At Newport
Catalog #3145897642
compact disc
reissue release date 8/20/2002
original releasing label Verve Records
The Gigi Gryce-Donald Byrd Jazz Laboratory & The Cecil Taylor Quartet
Review
This 1957 concert recording features two adventurous yet dramatically different ensembles. The first, led by a young buy already controversial Cecil Taylor, takes jazz to its outer limits. The other, led by Gigi Gryce and Donald Byrd, is solidly in the bop tradition, but daring in its own way.
At first combining a set by Cecil Taylor with another by the Gigi Gryce-Donald Byrd Jazz Laboratory seems like an odd pairing, but it ends up working rather well. These live recordings, which come from the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival, have stood the test of time rather well. Taylor's style of piano playing is not that far removed from Thelonious Monk in his interpretation of Billy Strayhorn's "Johnny Come Lately," though his dissonant, angular approach is a bit busier; Steve Lacy's nasal-toned soprano sax and solid rhythmic support from bassist Buell Neidlinger and drummer Denis Charles fuel Taylor's fiery playing. Both Taylor's "Nona's Blues" and "Tune 2" are fairly accessible in comparison to his works in the decade which followed. The Gigi Gryce-Donald Byrd Jazz Laboratory -- with pianist Hank Jones, bassist Wendell Marshall, and drummer Osie Johnson -- is firmly rooted in hard bop. Oddly enough, none of the three pieces were written by either Gryce or Byrd, though they were both already budding composers at this point in their respective careers. But their brief program -- which includes Ray Bryant's "Splittin' (Ray's Way)," the blues "Batland," and a rousing rendition of "Love for Sale" -- is a good representation of this unfortunately short-lived and under-recorded group. Reissued as a part of Verve's limited-edition series in the summer of 2002, this valuable CD will be available until the summer of 2005.
Tracks
1. Johnny Come Lately
2. Nona's Blues
3. Tune 2
4. Splittin' (Ray's Way)
5. Batland
6. Love for Sale
Personnel
Cecil Taylor (1-3) Piano
Steve Lacy (1-3) Soprano Saxophone
Buell Neidlinger (1-3) Bass
Denis Charles (1-3) Drums
Gigi Gryce (4-6) Alto Saxophone
Donald Byrd (4-6) Trumpet
Hank Jones (4-6) Piano
Wendell Marshall (4-6) Bass
Osie Johnson (4-6) Drums
Session
Recorded July 1957 at the Newport Jazz Festival, Rhode Island: tracks 4-6 on July 5, and tracks 1-3 on July 6
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EAC . Ape+cue . Covers . 188mb
Jazz for a sunday afternoon... I hate sundays but I love this album
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