George Russell - Othello Ballet Suite / Electronic Organ Sonata No.1 (1970)

Some more George Russell from his Scandinavian period, with Jan Garbarek making the album cover as featured soloist.  The "Othello Ballet Suite" was commissioned by Norwegian television, and this recording made by Radio Sweden in November 1967.  Othello offers just under half an hour of Russell's intricate 'vertical form' compositional style and funky arrangements.  It occasionally suggests a sort of long-form Mingus composition to my ears - complete with what sounds like little teases of Better Git It In Your Soul as a recurring theme.  All great players, including some nice skronky spots for Garbarek to cut loose, and Russell's sextet are backed by the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra.

The album, originally released in 1970 by Flying Dutchman, is filled out by a solo organ piece improvised by Russell on an Oslo church organ in October 1968.  This basic recording was then manipulated at the electronic music studio of Radio Sweden, giving it much more avant-garde textures and making for a fascinating closer on the album.

link

pw: sgtg

Previously posted at SGTG: Electronic Sonata For Souls Loved By Nature

Charles Mingus - The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady (1963)

Simply Mingus the composer and arranger at his absolute pinnacle.  Maybe some aficionados of Let My Children Hear Music, or even Ah Um, would disagree?  For me though, even those don't come close to the perfection of writing, arranging, great grooves and deeply felt soul of this January 1963 recording.  With possibly the first use of overdubs on a jazz record too (anyone know any different?), The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady hit a new level of sonic sophistication that still leaps out of the speakers/headphones today.

Each track title is basically a dance notation, as this album was written as a ballet of sorts, if never performed as such - Solo Dancer, Duet Solo Dancers, Group Dancers etc - and the lengthy subtitles are where the clues are to Mingus' intentions lay for what he was expressing in the music.  So the album opens with, to give it its full title, Track A - Solo Dancer: Stop! Look ! And Listen, Sinner Jim Whitey! (or is it Whitney? spellings vary across different pressings).  In this track, as Mingus' psychotherapist Dr Edmund Pollock (yup, he was asked to review the music) notes in the liner, Charlie Mariano's alto sax solo acts as "a voice calling to others and saying "I am alone, please, please join me!" as the orchestral themes swirl around it.

There's a lot going on here, then, but this album shouldn't necessarily be regarded as 'difficult Mingus' - it's really not.  There's achingly gorgeous melody and harmony everywhere, repeated themes, and great grooves.  Only the side-long track that contains parts D through F takes a few goes to properly navigate, but it's a stunning achievement in orchestral jazz that's hugely satisfying once you get used to it.  Little interludes are provided for things like Mingus' piano, and Jay Berliner (who I only knew from Astral Weeks before I heard this album) playing bits of Spanish guitar, to evoke "the period of the Spanish Inquisition, and El Greco's mood of oppressive poverty and death".  Yes, there's weighty themes here, much of it Mingus' reflection of the Black American experience, but there's much joy too.  To finish, and to sum up the album really, here's the full title of the final section: Of Love, Pain, and Promised Revolt, Then Farewell, My Beloved, 'Til It's Freedom Day.

link