Customer Reviews

Complete Bluebird Recordings

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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.

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. :-)

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.

Some of the writting in this cd is way, and i mean WAY ahead of what was going on in the fifties in jazz. Many of the arangements actually sound as if they were written a couple of days ago. You can find the seed for many of todays more 'avant' jazz artists in today's scene in NY and west coast (and europe). A real nice surprise! highly recommended to lovers of be bop with that extra creativity in the writting.

I bought my first George Russell album in 1970. It was called 'The Outer View' and had one vocal track on it by Sheila Jordan - "You Are My Sunshine" and I have been a fan of both of them ever since. The Complete Bluebird Recordings has a young Bill Evans on most tracks and it still sounds very fresh and timeless. George Russell has never ever sounded like anyone else that I can think of and I welcome this release with Evans on piano. Russell always attracted musicians who were adventurous and able to mix it up with out a safety net and this Cd does just that. Don Ellis on trumpet, Paul Plummer on tenor sax, Steve Swallow on bass with George Russell on piano and others. And on this disc we have two versions of 'The Outer View ' which are superb but also the Sheila Jordan version of 'You Are My Sunshine'. Sheila Jordan is one of my very favourite jazz singers and she is like no other. This CD was recorded in 1962 and it still sounds very fresh and way ahead of its time and both George Russell and Sheila Jordan are still out there as fresh as ever. A special disc indeed.

Pilgarlic.

g r e a t g r o u p ..... a w e s o m e o r c h e s t r a t i o n s

I felt really shocked the first time I spot on this cd. It sounded as if it came from outer space and I had been missing something. It is a pity not many people know how important George Russell was, but this record, together with "Ezz-Thetic" or "the Outer View", can help to solve this. "The Complete BLuebird Recordings" should be known by any music lover.
On the other hand, I enjoy a lot listening to Bill Evans' playing here, which also shows that he was not just a "single piano trio leader" but one of the most innovative pianists of all the time.

Classic source for jazz arrangers and TV theme writers/movie soundtracks for 40 years and to this day . Influenced the bossa nova movement. Lexicon for the birth of modern jazz.