Carla Bley - Escalator Over The Hill (1971)

A jazz-rock/Weill-esque opera/Indian-influenced avant-garde behemoth, complete on three LPs and later two CDs, four years in the making, from Carla Bley (composer), Paul Haines (librettist), and a cast of dozens of voices and musicians.  So much has been written about EOTH over the years that it's difficult to think what to add.  Perhaps the hundred-odd minutes of inspired insanity contained in this major labour of love are best just jumped straight in to, so here goes.

The thirteen-minute overture sits nicely alongside Bley's other work of the era in its dramatic, portentous sweep.  Then a swirl of "phantom" voices, tape effects and organ introduce the first characters, with Warhol star Viva acting as narrator throughout.  As an 'opera' (or rather, "chronotransduction"), Haines' text is so void of narrative logic it might as well be Einstein On The Beach - all that can be gleaned from the libretto is that it loosely concerns the inhabitants of a dilapidated hotel.  These include a couple named Ginger and David, who are voiced at certain points by a pre-solo fame Linda Ronstadt, and the singer from Manfred Mann who I grew up knowing as Uncle Jack.  Other voices include the musicians, such as Don Preston and Jack Bruce, as well as Bley/Mantler's daughter Karen Mantler making her debut on record, then about five years old.

The musical pieces then vary in length from under a minute to several, taking in more mind-blowing big band arrangements, small-group explosions with stinging lead guitar (check out John McLaughlin on Businessmen), gloomy piano with free-jazz skronk attacks, and more.  Eventually, the music reaches its absolute summit in the stretch corresponding to the third LP in the original box set.  A.I.R. (All India Radio) would soon be covered by Jan Garbarek among others; here it is in its original version.  The epic Rawalpindi Blues takes in more McLaughlin brilliance amid a coming together of the "Traveling Band" and the "Hotel Band", and if that wasn't enough, it gets a just-as-good nine minute coda.  One more short piece leads in to the stunning finale, which after eight and a half minutes (on record) ran into a lock-groove - on CD, this loop of humming drone plays out for nearly 19 minutes, then has a final snippet of calliope music as a 'hidden track'.  In a way, this is the ideal ending to a truly unique musical experience.

Disc 1 link

Disc 2 link

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Carla Bley at SGTG:

A Genuine Tong Funeral

The Jazz Composer's Orchestra

Fleur Carnivore

Appearing Nightly

Trios

Allan Holdsworth - Road Games (1983)

Finally got hold of something by the erstwhile Gong guitarist whose unique style I've been enjoying so much on their post-Daevid Allen records.  It's not much - a 24-minute mini-album - but it's a start.  Road Games came to be from Eddie Van Halen enthusing to Warner Bros about how much he loved Allan Holdsworth's playing.  It would be a short-lived stint at the corporate behemoth - Holdsworth and producer Ted Templeman didn't get on, and the maverick guitarist broke free of his contract shortly afterwards for pastures new.  Road Games, however, is still pretty damn good.

A top-flight jazz fusion trio was established with Zappa drummer Chad Wackerman and Bruford bassist Jeff Berlin, both of whom Holdsworth knew and liked.  Three of the six tracks also added vocals: Bluesbreakers/Juicy Lucy singer Paul Williams, who also worked with Holdsworth on either side of Road Games, sings the title track, and Jack Bruce is featured on the last two songs.  As fine as their contributions are, Road Games is really all about the music created by the core trio. 

Opening track Three Sheets To The Wind starts out with a clean, Metheny-esque chiming tone, but soon Holdsworth's overdubbed lead lines start to cook, showing just why someone like Van Halen would've admired him.  The title track is more of a straightahead rocker, and although the guitar solos are great, I much prefer the jazzier stuff, like Water On The Brain Pt. 2 (there's no Part 1) which follows, or the more laidback Tokyo Dream, which really lets Holdsworth stretch out.  If you want to listen to a really great and underrated guitarist, there's far worse ways to spend 20-odd minutes.

Original 12" cover

link
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Previously posted on SGTG:
Gong - Gazeuse!
Gong - Expresso II