Complete Bluebird Recordings [Import]

George Russell | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 21, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Lonehill Jazz Spain
• ASIN: B0007Q18AI
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #251,131 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Ye Hypocrite, Ye Beelzebub

2. Jack's Blues

3. Livingstone I Presume

4. Ezz-Thetic

5. Concerto for Billy the Kid

6. Night Sound

7. Round Johnny Rondo

8. Witch Hunt

9. Concerto for Billy the Kid [Alternate Take]

10. Ballad of Hix Blewitt

11. Fellow Delegates

12. The Sad Sergeant

13. Knights of the Steamtable

14. Ballad of Hix Blewitt [Alternate Take]

15. The Day John Brown Was Hanged [*]

16. Lydian Lullaby [*]

17. Miss Clara [*]

18. The Day John Brown Was Hanged [Alternate Take][*]

Editorial Reviews

One of the Most Important and Influential Composers, Arrangers, Theorists and Conductors in Contemporary Jazz, this Release Includes the Three Different 1956 Sessions that Mark George Russell’s Complete Recording Legacy with Bluebird as a Leader. In Addition to These Dates, this CD also Includes the Two Different Sessions Recorded for Bluebird under the Leadership of Alto Saxophonist and Flautist Hal Mckusick with Compositions and Arrangements by George Russell as Bonus Tracks.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ahead of his time, August 9, 2005

By 

Troy Collins (Lancaster, PA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Complete Bluebird Recordings (Audio CD)

This Koch reissue, originally released as "Jazz Workshop" on RCA, features George Russell's debut recording as a leader. This program opens a window into the formative theories of Russell's then seminal concepts of Jazz composition and improvisation based on scales rather than chords. Having published his Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization in 1953, Russell's smalltet, as he called it, made their first recordings for Bluebird in 1958. This set collects their initial recordings, both masters and alternate takes and is an ear opening insight to the thought process behind one of creative improvised music's finest composers. Featuring astoundingly inventive writing, incredibly dense harmonies and tricky arrangements for sextet, only the ensembles of contemporaries like Don Ellis, Oliver Nelson, Lennie Tristano and Mal Waldron can compare.

With delicious harmonies that conjure the sound of a band twice its size, Russell leads his ensemble on a program of innovative Post-Bop. Flirting with dissonance and polyphonic linearity well ahead of mainstream acceptance, the group acquits themselves marvelously and with utter conviction. Snappy rhythms, interweaving harmonies and short, but effective solos lend an inescapable air of tunefulness to Russell's quirky and idiomatic writing. More than just mere head melodies, Russell's tunes embody the finest elements of advanced jazz composition. A thoroughly gifted writer, Russell was capable of enriching the most angular, knotty line with a hearty dose of melody. Despite his erudite theories and esoteric concepts, Russell's rich song forms are never lost under the weight of his abilities.

As an indication of Russell's own visionary status, "Fellow Delegates" even features Russell playing tuned drums ala Sun Ra's late 1950's recordings, invoking an air of exoticism previously unheard in Russell's music. Featuring early versions of such later standards as "Ezz-Thetic" and "Jack's Blues" these sessions will be invaluable to the Russell completist.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ever wonder where the expression "far out" came from?, June 4, 2006

By 

Schuyler M. Hupp - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Complete Bluebird Recordings (Audio CD)

By chance I caught the tail end of a Russell arranged piece the other day on a public radio station and thought it sounded like some really great Bebop I'd somehow missed my whole life. It was more than I expected, much more. Brilliant players rendering arrangements that are nothing short of genius. Amazing and a joy to listen to. :-)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars deserved renown, October 14, 2010

By 

Michael Morse (Toronto, ON) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Complete Bluebird Recordings (Audio CD)

In an age of easy superlatives and free use of terms like "classic" and "masterpiece," it is exhilarating and a bit sobering to encounter the real deal. By any sane criteria, this is one of the greatest jazz records ever made: profoundly original yet utterly logical and musically compelling pieces; dazzling execution and ensemble work; hauntingly perfect solos. Perhaps a less than obvious virtue is brevity. Even though Russell could easily have availed himself of the luxury of longer cuts, thanks to the LP, the average length is still around three minutes. Yet it never feels like the pieces are brief, because his imagination packs so many ideas into a few scant minutes, and because the soloists invariably put as many striking gestures into a a chorus as most would into a dozen. Despite the formidable drive and energy, the music never feels rushed or cluttered.

But what inspired me to write the review is not something I can express in technical terms. This is music on the order of Miles Davis and Gil Evans, or Ellington-Strayhorn, Coltrane-Jones, Evans-LaFaro, or any of the most exalted collaborations in jazz. As jazz critic Bill Coss said of Sketches of Spain, such collaborations represent the fusion of mind and heart, and so make music on the deepest possible level. This record has been a constant in my life for decades, a source of wisdom and beauty to which I can always return for fresh inspiration and hope. When people want to argue that music can be more than entertainment, in fact a force for good in our lives, this record is what they're talking about.