Two very groovy records - back to back on a single CD! Gypsy 66 is one of Gabor Szabo's best records - a hip small combo session, featuring backup by Gary McFarland, Sadao Watanabe, Richard Davis, and Willie Rodriguez - an odd kind of lineup, but one that goes well with the offbeat grooves of the set! The overall sound has lots of touches of the McFarland Latinized rhythms of the time - but also stretches out with some of those great snakey guitar solos from Szabo - not nearly as extended or trippy here on other albums of the time, but in a really great way that makes for some tight, hip, mod little tracks!…
In the late '60s, many jazz artists were ignoring the rock and soul hits of the day – when called upon to interpret popular songs, they stuck to their favorite Cole Porter, George Gershwin, and Irving Berlin standards and didn't see Beatles or Marvin Gaye hits as vehicles for jazz improvisation. But there were some jazz artists who didn't feel that way; Grant Green, Herbie Mann, and Charles Earland – just to give three examples – saw no reason why rock and soul tunes couldn't receive instrumental jazz makeovers. And on 1969, Gazor Szabo puts a jazz spin on popular songs of the 1960s, including "Walk Away Renee" (a major hit for the Left Banke), the Beatles' "In My Life," and Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now".
Hungarian born guitarist and composer Gabor Szabo recorded eight records for Impulse between 1966 and 1968. Some of those albums, such as Jazz Raga and Spellbinder are masterpieces, while others, like Simpatico (with Gary McFarland) and Light My Fire (with Bob Thiele) are embarrassing exercises in self-indulgence. The pair of recordings issued on this Impulse two-fer were always meant to be together, though they were released separately; they are closer to the former category than the latter. The Sorcerer and More Sorcery contain live performances of two of Szabo's greatest quintets in concert settings: Jimmy Stewart on guitar, Lajos "Louis" Kabok on bass, either Marty Morell or Bill Goodwin on drums, and Hal Gordon on percussion…
Rambler is an album by Hungarian guitarist Gábor Szabó featuring performances recorded in 1973 and released on the CTI label.
Gabor Szabo's quintet featuring Jimmy Stewart was one of the guitarist's very best units. Live performances like this, recorded at Boston's Jazz Workshop, document some of the excitement the group stirred in 1967-1968. Included in the 1997 CD reissue are three excellent tracks ("Los Matadoros," "People," and "Corcovado") recorded at the same concert, which originally appeared on More Sorcery. The playing seems inspired, and the interplay within the group is something to behold - even when performing lightweight tunes like "The Beat Goes On."
Awesome reissue! The world famous Impulse jazz catalogue is so cavernous you truly need a music-minded flashlight to uncover its deepest and darkest secrets. Thankfully Light In The Attic has recently acquired such luminescent technology and the first discovery is Hungarian guitarist GABOR SZABO’s 1967 Indo-fusion landmark, Jazz Raga. combines Szabo's distinctive 6-string touch & open-minded ideas. It brings together jazz, pop-rock & his native European influence, along with hypnotic sitar, stoned bass vibrations, occasional psychedelic vocals & the laidback. Totally essential!
Gabor Szabo, who always had an original sound on the guitar (displaying his Hungarian heritage), is backed by a string section, horns and a rhythm section (including bassist Ron Carter and either Billy Cobham or Jack DeJohnette on drums) on this Bob James production. For this program Szabo performs two originals, a pair of pop tunes and an adaptation of a Shostakovich classical concerto.