Live at the Public Theater (New York 1980)
| Live at the Public Theater (New York 1980) | ||||
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| Live album by Gil Evans | ||||
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Publication |
1980 |
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| Label (s) | Trio Records, Black-Hawk , Evidence, Storyville | |||
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Format (s) |
LP / CD |
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Title (number) |
6 & 5 |
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running time |
43:43 & 42:57 |
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| occupation | ||||
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Studio (s) |
Public Theater, New York City |
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Live at the Public Theater (New York 1980) is the title of two jazz albums by Gil Evans , recorded on February 8 and 9, 1980 in the New York Public Theater and first released on the Japanese label Trio Records . The recordings were also released on the Black-Hawk Records label and as a compact disc on Evidence and Storyville Records .
History and music of the album
After Gil Evans had barely found opportunities to perform for his band in the late 1970s, he worked with saxophonist Lee Konitz at the beginning of 1980 , with whom he also toured in Europe. The last orchestral album, Little Wing , was two years ago. In February 1980 there were two concert dates in New York's Public Theater , for which Evans put together his big band with 14 members. The performances should be recorded for the Japanese label Trio Records, which his keyboardist Masabumi Kikuchi had arranged.
In the Gil Evans Orchestra, in addition to the previous members Hannibal Marvin Peterson , Lew Soloff , Jon Faddis , George Lewis , Arthur Blythe and Pete Levin , Hamiet Bluiett (baritone saxophone), Tim Landers (bass), Alyrio Lima (percussion) and Billy Cobham ( Drums). The band repertoire included material the Evans band had played frequently in the 1970s, such as the Jimi Hendrix numbers Up from the Skies and Stone Free , the Charles Mingus composition Orange Was the Color of Her Dress Then Blue Silk and the Evans compositions Anita's Dance, Jelly Rolls and Zee Zee . Gil Evans had arranged two new titles for the concerts, his composition Alyrio , which he had dedicated to the new percussionist, and a song by Evans' long-time friend John Benson Brooks , the seldom played Sirhan's Blues . Although Evans himself plays the electric piano - though more tangibly than audibly, according to Scott Yanow - the two other keyboard players in the band, Masabumi Kikuchi and Pete Levin, dominate.
Reviews
Evans biographer Stephanie Stein Crease praised the recordings; Live at the Public Theater show "the game of the band on a fantastic level". Scott Yanow awarded the album three stars in Allmusic , praising that Gil Evans' great talent was his ability to bring various unique musicians together in a common ensemble. The highlights of the first album are the long piece Anita's Dance and the remake of Gone, Gone, Gone (from the Porgy and Bess album from 1958). Regarding the second album, Yanow notes that the end results would not really reflect the potential of this unique ensemble, even if there were an abundance of colorful moments.
Richard Cook and Brian Morton rated the album with only 2½ (out of four) stars and described it as “a work of transition with all the restrictions that result from it.” In general, the individual performances are good, but the enjoyment of this music is lacking; there is also a “lack of abstraction” that previous and later productions would not show.
List of titles
- Gil Evans: Live at the Public Theater (New York 1980) (Trio Records PAP-9233)
- Anita's Dance (Evans) - 17:05
- Jelly Rolls (Evans) - 4:44
- Alyrio (Evans) - 3:14
- Variations on the Misery (Evans) - 6:18
- Gone, Gone, Gone / Orgone ( George Gershwin ) - 7:44
- Up from the Skies (Jimi Hendrix) - 4:16
- Gil Evans: Live at the Public Theater (New York 1980), Vol. 2 (Trio Records PAP-25016)
- Copenhagen Sight (Evans) - 6:27
- Zee Zee (Evans) - 11:02
- Sirhan's Blues (Brooks) - 7:41
- Stone Free (Hendrix) - 14:14
- Orange Was the Color of Her Dress, Then Blue Silk (Mingus) - 9:33
literature
- Stephanie Stein Crease: Gil Evans: Out of the Cool - His life and music., 2002, Chicago, A Cappella Books / Chicago Review Press. ISBN 978-1-55652-493-6 .
Web links
- Review of Scott Yanow's album Mode for Joe at Allmusic (English). Retrieved September 11, 2011.
Remarks
- ↑ or as Live at the Public Theater Vol. 1 (New York 1980) (Black-Hawk BKH 525 or Storyville STCD 5003), Live at the Public Theater in New York, Vol. 1 (Evidence)
- ↑ or Live at the Public Theater Vol. 2 (New York 1980) (Black-Hawk or Storyville), Live at the Public Theater in New York, Vol. 1 (Evidence, published 1994)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Live at the Public Theater (New York 1980) at Discogs
- ↑ a b Stephanie Stein Crease, p. 300 ff.
- ^ Review of the album Live at the Public Theater Vol. 1 by Scott Yanow on Allmusic . Retrieved September 11, 2011.
- ^ Review of the album Live at the Public Theater Vol. 2 by Scott Yanow on Allmusic . Retrieved September 11, 2011.
- ^ Cook & Morton, Penguin Guide to Jazz, 6th edition, 2003. pp. 486 f.
- ↑ Album at Discogs