The Individualism of Gil Evans
Encyclopedia
The Individualism of Gil Evans is an album by pianist, conductor, arranger and composer Gil Evans
originally released on the Verve
label in 1964. It features Evans' big band
arrangements of five original compositions (two co-written with Miles Davis
) and compositions by Kurt Weill
, Bob Dorough
, John Lewis
and Willie Dixon
. Tracks 1, 6, 7, 8 & 9 first appeared on the CD version of the album.
awarded the album 4 stars stating "Highly recommended to Gil Evans fans; it is a pity he did not record more during this era.".
Gil Evans
Gil Evans was a jazz pianist, arranger, composer and bandleader, active in the United States...
originally released on the Verve
Verve Records
Verve Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records and Norgran Records , and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.-Jazz and folk origins:The Verve...
label in 1964. It features Evans' big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
arrangements of five original compositions (two co-written with Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
) and compositions by Kurt Weill
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
, Bob Dorough
Bob Dorough
Bob Dorough is an American bebop and cool jazz pianist, composer and vocalese singer.He worked with Miles Davis and Allen Ginsberg, and his adventurous style was an influence on Mose Allison, among other singers...
, John Lewis
John Lewis (pianist)
John Aaron Lewis was an American jazz pianist and composer best known as the musical director of the Modern Jazz Quartet.- Early life:...
and Willie Dixon
Willie Dixon
William James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
. Tracks 1, 6, 7, 8 & 9 first appeared on the CD version of the album.
Reception
The Allmusic review by Scott YanowScott Yanow
Scott Yanow is an American jazz commentator, known for many contributions to the Allmusic website, for writing ten books on jazz and for reviewing jazz recordings for over 30 years.-Biography:...
awarded the album 4 stars stating "Highly recommended to Gil Evans fans; it is a pity he did not record more during this era.".
Track listing
- "Time of the Barracudas" (DavisMiles DavisMiles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
, EvansGil EvansGil Evans was a jazz pianist, arranger, composer and bandleader, active in the United States...
) - 7:26 - " The Barbara Song" (BrechtBertolt BrechtBertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
, WeillKurt WeillKurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
) - 9:59 - "Las Vegas Tango" - 6:35
- "Flute Song/Hotel Me (Davis, Evans) - 12:29
- "El Toreador" - 3:26
- "Proclamation" - 3:55
- "Nothing Like You" (DoroughBob DoroughBob Dorough is an American bebop and cool jazz pianist, composer and vocalese singer.He worked with Miles Davis and Allen Ginsberg, and his adventurous style was an influence on Mose Allison, among other singers...
, LandesmanFran LandesmanFran Landesman was an American lyricist and poet.-Early life:Born Frances Deitsch in New York City, her father was a dress manufacturer, her mother was a journalist...
) - 2:36 - "Concorde" (LewisJohn Lewis (pianist)John Aaron Lewis was an American jazz pianist and composer best known as the musical director of the Modern Jazz Quartet.- Early life:...
) - 7:39 - "Spoonful" (DixonWillie DixonWilliam James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
) - 13:46
- All songs written by Gil Evans, except as indicated.
- Recorded at A&R Studios, New York in September, 1963; at Webster HallWebster HallWebster Hall is a nightclub located at 125 East 11th Street, between Third and Fourth Avenues, near Astor Place, in Manhattan, New York City. Built in 1886, its current incarnation was opened by the Ballinger Brothers in 1992...
, New York on April 6 and May 25, 1964; and at Van Gelder's Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New JerseyEnglewood Cliffs, New JerseyEnglewood Cliffs is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 census, the borough population was 5,281. The borough houses the world headquarters of CNBC and the American headquarters of Unilever, and is home to both Ferrari and Maserati North America.Englewood Cliffs...
on July 9 and October 29, 1964.
- Recorded at A&R Studios, New York in September, 1963; at Webster Hall
Personnel
- Gil EvansGil EvansGil Evans was a jazz pianist, arranger, composer and bandleader, active in the United States...
- piano, arranger - Johnny ColesJohnny ColesJohnny Coles was an American jazz trumpeter.Coles spent his early career playing with R&B groups, including those of Eddie Vinson , Bull Moose Jackson , and Earl Bostic...
- trumpet (Solo) - Thad JonesThad JonesThaddeus Joseph Jones was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader.-Biography:Thad Jones was born in Pontiac, Michigan to a musical family of ten . Thad Jones was a self taught musician, performing professionally by the age of sixteen...
- trumpet - Ernie RoyalErnie RoyalErnest Andrew Royal was a jazz trumpeter.His older brother was clarinetist and alto saxophonist Marshal Royal, with whom he appears on the classic Ray Charles big band recording The Genius of Ray Charles .He began in Los Angeles as a member of Les Hite's Orchestra in 1937...
- trumpet - Bernie GlowBernie GlowBernie Glow was a trumpet player who specialized in jazz and commercial lead trumpet from the 1940s to 1970s....
- trumpet - Louis Mucci - trumpet
- Jimmy KnepperJimmy KnepperJames M. Knepper was an American jazz trombonist.He was a good friend and arranging/transcribing partner of bassist and composer Charles Mingus. Knepper was twice on the receiving end of Mingus' legendary temper...
- trombone - Frank RehakFrank RehakFrank Rehak was a jazz trombonist.Rehak, one of the finest bop players of the fifties and sixties, first came to fame in 1949, when he joined Gene Krupa’s Orchestra along with fellow trombonist Frank Rosolino...
- trombone - Jimmy ClevelandJimmy ClevelandJimmy Cleveland was an American jazz trombone born in Wartrace, Tennessee.Cleveland worked with many well-known jazz musicians, including Lionel Hampton, Miles Davis, Sarah Vaughan, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Quincy Jones, Lucky Thompson, Gigi Gryce, Oscar Peterson, Oscar Pettiford and James Brown...
- trombone (Solo) - Tony Studd - trombone
- Bill BarberBill BarberWilliam Charles Barber is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward who played twelve seasons for the Philadelphia Flyers in the National Hockey League . As part of the famed LCB line, Barber helped lead the Flyers to the franchise's two Stanley Cups in 1974 and 1975...
- tuba - Wayne ShorterWayne ShorterWayne Shorter is an American jazz saxophonist and composer.He is generally acknowledged to be jazz's greatest living composer, and many of his compositions have become standards...
- tenor sax (Solo) - Phil WoodsPhil WoodsPhilip Wells Woods is an American jazz bebop alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader and composer.-Biography:...
- alto sax (Solo) - Eric DolphyEric DolphyEric Allan Dolphy was an American jazz alto saxophonist, flutist, and bass clarinetist. On a few occasions he also played the clarinet and baritone saxophone. Dolphy was one of several multi-instrumentalists to gain prominence in the 1960s...
- woodwinds (flute, bass clarinet, alto sax) - Steve LacySteve LacySteve Lacy , born Steven Norman Lackritz in New York City, was a jazz saxophonist and composer recognized as one of the important players of soprano saxophone....
- soprano sax - Jerome RichardsonJerome RichardsonJerome Richardson was an American jazz musician, tenor saxophonist, and flute player, who also played alto sax, baritone sax, clarinet and piccolo...
- reeds, woodwinds - Bob Tricarico - reeds, woodwinds
- Al Block - woodwinds (flute solo)
- Garvin BushellGarvin BushellGarvin Bushell was an American woodwind multi-instrumentalist.Though never a major name in jazz, Bushell had a lengthy career from the music's early era, to the avant garde of the 1960s.-Biography:Bushell was born in Springfield, Ohio...
- reeds, woodwinds - Andy Fitzgerald - reeds, woodwinds
- George Marge - reeds, woodwinds
- Julius WatkinsJulius WatkinsJulius Watkins was an American jazz musician, and one of the first jazz French horn players. He won the Down Beat critics poll in 1960 and 1961 for "miscellaneous instrument" with French horn named as the instrument....
- french horn - Gil Cohen - french horn
- Don Corado - french horn
- Bob NorthernBob NorthernRobert "Bob" Northern , known professionally as Brother Ah, is an American jazz French hornist.Born in North Carolina and raised in The Bronx, Northern studied at the Manhattan School of Music and at the Vienna State Academy in the 1950s...
- french horn - Jimmy Buffington - french horn
- Ray Alonge - french horn
- Harry LookofskyHarry LookofskyHarry Lookofsky was an American jazz violinist. He is also the father of keyboardist-songwriter Michael Brown, a member of The Left Banke.-History:...
- tenor violin - Bob Maxwell - harp
- Margaret Ross - harp
- Kenny BurrellKenny BurrellKenneth Earl "Kenny" Burrell is an American jazz guitarist. His playing is grounded in bebop and blues; he has performed and recorded with a wide range of jazz musicians.-Biography:...
- guitar - Barry GalbraithBarry GalbraithJoseph Barry Galbraith was an American jazz guitarist.Galbraith moved to New York City from Vermont early in the 1940s and found work playing with Babe Russin, Art Tatum, Red Norvo, Hal McIntyre, and Teddy Powell...
- guitar - Gary PeacockGary PeacockGary Peacock is an American jazz double-bassist.-Biography:After military service in Germany, in the early sixties he worked on the west coast with Barney Kessel, Bud Shank, Paul Bley and Art Pepper, then moved to New York. He worked there with Bley, the Bill Evans trio , and Albert Ayler's trio...
- bass - Ron CarterRon CarterRon Carter is an American jazz double-bassist. His appearances on over 2,500 albums make him one of the most-recorded bassists in jazz history, along with Milt Hinton, Ray Brown and Leroy Vinnegar. Carter is also an acclaimed cellist who has recorded numerous times on that...
- bass - Paul ChambersPaul ChambersPaul Laurence Dunbar Chambers, Jr. was a jazz bassist. A fixture of rhythm sections during the 1950s and 1960s, his importance in the development of jazz bass can be measured not only by the length and breadth of his work in this short period but also his impeccable time, intonation, and virtuosic...
- bass - Richard Davis - bass
- Ben Tucker - bass
- Milt HintonMilt HintonMilton John "Milt" Hinton , "the dean of jazz bass players," was an American jazz double bassist and photographer. He was nicknamed "The Judge".-Biography:...
- bass - Elvin JonesElvin JonesElvin Ray Jones was a jazz drummer of the post-bop era. He showed interest in drums at a young age, watching the circus bands march by his family's home in Pontiac, Michigan....
- drums - Osie JohnsonOsie JohnsonJames "Osie" Johnson was a jazz drummer.He first worked with Sabby Lewis and then, after service in the United States Navy freelanced for a time in Chicago...
- drums