Giuffrè

Controversial, misunderstood, and underappreciated, Jimmy Giuffre was an unlikely candidate to break as much ground as he did in the art of free improvisation. A swing orchestra veteran, Giuffre made his name as part of the West Coast school of cool jazz, but his restless creative spirit drove him to push the boundaries of texture, dynamic shading, counterpoint, and improvisational freedom in surprisingly avant-garde ways, despite maintaining a cool, cerebral exterior.

Why aren't there more recordings like Fly Away Little Bird? Perhaps it's because there aren't more musicians of this stature. The studio reunion of the legendarily experimental Jimmy Giuffre 3 in 1992 was reissued in 2002 on the French Sunnyside label and is a radical departure from anything the trio had done in the past. These studio apparitions of the band are their most seamlessly accessible while being wildly exploratory. In addition to the consummate improvisations and compositions by Giuffre (title track, a redone "Tumbleweed"), the tender meditations by Steve Swallow ("Fits" and "Starts"), and the bottom-register contrapuntal improves by Paul Bley ("Qualude"), this is a trio recording that uses standards such as "Lover Man," a radically and gorgeously reworked "I Can't Get Started," "Sweet and Lovely," and "All the Things You Are" to state hidden textural possibilities inside chromatic harmony. There is never the notion of restraint in the slow, easy, and proactive way these compositions are approached.

This unusual set has Jimmy Giuffre (on clarinet, tenor and baritone) in a pianoless quartet with trumpeter Jack Sheldon, bassist Ralph Pena and drummer Artie Anton. The music (all but one of the ten numbers are by Giuffre) puts an emphasis on cool tones and relaxed improvising, hinting at folk themes but sounding quite modern for the time.

Jimmy Giuffre - The Jimmy Giuffre 3 (1956) {2012 Japan Jazz Best Collection 1000 Series WPCR-27132}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 197 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 90 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 18 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24-bit remaster
© 1956, 2012 Warner Japan / Atlantic / WEA / Rhino | WPCR-27132
Jazz / Cool / Clarinet / Saxophone / Guitar

Features 24 bit remastering and comes with a mini-description. Jimmy Guiffre 3 features the first version of Giuffre's 3. With guitarist Jim Hall and either Ralph Pena or Jim Atlas on bass, Giuffre is heard on clarinet, tenor, and baritone. The generally introverted music is wistful, has a fair amount of variety, and is melodic while still sounding advanced. In addition to the nine original songs (including the earliest recording of Giuffre's classic folk song "The Train and the River"). An excellent introduction to Jimmy Giuffre's unique music.

Jimmy Giuffre, Paul Bley, and Steve Swallow had reunited four years prior to this recording session before a live and very enthusiastic audience. On this date, they had been touring together on and off for four years and were as telepathic as in 1961 when they recorded Fusion and Thesis with Creed Taylor at Verve (yeah, the same guy who aesthetically ruined Wes Montgomery and Grover Washington, Jr.)…