The Jazz Workshop

Occupation

The Jazz Workshop - George Russell, and The Jazz Workshop - The George Russell Smalltet was the debut album of the composer, arranger and percussionist George Russell. It originated in three recording sessions with partially different occupations from March 31 to December 21, 1956 in New York City. The record was released in 1957 on RCA Victor in the series The Jazz Workshop, and The RCA Victor Jazz Workshop.

The album

The modern jazz in the mid-1950s was divided into two camps, Steve Ellman wrote in the liner notes for the CD release of the album. Some of the musicians formed the hard bop camp to Horace Silver and Art Blakey, the other, by Lennie Tristano to Gerry Mulligan, the harmonic innovations of bebop and cool jazz developed further; to them was the composer George Russell, who was in a musical interaction with the ideas of Miles Davis, Lee Konitz and Teddy Charles, but was also influenced by the composer Duke Ellington. His Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization for Improvisation, which he had set down in writing at the beginning of the 1950s, became the source for the modal jazz of Miles Davis and John Coltrane.

Russell became known in 1956 for his collaboration with Gil Evans, Dizzy Gillespie, John Lewis and Charles Mingus. For first recordings under his own name, he had already found his musical language. The label RCA Victor launched at this time a series entitled The Jazz Workshop ( also Mingus called the mid-1950s his projects similar to Jazz Composers Workshop ), in which, inter alia, the debut album by alto saxophonist Hal McKusick was published, which is also at the first session was in from Russell. The Jazz Workshop - George Russell was the first album of modern jazz that was recorded under the direction of a composer who not acted as a performing musician; Russell was heard only in " Fellow Delegates " as a percussionist.

The first recording session took place on 31 March; George Russell's " Smalltet " consisted of Art Farmer, Bill Evans, guitarist Barry Galbraith, bassist Milt Hinton and drummer Joe Harris. Four titles were recorded, " Ye Hypocrite, Ye Beelzebub ," " Jack 's Blues ", " Livingstone I Presume " and strongly influenced by Tristano " Ezz - Thetic " (based on the chords of " Love for Sale " ), the Lee Konitz had in 1951 played with Miles Davis and was to Russell meistgespieltem piece. Barry Galbraith was here the harmonic skeleton, Bill Evans played a long solo.

For his second studio session on 17 October, incurred in the four other titles came for drummers Harris added the young Paul Motian. Were recorded "Round Johnny Rondo ", " Witch Hunt ", the elements from the play " Jumpin 'with Symphony Sid " picks up the evocative title "Night Sound" with associations of Bela Bartók and Chopin, the swinging " Concerto for Billy the Kid ". On the dedicated to him, " Concerto for Billy the Kid" played Evans (similar as in " Ezz - Thetic " ) an outstanding solo, but also Art Farmer and Hal McKusick came chance to speak. The "Concerto", which is greatly influenced by motives of the composer Aaron Copland, thus came to a climax in the work of the young pianist Bill Evans, who had taken a month before his debut album, New Jazz Conceptions with Motian. Russell was the "Concerto " play again at the next session in December. Later it served as a prelude to his composition "All About Rosie ".

In the third and final studio session on December 21, 1956 replaced Teddy Kotick Milt Hinton; Osie Johnson was added for Motian. Were recorded two versions of " Ballad of Hix Blewitt " (mono or stereo ), at the McKusick plays the flute, " The Sad Sergeant ", " Knights of the Steam Table " and the stereo recording of " Concerto for Billy the Kid". Most extraordinary piece of the December meeting was probably the atmospheric " Fellow delegates ," played at the Russell chromatically tuned drums ( Boobams ); Steve Ellman shows that it is the only recorded drum solo by the composer.

Album Review

Mátyás Kiss wrote in 1999 in his review for the journal Rondo: " The in those years strained by Mingus and various RCA artists term" Jazz Workshop "was sometimes a mere excuse for half-baked - different here: Russell swinging put forward, melodically appealing work pieces have times and fashions survived shiny. "

The Boston critics Steve Ellman points out in the liner notes that the Jazz Workshop album was the start of a promising career. Russell was a virtuoso here, not at the keys of a piano or the drums, but with his thought and work: his soloists appeared in unusual places; the ensemble sound it ignores the size of the six-member Smalltet. Russell play the group with safe hands and ears awake, he was so skilled that the prescribed passages sound as spontaneous as the solos. Even after hearing hundertmaligem Russell compositions have the power of surprise.

The authors Richard Cook and Brian Morton, who awarded the album the highest rating, keep the album - in addition to the resulting Ezz - thetics 1961 ( Riverside Records) - for a very good introduction to the music of Russell. Allmusic gave the album the second highest Rating: four and a half stars.

Ian Carr called the album in the Rough Guide to Jazz as one of the most important in the discography of the composer; it contained " twelve wonderfully composed title "; Russell Smalltet was a " brilliant group do with their individual playing the album one of the most dynamic jazz albums of all time; Bill Evans ' solos in the two takes of Concerto for Billy the Kid are great. "

The music magazine Jazzwise recorded the album in the list The 100 Jazz Albums That Shook the World; Duncan Heining wrote:

The title

The Jazz Workshop - George Russell (RCA Victor LPM 1372 ) All compositions are by George Russell

George Russell (composer) Record label Genre John Lewis (Pianist) Love for Sale (song) Frédéric Chopin Richard Cook (journalist) Brian Morton (Scottish writer) Rhythm Oliver Nelson Digby Fairweather Brian Priestley Al Cohn Billy Byers
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