient wisdom, but shedding beacons of light on the future. Deeply grooved in body rhythms to be eminently danceable, but intellectual and liberating in a most transcendent manner...entirely accessible to any listener who yearns for musical enrichment, whether they find their own area of pleasure in the orderly precision of Bach, the funky abandon of Parliament/Funkadelic, the rich swing of Ellington, the provocative unpredictability of Frank Zappa, or the cool bluster of Miles. The LTO performs this complex and challenging music with equal parts precision and liberation, as tight as a quartet after a string of 100 engagements, but with the power and majesty of a symphony."
"Polyrhythms piled high as the music touched base with rock, funk, Latin, African music, and even reggae. From Mikkelborg's crystal beauty to Walker's fearsome guitar...this is a band at the peak of its potential, capable of great power, but also of great range." Duncan Heining, Jazzwise.
"A vast rock-n-roll band, a Moroccan folk ensemble, a jostling crowd of Dixieland street -stompers, a tipsy Schoenbergian tone row outfit, and plenty more." John Fordham, The Guardian.
THIS CD IS AVAILABLE AT AMAZON.COM.
reviews
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an incredible listening experience
author: William MortonActually a mere 5 stars reduces the effect that the music had on me. The recording made me feel as if I was in the middle of the concert itself.What a delightfull way for George Russell to celebrate,by having an orchestra made up of musicians who are obviously devoted to his music, and play it with such gusto and sincerity. To quote the Maestro,Duke Ellington, this was a performance that "Was beyond category".
The release of the year.
author: Darrell KatzSince first discovering it over 25 years ago, I have found the music of George Russell to always be vital, compelling, cerebral and yet still soulful. And here he is at his 80th birthday concert, sounding full of life and energy. These are great performances. The Living Time Orchestra is a powerful group that is able to play this music with the both the accuracy and passion that it deserves. The world particularly needs this second recording of “The African Game”, a major work by one of America’s great artists. More clarity from the recording then you’ll find on the other CD of this piece (but: you should make it a point to have both). I not only had first the LP “the African Game” and then the CD; I was at the concert when it was recorded/premiered in Boston (1983). So I’m quite familiar with it. But this new version is fresh, full focused intensity, and totally absorbing: I played it over and over for more than a week. The other pieces are great too. A fine contribution to a rich body of work This is the album of the year, as far as I’m concerned. It is indeed a shame that George Russell is probably more recognized in Europe than he is here.
The 80th Birthday Concert: proof that Jazz in America is its most valuable asset
author: Bob AppletonGeorge Russell & The Living Time Orchestra: The 80th Birthday Concert Today I got the CD and I was sitting in the car, in the garage, with bags of groceries and takeout food getting cold while I couldn't take it out of the player until I'd heard it all. I can hardly remember another album that made think I was sitting in the music. It's amazing. It's really amazing. So much freedom and so much control: abstract electronics and acoustic grit. Dynamics – like the CD notes said, and I thought was probably an exaggeration - it IS "music as a hurricane force, a rollercoaster of jubilation" all of that and more. And it makes the upcoming concert in Odense, Denmark in October seem like a short distance to travel. If anyone ever needed proof that Jazz in America is it's most valuable asset - this could be it. May 21, 2005