Kimiko Kasai With Gil Evans Orchestra Sacd

Jimi Hendrix was scheduled to record with Gil Evans' Orchestra but died before the session could take place. A few years later, Evans explored ten of Hendrix's compositions with his unique 19-piece unit, an orchestra that included two French horns, the tuba of Howard Johnson, three guitars, two basses, two percussionists and such soloists as altoist David Sanborn, trumpeter Marvin "Hannibal" Peterson, Billy Harper on tenor, and guitarists Ryo Kawasaki and John Abercrombie. Evans' arrangements uplift many of Hendrix's more blues-oriented compositions and create a memorable set that is rock-oriented but retains the improvisation and personality of jazz.

For fans of Gil Evans, Miles Davis & Jazz! Monday Nights is not only the first studio recording of the Gil Evans Orchestra in over forty years, it also offers some of the most audacious and electrifying music of the new millennium. The late Gil Evans was one of the most respected orchestrators in jazz history and his fabled collaborations with Miles Davis, including Birth of the Cool, Sketches of Spain and Porgy and Bess, set the gold standard for modern jazz arranging. Accordingly, Evans played a key role in the development of cool jazz, modal jazz, free jazz and jazz fusion.

By the 1980's, Gil Evans orchestra's repertoire was a distinctive blend of Hendrix tunes, original pieces from band members and the occasional nod to Gil's earlier recordings. The set at Hamburg includes four songs from the Hendrix book, although just one of these ("Up From The Skies") was part of the original studio album. Regular appearances in Europe meant that the band had now acquired a younger following, such as many in the audience at Fabrik, one well accustomed to its rock-referent concerts. A year and a half after the concert at Fabrik, Gil Evans passed away in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Quite rightly he'll always be remembered for recording those brilliant, luminous albums with Miles Davis and under his own name, but he had, in fact, led at least three contrasting musical lives. His final years saw him directing his band at a regular Monday night gig at Sweet Basil, New York, so it's fitting that we now have this recording from Hamburg, one that serves as a memorial to his free-spirited later days. With an All Star Musicians Cast.

Out of the Cool, released in 1961, was the first recording Gil Evans issued after three straight albums with Miles Davis - Sketches of Spain being the final one before this. Evans had learned much from Davis about improvisation, instinct, and space (the trumpeter learned plenty, too, especially about color, texture, and dynamic tension). Evans orchestrates less here, instead concentrating on the rhythm section built around Elvin Jones, Charlie Persip, bassist Ron Carter, and guitarist Ray Crawford. The maestro in the piano chair also assembled a crack horn section for this date, with Ray Beckinstein, Budd Johnson, and Eddie Caine on saxophones, trombonists Jimmy Knepper, Keg Johnson, and bass trombonist Tony Studd, with Johnny Coles and Phil Sunkel on trumpet, Bill Barber on tuba, and Bob Tricarico on flute, bassoon, and piccolo…