GIL EVANS ORCHESTRA - Hidden Treasures Monday Nights Volume One
Bopper Spock Suns Music Geo-34752
Kenwood Dennard – Drums, Mino Cinelu – Percussion Mark Egan – bass Pete Levin – keyboards, Miles Evans – trumpet Shunzo Ohno – trumpet David Taylor – Bass Trombone, John Clark – French Horn, Chris Hunter – Alto Sax, Flute, Alex Foster – Tenor Sax, Soprano Sax Darryl Jones – Bass (Tune 2), Matthew Garrison – Bass & Bass Solo (Tune 2), Vernon Reid – Guitar (Tune 2), Paul Shaffer – Fender Rhodes (Tune 2), David Mann – Alto Sax (Tune 2), Gil Goldstein – Piano (Tunes 1, 2, 5, 6), Delmar Brown – Synthesizer (Tunes 1, 2, 5), Charles Blenzig – Synthesizer (Tunes 2, 3, 4, 7), Gabby Abularach – Guitars (Tune 1, 4, 5), Jon Faddis – Trumpet (Tunes 1, 5, 6), Dave Bargeron -Trombone (Tunes 1, 5, 6), Gary Smulyan – Baritone Sax (Tunes 1, 5, 6), Birch Johnson – Trombone (Tunes 3, 4, 7,) Alex Sipiagin – Trumpet (Tunes 3, 4, 7), Alden Banta – Baritone Sax (Tunes 3, 4, 7).
What is your view of tribute bands? Lez Zeppelin, Nuns and Moses, Emerson, Fake and Palmer, Bogus Diddley, Blobby Williams, Slack Babbath! Stan Kenton was insistent that no band bearing his name would play after his death. The Duke Ellington Band, sans Duke, circulated for a while without Duke. Syd Lawrence imitated the Glenn Miller band for a while. However, the only successful ‘tribute band’ so far is the Mingus band that has all the energy and drive that Charles Mingus managed to inspire in his musicians. So, what about the Gil Evans band? The only trouble is that there are at least two Gil Evans: early Gil and late Gil and they are very different.
It is tempting to recreate Gil Evans with a series of recordings. The first here is a recreation of the Monday night band. The albums planned in the series are ‘The Classics,’ featuring modern renderings of Evans’ original arrangements, including ‘My Ship,’ and ‘The Meaning of the Blues,’ and, the final release in the series, ‘Gil & Anita, named for the late jazz composer and his wife.
The music on this disc is devoted to the Monday night band. After a series of concerts that started in the late 70s, the Gil Evans Orchestra began a run of Monday night sessions. Most of Gil Evans’ output in the last few years of his life was from the sessions that he held each week at the Greenwich Village club Sweet Basil, New York in 1983. The sessions continued until Gil’s death in 1988. Later a number of live recordings by Gil Evans and the Monday Night Orchestra were issued mostly on a Japanese label. The music of that period was the polar opposite of the music that Evans wrote in the fifties and early sixties. The Sweet Basil band, if we are honest, was always a slight disappointment. Aficionados argued that it showed that Gil was ever youthful keeping up with the fashions but it was at times aimless and, on the part of some of the players, self-indulgent.
Many of the players who were involved in the Monday night sessions are on this recording. Only two of the nine tracks are written by Gil Evans: ‘Moonstruck’ and ‘Eleven’. ‘Eleven’ has a fierce alto solo presumably by Chris Hunter. ‘Eleven’ originally appeared on the 1968 Miles Davis album,’Filles de Kilimanjaro’ as ‘Petits Machins’.
The precision of the ensemble playing on this version of ‘Eleven’ is typical of the album which seems to be more together than some of the CDs from Sweet Basil. ‘Moonstruck’ is very short, brevity is something that the Basil band never quite managed.
‘Subway’ is written and arranged by Evans’ associate Pete Levin, It is a full band roar before tenorist Alex Foster and trombonist Dave Bargeron take over. Delmar Brown wrote ‘I Surrender’ which is reflective, solemn, graceful and slow of tempo. It is another feature for tenorist Alex Foster.
This is very much music of its time. The rock rhythms and the electronics are there. The Sweet Basil recordings ambled along and were sometimes shapeless. There is more form concision and structure here.
It is always good to hear Gil’s music. The players enjoyed the freedom that Gil gave to them in the Sweet Basil Days and they enjoy it here. Their ensemble playing is sharper than it was years ago. It will be interesting to hear how they cope with playing the older well loved charts.
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
Bopper Spock Suns Music Geo-34752
Kenwood Dennard – Drums, Mino Cinelu – Percussion Mark Egan – bass Pete Levin – keyboards, Miles Evans – trumpet Shunzo Ohno – trumpet David Taylor – Bass Trombone, John Clark – French Horn, Chris Hunter – Alto Sax, Flute, Alex Foster – Tenor Sax, Soprano Sax Darryl Jones – Bass (Tune 2), Matthew Garrison – Bass & Bass Solo (Tune 2), Vernon Reid – Guitar (Tune 2), Paul Shaffer – Fender Rhodes (Tune 2), David Mann – Alto Sax (Tune 2), Gil Goldstein – Piano (Tunes 1, 2, 5, 6), Delmar Brown – Synthesizer (Tunes 1, 2, 5), Charles Blenzig – Synthesizer (Tunes 2, 3, 4, 7), Gabby Abularach – Guitars (Tune 1, 4, 5), Jon Faddis – Trumpet (Tunes 1, 5, 6), Dave Bargeron -Trombone (Tunes 1, 5, 6), Gary Smulyan – Baritone Sax (Tunes 1, 5, 6), Birch Johnson – Trombone (Tunes 3, 4, 7,) Alex Sipiagin – Trumpet (Tunes 3, 4, 7), Alden Banta – Baritone Sax (Tunes 3, 4, 7).
What is your view of tribute bands? Lez Zeppelin, Nuns and Moses, Emerson, Fake and Palmer, Bogus Diddley, Blobby Williams, Slack Babbath! Stan Kenton was insistent that no band bearing his name would play after his death. The Duke Ellington Band, sans Duke, circulated for a while without Duke. Syd Lawrence imitated the Glenn Miller band for a while. However, the only successful ‘tribute band’ so far is the Mingus band that has all the energy and drive that Charles Mingus managed to inspire in his musicians. So, what about the Gil Evans band? The only trouble is that there are at least two Gil Evans: early Gil and late Gil and they are very different.
It is tempting to recreate Gil Evans with a series of recordings. The first here is a recreation of the Monday night band. The albums planned in the series are ‘The Classics,’ featuring modern renderings of Evans’ original arrangements, including ‘My Ship,’ and ‘The Meaning of the Blues,’ and, the final release in the series, ‘Gil & Anita, named for the late jazz composer and his wife.
The music on this disc is devoted to the Monday night band. After a series of concerts that started in the late 70s, the Gil Evans Orchestra began a run of Monday night sessions. Most of Gil Evans’ output in the last few years of his life was from the sessions that he held each week at the Greenwich Village club Sweet Basil, New York in 1983. The sessions continued until Gil’s death in 1988. Later a number of live recordings by Gil Evans and the Monday Night Orchestra were issued mostly on a Japanese label. The music of that period was the polar opposite of the music that Evans wrote in the fifties and early sixties. The Sweet Basil band, if we are honest, was always a slight disappointment. Aficionados argued that it showed that Gil was ever youthful keeping up with the fashions but it was at times aimless and, on the part of some of the players, self-indulgent.
Many of the players who were involved in the Monday night sessions are on this recording. Only two of the nine tracks are written by Gil Evans: ‘Moonstruck’ and ‘Eleven’. ‘Eleven’ has a fierce alto solo presumably by Chris Hunter. ‘Eleven’ originally appeared on the 1968 Miles Davis album,’Filles de Kilimanjaro’ as ‘Petits Machins’.
The precision of the ensemble playing on this version of ‘Eleven’ is typical of the album which seems to be more together than some of the CDs from Sweet Basil. ‘Moonstruck’ is very short, brevity is something that the Basil band never quite managed.
‘Subway’ is written and arranged by Evans’ associate Pete Levin, It is a full band roar before tenorist Alex Foster and trombonist Dave Bargeron take over. Delmar Brown wrote ‘I Surrender’ which is reflective, solemn, graceful and slow of tempo. It is another feature for tenorist Alex Foster.
This is very much music of its time. The rock rhythms and the electronics are there. The Sweet Basil recordings ambled along and were sometimes shapeless. There is more form concision and structure here.
It is always good to hear Gil’s music. The players enjoyed the freedom that Gil gave to them in the Sweet Basil Days and they enjoy it here. Their ensemble playing is sharper than it was years ago. It will be interesting to hear how they cope with playing the older well loved charts.
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
