Song for Sisyphus

Phil Woods | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 10, 1998)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Dcc Compact Classics
• ASIN: B0000001C1
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #156,289 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #89 in Music > Indie Music > Jazz > Bebop

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Phil's best, January 12, 2000

By 

Adam (Cambridge, Mass.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Song for Sisyphus (Audio CD)

This is Phil Woods at his prime. While I still think his best album is "Birds of a Feather" (one of the best alto saxophone albums of all time, in my opinion), "Sisyphus" showcases his passionate, lyrical approach, deeply rooted in bebop but not simply rehashing phrases. He came up in the era of bebop and has a thorough understanding of the language, so he can construct his own phrases, sentences, paragraphs and not simply plagiarize those originated by others. His tone is huge and extremely nuanced, with scoops, growls, and glissandos only serving to enhance his melodic phrasing. All in all, Phil is a serious, moving musician, a true master, and this is a great introduction to his musicianship.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of his best - alto sax as it was meant to be, July 31, 2007

By 

James A. Vedda (Alexandria, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Song for Sisyphus (Audio CD)

Important note on duplicate releases: This 1977 recording was released on CD in 1998 with its original title (Song for Sisyphus) and cover art, and again in 1999 under a new title (Summer Afternoon Jazz) and different cover art. The tracks are identical. Keep this in mind when shopping for Phil Woods CDs on Amazon. When I accessed the product information for Summer Afternoon Jazz, Amazon's "Better Together" ad urged me to buy both of these CDs. Don't do it unless you want two copies of the same thing.
But be sure you buy at least one copy. This is Phil Woods in his prime, backed up by the same quartet that was with him a year earlier when he won a Grammy award for his double-album set Live From The Showboat. Phil plays the horn the way it was meant to sound in the jazz idiom, rich and full across its whole range and at all dynamic levels. From lush ballads ("Last Night When We Were Young" and "Summer Afternoon") to up-tempo intensity ("Shaw `Nuff") and straight-ahead fun ("Change Partners" and "Monking Business"), that sound, and the technique and style behind it, never falter.
Phil shares the spotlight with his talented sidemen. Pianist Mike Melillo is all alone on "When My Dreams Come True," as is guitarist Harry Leahey on "Nuages."
The album is a bit short at just over 34 minutes, but all eight tracks are keepers.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Five star performance, one star reissue, July 24, 2009

By 

J. Douglas Benson (Maryland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Song for Sisyphus (Audio CD)

Like the other reviewers, I too grew up listening to this one. It is,in fact, one of my all time favorite jazz recordings, especially Harry Leahy's guitar solo of Django's "Nuages". So why only three stars? I had to split the difference.

This was originally released as a 'direct to disc' LP; an audiophile experiment that was fairly common in the seventies. This means it was mixed on-the-spot by engineers who cut it directly to a wax master, bypassing magnetic tape and offering the cleanest possible vinyl product. The sound was pure, natural and pristeen. The session was also simultaneously recorded on a multitrack tape recorder, where it was remixed by engineers using standard multitrack techniques. The 'multitrack' version is panned differently, processed differently using artificial reverb and effects, and has been run through some kind of a bass enhancement processor that would be more appropriate for Heavy Metal than for a jazz quintet. It is this later version that you'll find on this CD. To compare, I pulled out my old LP copy of 'Sisyphus' and made an A-B comparison with the CD. Even with 30+ year-old vinyl, the record sounded FAR FAR BETTER than this compact disc. I wish they had used the original studio mix for the reissue, rather than the 'tampered-with' version. I'll be transferring my LP to CD for future listening.