Customer Reviews

Escalator Over the Hill

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Boy the late 60s and early 70s were a heady time. The sense of possibility, of creative energy running around the great urban centers of the world must have been truly amazing. Popular culture and popular arts were never taken more seriously than at this time, and there was a sense that anything was possible. Maybe it was something in the brownies at the time, but more amazing work was carried out simultaneously in all fields of the arts than at anytime since. Many of these works have dated rather badly, but others still crackle with the brilliance that characterized them when they were first created. Carla Bley's magnum opus, Escalator Over the Hill falls into this latter category. Enormous, unwieldy, and perhaps even over ambitious, the work still manages to stun, even in its excesses, and produce a powerful overall impression. And the performances are beyond belief.

Bley and company calls escalator a "chronotransduction". Others might call it an opera, but it is an opera without much of a sense of coherent plot. The lyrics, by poet Paul Haines, are cryptic in the extreme. Haines makes Lennon's I Am the Walrus look like Alexander Pope! An example:
Nurses dying their hair don't care,
If the horse is locked, the house still there.
It doesn't seem to matter to them,
The traces of horses and pineapple and cheese,
So many ingredients in the soup no room for a spoon.

If you can find meaning in these lyrics, then perhaps you've indulged in some of those odd brownies lately! However, despite the elliptical lyrics, Bley creates a work of power and imagination. The score is filled with a myriad of influences, 1920s European cabaret music, acid rock, electronic experiments, free jazz, the concepts of Cornelius Cardew's Scratch Orchestra, and world music. All this combines to create a stew that is rich and imaginative, surprisingly coherent and deeply effecting.

If Bley had written nothing but the Hotel Overture, the disc would be worth getting. This big band piece features solos by Rosewell Rudd, Perry Robinson on clarinet, one of the most searing and powerful solos ever by Gato Barbieri and soulful work by Charlie Haden. Other musicians who appear on the disc include Jack Bruce, who sounds amazing and carries the lion's share of vocals, as well as contributing his trademark intricate bass style to the rock sections, Linda Ronstadt, who also sounds better than I've ever heard her, Don Cherry, John McLaughlin in perhaps his best recorded work, singer Sheila Jordan, and the late lamented Jeanne Lea who electrifies the ending of the work. Bley sings much of the piece as well, in her weird and raspy voice, which is quite effective as it is used, as is the narration of Warhol stalwart Viva.

Highlights from the disc in addition to the overture include the marvelous title tune, Escalator Over the Hill, which sets the scene for the opera, a run down seedy hotel, which may be a brothel. The music has that Kurt Weill-meets-the-circus style that Danny Elfman would borrow twenty years later for his film scores. Why, Linda Ronstadt's first solo on the album is a beautifully crafted country song, in which her talents shine. Detective Writer's Daughter features some amazing vocal work by Bruce and Bley and powerfully moves the "plot" along...such plot as there is. Small Town Agonist is one of the most powerful moments in the score. It seems to depict a rape or at least a scene of great degradation for the main female character, told to ominous and powerful chords in the brass and capped by a marvel of a solo by Gato Barbieri. (His sax is almost an extra character in the work, as it rises powerfully above scene after scene). The AIR and Rawalpindi Blues cuts are electrifying, with terrific Miles-like work from Don Cherry and wonderful guitar solos from McLaughlin. And the conclusion wraps everything up elegantly, as Jeanne Lee and Bruce weave a hypnotic spell during It's Again, the same music that opened the piece almost two hours before.

One particular caveat...the work begins with a drone and ends with an "endless drone". The effect is akin to Wagner's opening E flat section in the Ring. But the "endless drone" really was meant to be that. On the original vinyl copy of the work, the grooves of the record looped, theoretically forever. On this disc, the producers decided to fill out the rest of the space of the CD with the drone to simulate the effect...then there is a little weird calliope music and the disc ends. It's kind of interesting to listen to this once as is, but the drone does get a little wearing after a while. So you may want to listen to maybe a minute or two of it and then cut it off...you won't miss much and will save yourself some aggravation.

Bley's work since has been impressive, but outside of her earlier suite, A Genuine Tong Funeral, I don't believe she has ever equaled the power of this piece. Highly recommended as one of the pinnacles of jazz and jazz/rock from this period, as well as one of the trippiest jazz works ever. Just don't try to "figure it out". As Haines says in one of his memorable lines in the work, "Stop refusing to explain. Give up explaining."

It's hard to exaggerate the importance of the Escalator project. It redefined the genres of jazz and fusion, and shifted the center. It was enormously influencial to me as a young musician in the early 70s -- it made me see that the boundaries the industry had created for music and performance were just limits to imagination.
I realize that when someone says a work of art is "important", that's sometimes a code word for inaccessible. What Bley, Haines et al. created is also hugely enjoyable to listen to, filled with humor and wild flights of fancy. I'm pleased to see it out on CD.

Escalator Over The Hill is a Herculean, magnificent accomplishment. As music, one doesn't merely enjoy it, one revels it, like swimming in the ocean at midnight. Here is a rare instance of popular culture and high art intersecting, creating something totally new and unrepeatable. Originality on this order of magnitude thrashes everything that has come before it and informs everything that follows.

The details of this epic achievement are too long to summarize, even listing the all-star cast of players would consume too many words. For the best review I've managed to find, track down "Stranded Escalator Over The Hill" by Marcello Carlin, published in Stylus Magazine. Mr. Carlin offers a thorough and highly intelligent perspective on the work, my goal is much less ambitious. I merely want to point you towards the Up escalator, which, according to Heraclitus, is the same as the Down escalator.

Imagine it's late and you've wandered into a crummy bar/nightclub in a derelict section of some nameless, grimy city. The nation and year are unknown. You're transfixed by a tall cigarette girl with a massive shock of blonde hair. She moves easily between the patrons and performers. In the corner, Kurt Weill plays piano, doom and decadence haunt each jolly note. At the bar, Samuel Beckett, Henry Miller, and William Burroughs scribble words on notebook paper, tear the pages into scraps, stuff the scraps unceremoniously into an overturned black bowler hat, (helpfully supplied by a taciturn Rene Magritte), retrieve said scraps randomly, and lay them on the bar with care.

Tristan Tzara and Marcel Duchamps ascend and descend the stairs, in that order. On the bandstand, the twelve known ghosts of Charlie Parker play in unison except when they let each other solo. The bartender insists on listening to an Indian radio station, no one complains. Several rock musicians drag their amplifiers in out of the rain; some of them do or do not get killed while plugging in and tuning up. The singer cries, wails, and moans like there's no tomorrow, like tomorrow's already all used up. So many ingredients, no room for a spoon.

i was one of the bass players on this multi-set;my name was Richard Youngstein at time of recording & i'm with the "hotel band." all the ensembles contain well-known & legendary players; some of the vocalists (jack bruce, linda ronstadt,etc.) are stretched past their creative limits and transcend. much of the music (lyrics by haines) by carla bley is religious/spiritual in the highest sense. it was written and played from the heart and resides there in the listener who is truly open. this music must be experienced; it's very difficult to describe in a paragraph or two. listen! my name changed shortly after my recording with carla (& paul bley and a few others) from richard youngstein to dr. noah young. i moved to west coast in '76 and reside in san fernando valley outside l.a. be well and buy this music. it will expand your horizons in the best sense and be good to all your senses! blessings.

When I was in college my roommate bought this album. It was pretty newly released. We were not only thrilled by the beauty of the musical passages, and captivated by trying to figure out the unfigurable lyrics, but we were also astounded by the sheer imagination on display here. How in the world did she ever even think to try to think up some of these ideas?

When one of us bought a portable cassette player for the first time, it was a tape of this album that we tried first, out on the lawn of the college quad. Wow, could music like that ever exist in such ordinary surroundings?

Yes, I can understand that this music is not for everybody. In some ways it reminds me of some of those ballets by Stravinsky. Not everyone is up to listening to those, either, but no one disputes the genius that is there for those who take the time to really listen. Escalator Over the Hill is just like that, and, like Stravinsky, is fully eclectic while maintaining its roots in the musical styles of the composer - in this case, jazz and other popular music of the time.

Anyway, when college was over, it was the last I heard of the album for a very very long time, until this week when I bought another copy of it at my local Amoeba store. I guess what prompts me to write this review is how much I realize, now that I hear it again, how much this work influenced the way that I have been listening to music over the years, as well as the way I play music, on those rare occasions when I get to play music any more.

It really is that special.

a mish-mash of sounds and musical styles. long and involving. all- star cast. an absolute must hear. I've probably listened to this over a hundred times throgh the years...and i never grow tired of it.

This is a monumental work of art and must be recognised as extremely significant in the history of music. If you are fond of jazz from the perspective of Miles Davis' electronic work or Jazz Fusion you should definitely consider buying this due to the sheer density and scope that the music is presented. In true musical, rock opera (Jazz Opera) tradition the opus starts with an overture, it has its fair amount of squealing and free soloing. The scene is then set for a type of musical theatrical concept LP with parts played by significant voices of the time, the songs are a lot more accessible than you might think being a jazz work, surreal dream like excursions in a Burroughsesque 'Interzone' that initially takes place in 'Cecil Clark's Old Hotel' and moves out into the desert with different bands for different locations. You could see it as an unfolding, re contextualizing of the history of Jazz through big band, bop, eastern modal fusion and minimalism taking place in a surreal dreamscape that is no place, with an abstract libretto by Paul Haines, Brion Gysin like cut-ups reporting sensations of the time, dealing with relationships, thoughts and expressions. What makes this significant for me is the two main points where the work becomes electronic with the amplified guitar work of Mahavishnu John McLaughlin. The most significant of these is the whole suite of A.I.R (All India Radio), Rawalpindi Blues and End of Rawalpindi. There is nothing I have heard that sounds like this and if you buy this work for one reason this should be it. It is a kind of duet between McLaughlin and Trumpeter Don Cherry, although both were not recorded together and unfortunately never got to work with one another. This is where everything changes, this is where John Coltrane's spiritual quest is realised, a truly transcendental piece of quite incendiary music with the most amazing cosmic atmosphere generated by Don Cherry. I have been listening to this work for over 14 years and still do not tire of it, losing myself in a work really takes you on a major dreamlike journey that sounds like nothing else. Because of it's length it is a bit of an excursion to take time out to listen to it. It is part Music Hall, part Kurt Wiell, part ethnic, part fusion and part avant-garde. If you open yourself up to it you might even start singing along to the songs. This is a work of unfathomable genius and ambition from a great composer and band leader.

I have long considered this the one recording that I would have to have if stranded on a desert island.

The musicians on the recording got my attention some 30+ years ago when I originally bought this as a 3-lp set: Jack Bruce, John McLaughlin, Linda Ronstadt (for god's sakes!), Don Cherry, Roswell Rudd, Paul Motian, Don Preston!!! And on and on.

This is not a piece that can be listened to in segments. One has to hear it all in a single sitting. The dadaist lyrics and Bley's composition, which draws on a huge range of styles (there's even a caliope involved) make this far too interesting and challenging to merely sample it here and there.

The opening segment has a blistering sax solo by Gato Barbieri that I would venture to say is the closest thing to making an instrument sound like a human voice (a very distressed voice at that). Think of Pete Cosey's guitar on Miles Davis' Agartha CD.

The second half of the production features a trio of John McLaughlin, Jack Bruce and Paul Motian in a very Mahavishnu-sounding electric trio.

Linda Ronstadt appears only briefly, but you quickly pick her out of this talented crowd. Jack Bruce's vocals were dubbed in as Carla mailed the tape to England with an open track for him and a set of lyrics to sing. He's in great form!

The original album never ended if you had a manual turntable as the pressing plant closed the lead-out groove so that a hum of human voices continued indefinitely. The CD version extends the same ending for some time, but it DOES end.

I'm not the only one to say this, so I have to repeat what others have written. This is the single best recorded composition ever. And I've thought that since the first time I ever heard it.

Unfortunately we never received this item. So much for international relations. Patience is a virtue and a necessity with international trade. We know this because we have a website selling vinyl recordings, and most of our buyers are from Europe and Asia. Because of the lack of performance, we cannot recommend doing business with this vendor.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. "Important" ... ri-i-i-i-i-ight.

If you seriously enjoy FROWNING IN ENJOYMENT, you may get off on the cod-operatic vocals, and the nostalgically "challenging" free-form blowing (ahhhhhh .. who else remembers the avant-garde?) and the (duhhh) surreal lyrics and the worthy, academic tone of this smug, self-serious and massively self-indulgent "work".

Caveat emptor.