Double-album (and much more) that may just be Terje Rypdal's crowning achievement. The Odyssey band was put together at a time when the Norwegian guitarist's playing, writing and arranging had become increasingly adventurous, synthesisng influences from George Russell and György Ligeti to come up with something truly unique.
With a quintet lineup that included trombone, organ, synth and soprano sax (the last two played by Rypdal), Odyssey the album bears only a glancing similarity to the general jazz fusion strains of the 70s. For the most part, its 87 minutes are spent in a weightless, floating atmosphere, Rydal's guitar lines gliding over the top of glowing organ, synth and accompanied at times by the trombone and sax. Only on a couple of occasions does it actually take definite rhythmic shape and pulse with forward momentum, most notably on the 23-minute epic Rolling Stone that ends the album. And due to the album's length, for a long time the single-disc CD that was reissued didn't even include this closing track.
Eventually, in 2012 ECM gave Odyssey the 'Old & New Masters' box set treatment, with the original double album complete across Discs 1 & 2. But that's not all - Disc 3 contains over an hour of previously unreleased music in the Unfinished Highballs suite. Commissioned for Swedish Radio, and featuring the Odyssey band in collaboration with the 15-piece Swedish Radio Jazz Group, this is incredible music that does owe more to regular jazz, but still has Rypdal's unconventional signatures all over it. One piece from the suite would be reworked by Rypdal for a subsequent album: Dine And Dance To The Music Of The Waves became simply Waves (see link below for that album). The rest of the music went unheard until 2012, and now stands as another high point in Rypdal's output, not least the wondrous groove of Dawn, one of four central tracks to top the 10 minute mark. Very highly recommended.
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| Original double-LP cover, 1975 |
Disc 2 link
Disc 3 link
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Previously posted at SGTG:
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