Finishing up this little box set of George Russell's incredible music with the composer firmly focused on his New York Big Band, who we heard in their initial incarnation last time. Only a couple of members from that group remained by the time of this recording at the end of July 1982, and the lineup here's as strong as any Russell band. Just three long pieces: taking up all of the album's first half is Time Spiral, a Swedish Radio commission written in 1979. Starting from mellow electric piano, it boils over more than once into a funk monster with plenty of scorching solo spots. The rest of the album digs into Russell's rich back catalogue all the way to the late 40s, in a barnstroming Ezz-Thetic, and early 60s for D.C. Divertimento which gets a groove-smoking makeover. Tons of fun from a firey ensemble.
pw: sgtg
The rest of the "Complete Black Saint & Soul Note" box set:
Fabulous! Thanks for all the George Russell stuff, very interesting all of them and demanding multiple listens to fully grasp all the intricacies.
ReplyDeletethanks for this. his electronic stuff was super interesting, and i can only imagine this stuff will be too.
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