George Russell - Listen To The Silence (rec. 1971, orig. rel. 1973)

Back to George Russell with another commissioned work, this time for the 1971 Kongsberg Jazz Festival, and recorded at its live premiere performance (with some studio effects added later) on 21st June 1971, Kongsberg Church, Norway.  Taking some lines from Rainer Maria Rilke, Maurice Nicoll, Dee Brown and snippets from Newsweek and the New York Times for its libretto, Listen To The Silence is a choral work calling for two choirs as well as jazz ensemble.  

 

The chanting voices get things underway before Russell, Garbarek & co enter to drive the music forward, and the work continues in this manner with the church acoustics giving the stentorian vocal delivery a definite atmospheric boost.  The instrumental sections are frequently more minimal and stripped-down compared to Russell's other work of the era, but this works in favour of the overall stark mood, and makes the Garbarek-Rypdal section at the start of Event IV all the more outstanding.  Subtitled "A Mass For Our Time", Listen To The Silence might be a bit 'of its time' in subject matter, but it remains a captivating listening experience to this day.

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pw: sgtg

Previously posted at SGTG:

Electronic Sonata For Souls Loved By Nature

Trip To Prillarguri

Othello Ballet Suite

Vertical Event VI

George Russell Sextet feat. Jan Garbarek - Trip To Prillarguri (rec. 1970, rel. 1982)

More live recordings from George Russell and co taped at the Södertälje Estrad, this time back in March 1970 (although not released until 1982, when Soul Note took over their chunk of Russell's material).  This one's a belter - it may as well be Jan Garbarek's Esoteric Circle quartet from 1969 performing live with the addition of Russell on piano and Stanton Davis Jr on trumpet.  Three of the pieces here are Garbarek-penned, including two that appeared on the Esoteric Circle LP.  From Russell's catalogue we get themes from Souls Loved By Nature and the earlier classic Stratusphunk, plus a closing rendition of Ornette Coleman's Man On The Moon.  Electrifying stuff throughout, and a definite highlight in both Russell and Garbarek's discographies.

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pw: sgtg

Previously posted at SGTG:

Electronic Sonata For Souls Loved By Nature

Othello Ballet Suite

Vertical Event VI

George Russell - Electronic Sonata For Souls Loved By Nature (three recordings)

Electronic Sonata For Souls Loved By Nature is the signature work by jazz composer, theorist and pianist George Russell (1923-2009), presented today in no less than three different recordings.  Got hold of these in a Black Saint/Soul Note reissues box, so more Russell to come.  First up, The Essence Of George Russell, which may or may not contain the earliest recording of the Sonata: it's unfortunately the only thing lacking a recording year in the original double LP's notes.

First a drummer, George Russell's key contribution to jazz was as a music theorist championing the Lydian mode, which influenced everyone from Miles Davis and Gil Evans to the young Scandinavian musicians he'd work with on moving there in the 60s, many of whom would become ECM heavyweights.  Listening back to Terje Rypdal's Odyssey box set after hearing Russell is quite enlightening, for example, and it's Rypdal who is the guitarist on the "Essence" recording of Electronic Sonata For Souls Loved By Nature, the lineup also including Jan Garbarek, Arild Andersen and Jon Christensen (you can probably guess by now what drew me to the Russell box).  On the original "Essence" double LP there were two additional pieces making up side four - only one of these, the enjoyably wild Now And Then (recorded 1966), is included on the CD due to time restrictions.

Electronic Sonata For Souls Loved By Nature, then, is structured in 14 segued 'Events': some where propulsive basslines and funky drums drive it forward, and others where the rhythms fall away and Stockhausen-like taped sounds come to the fore, as well as African field recordings.  The writing for horns can be both tight and melodic and much freer, particularly when Garbarek takes the spotlight (Jan's credited as having a hand in composing some themes, presumably these spotlights).  Taken all together, it's a rich and rewarding immersion in early fusion, avant-garde but accessible jazz composition and judicious electronic/tape music integration.

This next recording, originally released on the Flying Dutchman label in 1971, is perhaps the best known.  Soul Note's later reissue added the "1968" to the album cover - I'm not certain why, as Russell's original liner notes state the recording was made at a concert near Oslo in April 1969.  Perhaps "1968" refers to composer revisions that year, e.g. the reduction to sextet -  the larger group of musicians is slimmed down to just the core lineup, who are the same other than Red Mitchell now playing bass rather than Andersen.  This version also ups the tempo in places compared to the "Essence" recording, the whole thing running under an hour compared to just over the hour mark on Essence. 

Russell revisited the Sonata for this 1980 version, recorded in an Italian studio in June of that year with mostly American musicians.  It's recognisably the same work, two continuous sides with seven Events apiece, so hasn't undergone any major compositional reworking.  The turn-of-the-80s studio fidelity does make the ingenuity of the writing and musicians' interplay come across clearer, so it's a worthwhile contrast to the other two recordings.

 

19?? recording (The Essence Of George Russell)

1968 recording

1980 recording

pw for all: sgtg

Garbarek, Rypdal, Stenson, Andersen, Christensen - Sart (1971)

Some more Terje Rypdal today, alongside an all-star cast of ECM legends on one of the label's most memorable releases from its formative years.  Sart is often regarded as a Jan Garbarek album overall, and indeed this is Disc 1 of the Garbarek box set that also covers Witchi Tai To and Dansere (links below), but really everyone in this quintet deserves their equal billing as per the album cover.

Most of side one is taken up by the title track, with Rypdal wah-ing it into gear as a post-Bitches Brew fusion exploration.  Garbarek is in full-on overblown free jazz mode, but Bobo Stenson's calmer piano keeps the track partly rooted in earlier post-bop traditions.  Fountain Of Tears finds Rypdal in even more avant-garde mode, sliding right up the guitar bridge as Garbarek and Stenson get in more fractured soloing.  A mellow ending sees Garbarek switching to flute.

Side two is introduced with a piano solo, and Stenson continues to sound sublime as Rypdal and Garbarek kick Sound Of Space into gear, both turning in great solo spots.  For the remainder of the album, short composing/playing spotlights for Andersen and Rypdal bookend another great group performance.  Essential early ECM at its finest.

link

pw: sgtg

Jan Garbarek at SGTG:
Afric Pepperbird (with Rypdal, Andersen & Christensen)
Triptykon (with Andersen)
Popofoni (with Stenson, Rypdal, Andersen & Christensen)

Witchi-Tai-To (with Stenson & Christensen)

Dansere (with Stenson & Christensen)
Solstice: Sounds And Shadows (with Christensen)
Sol De Meio Dia
Paths, Prints (with Christensen)
Song For Everyone
Making Music

Neighbourhood

Terje Rypdal - Odyssey In Studio & In Concert (2012 compi, rec. 1975-6)

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.

Original double-LP cover, 1975

Disc 1 link

Disc 2 link

Disc 3 link

pw for all: sgtg

 

Previously posted at SGTG:

Waves

Terje Rypdal featured on:

Afric Pepperbird

Popofoni

Satu

Nordic Quartet

The Sea

Terje Rypdal - Waves (1978)

Quintessential late-70s ECM from the label's legendary ice & fire Norwegian guitarist, Waves could almost be co-credited to Danish trumpeter Palle Mikkelborg, who made his first appearance alongside Rypdal here.  On opener Per Ulv, which would become one of Rypdal's most famous tunes, a Heart Of Glass-style rhythm machine introduces the guitarist's long, fluid meanderings before the track snaps back to a funky chorus led by Mikkelborg.  This pattern continues, making a memorable track of contrasts.  Karusell, the slower piece that follows, puts Mikkelborg in the spotlight, and he's even the writer of the strangely ominous circus-like Stenskoven that closes the album's first half.

On the title track, Rypdal re-establishes that this is still very much his record, painting eerie shapes on top of the bed of synths and fuzz bass from the great Sveinung Hovensjø, before Rypdal and Mikkelborg's lines start to weave around each other.  The Dain Curse moves the energy up several notches for the toughest funk on the album, before the synths come back for closing track Charisma.  It's not a full-on mellow out to end this great record, as Rypdal has plenty of soaring, razor-sharp lines still to put out there.  Highly recommended from start to finish.

link
pw: sgtg

Various Artists (incl. Jan Garbarek Quartet) - Popofoni (1973)

Anyone watching the Åpen Post show on Norwegian TV on 6th March 1969 (which I doubt will include any readers here, but you never know -YouTube link, sorry no subtitles) would've caught a fascinating, bizarre debate about pop music/popular culture vs. classical music/high art.  The programme caught the attention of Arne Nordheim, previously featured on these pages here, and of the Ny Musikk organisation and the Henie-Onstad arts centre.

The plan was hatched (in an uncanny precedent for Ode To Marilyn) to get hold of some prime Nordic musicians - step forward Jan Garbarek, Bobo Stenson, Arild Andersen, Jon Christensen and Terje Rypdal - and have them collaborate with some of Norway's foremost modern composers to produce music that would represent a meeting point between popular music and the avant-garde.  Arne Nordheim, Alfred Janson, Gunnar Sønstevold, Kåre Kolberg and the soon-to-be ECM-ers, plus additional musicians, duly obliged, and a concert of the results was held in April 1970.  Three years later, this limited-edition double album emerged as a document of the project, which had been titled Popofoni.

The six tracks here are certainly fascinating, essential listening, especially if you're familiar with early ECM classics like Afric Pepperbird / Sart / Rypdal's debut.  Imagine these records with a whole extra layer of avant-garde composition/production over the top, and that's pretty much what Popofoni sounds like.

The 20-minute opener Arnold, composed by Gunnar Sønstevold, is a free jazz groove with echo-laden vocals wafting over the top, and occasional organ and tape effects.  Nordheim's two tracks that follow are even better works in the same vein, with the eerie collage of Solar Plexus (his first response to the TV debate) ending in a scratchy, sampled dance orchestra, a hail of gunfire then an emptying sink (or toilet?).  The second disc is dominated by Alfred Janson's 25-minute Valse Triste, where the jazz musicians veer between free playing and lounge pastiche, feeling their way towards the eventual schlager payoff, whilst spoken samples of the TV debate pepper the sonic landscape.  Kåre Kolberg's Blow Up Your Dreams is a more succinct attempt at stretching a conventional song (sung by Karin Krog) to fit an avant-garde frame, and as a closer we get a brief Rypdal composition in which he plays flute rather than guitar.  An utterly essential collection.

Original double-LP cover

Disc 1
Disc 2
pw: sgtg

Surman / Krog / Rypdal / Storaas - Nordic Quartet (rec. 1994, rel. 1995)

Another of ECM's more daring and slightly strange get-togethers - in other words, a perfect fit for this blog.  In August 1994, legendary Norwegian jazz singer Karin Krog got together with on-and-off collaborator John Surman and Norse colleagues Terje Rypdal and Vigleik Storaas.  I haven't heard pianist Storaas anywhere else as yet, and he's a fine understated presence on this reed and guitar dominated set.

Rypdal's billowing guitar is in fact all over the album like malignant, brooding Scandi-noir oppressive weather.  This led some reviewers to criticise how much he dominates - obviously not a problem if, like me, you can't enough of Rypdal's playing.  You'd never guess this album was a summer recording, as Surman too is in bleak, chilly mode; even without that perfect cover photograph this is a full-on zero-degrees experience.  Over the top of all of this, Krog coos and whispers ominously like the cool-headed Nordic detective who's just about to uncover something atrocious on those snowy docks.

link

Bjørnstad / Darling / Rypdal / Christensen - The Sea (1995)

I've still got tons of 90s ECM to discover.  By the middle of that decade, an increasingly prolific release schedule saw Manfred Eicher's portfolio diversify more than ever into modern (and not so modern) composed music, world music, American and European jazz, and various hybrids of all of the above.  The Sea is one of the 'hybrid' ones - it's certainly not jazz - and it's an outstanding jewel in this era of ECM.

Norweigan pianist Ketil Bjørnstad captains us through this voyage in his simple, understated style.  More muso listeners sometimes dismiss Bjørnstad as a facile composer and techincally deficient pianist, but he sounds great to me - and people don't criticise the likes of Harold Budd for only playing a few notes (or do they?).  Anyway, as soon as we've left shore it's clear that we're not in for a bucolic, fairweather journey.  Cellist David Darling paints an overcast, gathering sky throughout, and ECM "house drummer" Jon Christensen supplies the rain by sticking mostly to cymbals, with the occasional distant rumble of thunder. Beneath these unforgiving skies, the sea itself is only periodically calm as Terje Rypdal whips up squall after squall of choppy, rocky waves of overdriven guitar.

It's often said that this album is a tad overlong, and to be fair it is 75 minutes of music in very similar textural terrain.  Helpfully, Parts I-VI are a neat 45 minutes in length, and VII-XII a compact half-hour: I've often dug this album out and just listened to half of it at a time.  If you're in the mood for it though, just go the distance and stay on board for the whole trip - there's nothing quite like it. (Well, other than 'The Sea II'(1998) by the same quartet, which I haven't heard yet but is very much on my to-do list.)

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Jan Garbarek Quartet - Afric Pepperbird (1970)

Another gem from my favourite jazz label, this time one of its earliest (only the seventh to be released), and for my money its first masterpiece. All four of these eventual ECM mainstays - Jan Garbarek, Terje Rypdal, Arild Andersen and Jon Christensen - make their debut appearance on the label here, recording a bracing but surprisingly accessible set of four lengthy pieces and four minatures.

Garbarek was still in thrall to Albert Ayler at this early stage in his career, and there's plenty of free jazz blowing around here. Scarabee, however, opens the album subtly with the beginnings of the tone that Garbarek would become known for, with just the occasional skronk, surrounded by twinkling percussion.  Eventually he lets rip, but the track as a whole still leaves lots of space, not least thanks to Christensen supplying a rock-solid foundation.  Beast of Kommodo, the album's longest track, shows off Garbarek's versatility as a reedsman, while Terje Rypdal sticks to one insistent riff until eventually getting an almost bluesy solo, in contrast to his later, more identifiable style.

On Side 2, both Blow Away Zone and the title track start out with Garbarek and Rypdal playing in unison.  On the former, Rypdal goes on to make striking use of a slide up at the bridge of his guitar.  Meanwhile Garbarek is at his freeest, with his 60s free jazz influences clearly on display, sounding more than once like a train whistle on its way from Oslo straight to Valhalla.  Afric Pepperbird itself settles into a swampy groove, with Rypdal breaking out the wah pedal.  All in all, a highly recommended early high water mark from a unique label starting to stake out its territory.

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P.S. check out this quartet in concert from a year later!

Edward Vesala - Satu (1977)

Vesala's follow-up to Nan Madol might only have one lengthy (14 minute) track this time, with all its other tracks being in the 6-7 minute ballpark, but Satu is no less bracing or engrossing an album.  This one is also a bit harder-edged than its predecessor, cranking up the volume courtesy of ECM stalwart Terje Rypdal, whose lightning streaks of Fender Strat make Star Flight particularly memorable.  My personal favourite jazz trumpeter Tomasz Stanko is on fine form as well, building on the chemistry he'd already worked up with Vesala on Stanko's albums Balladyna  and Twet, which are both essential.  Will post some Stanko in a wee while.

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P.S. couldn't resist posting this picture of Vesala looking like a total boss.