Credits:

Gil Evans Orchestra

Description:

Gil Evans' live performance at Fabrique Hamburg 1986 is now available for the first time! The album captures the sparkle of his final years, including four songs from the Jimi Hendrix repertoire! This is the second in a new series focusing on Fabrique, a live music venue in Hamburg that is twinned with "Onkel Poe's Carnegie Hall"! It is a common belief that Gil Evans' heyday was during his epic collaborations with Miles Davis in the 1950s and early 1960s, "Miles Ahead," "Porgy and Bess," and "Sketches from Spain. This album, a 1986 concert recorded at the Fabrik, a cultural center in Hamburg, Germany, reveals Gill's adventurous spirit and willingness to incorporate the latest musical ideas, qualities that should be appreciated along with his early successes. in the late 1960s, he met Jimi Hendrix, Gill heard the guitarist's "scream" (Gill's word) and was strongly attracted to the blues element. Plans were then made for the two to record together, including the production of an album of arrangements of Hendrix's songs.Unfortunately, this plan came to an abrupt end with Hendrix's untimely death in September 1970. Four years later, Gil was finally able to perform the repertoire live at Carnegie Hall as he had envisioned, and shortly thereafter recorded "The Gil Evans Orchestra Plays the Music of Jimi Hendrix" for RCA Victor. By the 1980s, the orchestra's repertoire was a unique blend of Hendrix songs, original compositions by the band members, and occasionally some of Gil's earlier recordings. At the 1986 Hamburg concert recorded on this album, the orchestra played four songs from the Hendrix collection (M-1, 2, 3, and 7). Gill, at age 74, played piano and conducted a 16-member orchestra that included some fascinating players. This may come as a surprise to jazz fans who knew the band in its heyday, but the fact that it performed regularly in Europe meant that the band had won over younger fans like Fabrique's audience, many of whom were accustomed to its rock-oriented concerts. Coexistence of synths and big band sounds.This piece captures the last glimmer of Gil Evans' final years, when he passed away a year and a half later.

Tracklisting:

1.Stone Free
2.Up From The Skies
3.Little Wing
4.Subway