Elegant

Stanley Turrentine, The Three Sounds - Elegant Soul (1968) + Blue Hour. The Complete Sessions [2CD] (1960) {Blue Note}
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© 2000, 2008 Blue Note / Capitol | 5 22286 2 / 5 24586 2 | 24-bit remaster
Jazz / Hard Bop / Soul Jazz

After the release of Coldwater Flat five months earlier, Three Sounds pianist Gene Harris and bassist Andy Simpkins found themselves faced with yet another personnel change: Donald Bailey, who'd been with group for only two albums, left the group (after replacing founding drummer Bill Dowdy) and was replaced by Carl Burnett. The jazz-pop direction that Harris and Simpkins pursued on the fine Coldwater Flat set – where the trio fronted the Oliver Nelson band and a string section – was followed up here with composer and saxophonist Monk Higgins as arranger, conductor, and co-producer (with Dee Ervin).

Guitarist Al di Meola's second record as a leader is generally an explosive affair, although it does have a fair amount of variety. With Jan Hammer or Barry Miles on keyboards, electric bassist Anthony Jackson, drummer Lenny White (Steve Gadd takes his place on the "Elegant Gypsy Suite"), and percussionist Mingo Lewis on most of the selections, di Meola shows off his speedy and rock-ish fusion style. He was still a member of Return to Forever at the time and was a stronger guitarist than composer, but di Meola did put a lot of thought into this music. The brief "Lady of Rome, Sister of Brazil" (an acoustic guitar solo) and "Mediterranean Sundance" (an acoustic duet with fellow guitarist Paco de Lucía) hints at di Meola's future directions. A near classic in the fusion vein.

With his acclaimed current studio album 'OPUS', Al Di Meola not only topped the TOP 5 of the Official German Jazz Album Charts and burst to #1 position in the US Contemporary Jazz Album Charts, but once again proved his status as a 'guitar superstar'. His curriculum vitae is full of exciting musical moments and incredible works and he still finds ways to challenging himself: he is a jack-of-all-trades, who does not take a real break in supposedly quieter times. Al Di Meola is burning for his passion - the music. With 'Elegant Gypsy & More LIVE'; partly recorded on his very successful 'Elegant Gypsy 40th Anniversary'-US Tour in 2017, Al Di Meola proves once again that jazz music tremendously 'rocks'. Above all, for him it is also a journey back to his musical beginning, which he brings to new heights with fantastic versions of songs like 'Race With Devil On Spanish Highway', 'Flight Over Rio', 'Midnight Tango' or 'Egyptian Danza'.

Guitarist Al DiMeola's second record as a leader is generally an explosive affair, although it does have a fair amount of variety. With Jan Hammer or Barry Miles on keyboards, electric bassist Anthony Jackson, drummer Lenny White (Steve Gadd takes his place on the "Elegant Gypsy Suite" ), and percussionist Mingo Lewis on most of the selections, DiMeola shows off his speedy and rockish fusion style. He was still a member of Return to Forever at the time and was a stronger guitarist than composer, but DiMeola did put a lot of thought into this music. The brief "Lady of Rome, Sister of Brazil" (an acoustic guitar solo) and "Mediterranean Sundance" (an acoustic duet with fellow guitarist Paco de Lucia) hints at DiMeola's future directions. A near classic in the fusion vein.

Elegant Simplicity - Kicking the Olive Branch (2017) {Proximity Records ESCD 20170602-01}
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© 2017 Proximity Records | ESCD 20170602-01
Rock / Progressive Rock

New for 2017 is this latest ELEGANT SIMPLICITY release "Kicking the Olive Branch", featuring a stellar cast of additional musicians. 7 brand new tunes, including the epic title track, fusing funk (yeah, funk!), classic rock, progressive rock and other stuff into a seamless melodic whole. Harder rocking than any previous release, this has some cool guitar moments, sweet mini-moog madness and some fantastic sax and violin moves.

"Elegant Soul (1968)" was the penultimate release by the Three Sounds, and sees them leaving behind the cool instrumental jazz that had typified most of their previous output, and moving more decisively in the direction of easy-listening pop. While the group had always had something of a light, accessible take on post-bop, "Elegant Soul", with its string arrangements and pop-oriented ambitions, finds them crossing over into easy listening. The 2008 reissue, part of a Blue Note reissue project targeting rare groove collectors and fans of soul-jazz, contextualizes the album for what it is: a unique jazz-soul-pop hybrid.