Complete Blue Note 50's Sessions

Gil Melle | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 19, 2008)
• Original Release Date: October 20, 1998
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Blue Note Records
• ASIN: B00000DCJY
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #93,453 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Four Moons

2. The Gears

3. Mars

4. Sunset Concerto

5. Cyclotron

6. October

7. Under Capricorn

8. Venus

9. Lover Man

10. Spellbound

See all 19 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Summertime

2. Quadrille for Moderns

3. Five Impressions of Color: Spectrum Violet/Sea Green/Royal Blue/Ebony

4. Life Begins at Midnight

5. Night Train to Wildwood

6. Threadneedle Street

7. Weird Valley

8. The Set Break

9. Moonlight in Vermont

10. Long Ago (And Far Away)

See all 12 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Gil Melle is often awarded less acclaim for his chops than for his groundbreaking achievements (he was the first Caucasian signed to Blue Note; he built and played the first electronic horn; he built and played the first drum machine and started what many consider to be the first electronic "band," the Electronauts). On The Complete Blue Note Fifties Sessions we are afforded a portrait of Melle as more the cool-era combo leader than the trail-blazing innovator. That's not all bad. After all, Melle had the formidable Blue Note stable from which to draw. Highlights here include Tal Farlow's tasteful guitar figures on a number or tracks as well as appearances by Oscar Pettiford, Red Mitchell, and Max Roach. Don't be put off by Melle's out-cat reputation. This is slinky, easily-digested cool swinging. --S. Duda

Product Description

Complete Blue Note 50's Sessions

This product is manufactured on demand using CD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't Miss Melle, July 23, 2002

By 

Red J. Comb (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Complete Blue Note 50's Sessions (Audio CD)

I actually learned of Gil Melle from a book on jazz album cover art. It seems he was an accomplished artist and photographer whose often uncredited work graced numerous albums on Blue Note and Prestige. He was also one of the more daring jazz innovators of the first half of the 50's. His lineups might include guitar, trombone, french horn, or even tuba. The music in this double CD brings together some 5 or 6 early Blue Note LPs. You can hear some Birth of the Cool in here, some MJQ, some Mulligan, some classical. My favorites from this collection are those from the first LP, with their Astronomy theme, female voice, vibes, and general surreal ambience. They sort of presaged Melle's later work in electronics and weird sound (he scored "Rod Serling's Night Gallery" and some sci-fi films).
My only problems with this great item are non-musical. First, I would have liked one of Melle's early original art covers; this would have made it a knockout. Also, I think someone other than Melle himself could have done the liner notes. He seems a little too eager to tell us what a Renaissance man he is (some of his claims are a tad dubious anyway), and to urge us to forget the old stuff (like what's contained here). Still, to hear the music is to forgive all.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good disc by the late maverick saxophonist, February 25, 2005

By 

N. Dorward "obsessive reviewer" (Toronto, ON Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Complete Blue Note 50's Sessions (Audio CD)

This 2-CD set compiles the late Gil Mellé's various early- to mid-1950s sessions for Blue Note, which feature some fascinating lineups (the personnel include George Wallington, Joe Cinderella, Eddie Bert, Max Roach, Joe Morello, Tal Farlow, Ed Thigpen, Red Mitchell, Don Butterfield, Oscar Pettiford......) & Mellé's adventurous compositions. Though the recordings were made in Van Gelder's New Jersey studio (some of the earliest ones he did), the sound is rather West Coastish--you're likely to be reminded of Gerry Mulligan's work, because the leader sticks to baritone for most of the sessions, favours partnerships with trombonists and soft, tasteful brushwork from the drummer, & except for the session with Wallington avoids pianists: mostly the harmonies are filled in by guitar, & on occasion the guitarist simply lays out. Despite Mellé's overtly "experimental" streak, these tracks have a slinky, low-key vibe that prevents them from really seeming all that angular. Mellé is exceedingly boastful about his own genius in the liner notes--among other things, taking credit for "every innovation in electronic music" in the past century, for introducing Alfred Lion to Rudy Van Gelder, for introducing the idea of guitar-based rather than piano-based jazz (& thus inventing "the very basis of rock music"), &c &c--a display of egotism the likes of which I've never seen before (he makes Keith Jarrett sound modest). That's too much weight to place on the album--it's good, but not THAT good.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A nice substitute for the real thing., December 1, 2008

By 

R. Graham (Tulsa, OK USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Complete Blue Note 50's Sessions (Audio CD)

So what the heck do I mean by a nice substitute? Did you read the product description closely? It says, "This product is manufactured on demand using CD-R recordable media." This item has long since been out of print so when I suddenly saw this item become available again (other than from sellers here asking ridiculous prices) I had to take a look. I was impressed with the completeness and the quality of the liners and tray insert. The disc labels look a little different than the standard Blue Note CD issues, but other than that and a close inspection of the "shiny side" you might convince someone that this is the real deal. The sound quality is as good as a regular CD and it's great to finally hear this music. I'm just sorry I missed this limited edition when it was out there.