Jazz Abstractions

1961 studio album by John Lewis, Gunther Schuller and Jim Hall
Jazz Abstractions
Studio album by
John Lewis, Gunther Schuller and Jim Hall
Releasedca. November 1961[1][2]
RecordedDecember 19 & 20, 1960
NYC
GenreJazz
Length36:06
LabelAtlantic
SD 1365
ProducerJohn Lewis, Nesuhi Ertegun
John Lewis chronology
The Wonderful World of Jazz
(1960)
Jazz Abstractions
(1961)
Original Sin
(1961)

Jazz Abstractions (subtitled John Lewis Presents Contemporary Music: Compositions by Gunther Schuller and Jim Hall) is a third stream album combining elements of jazz and classical music recorded in late 1960 for the Atlantic label.[3][4]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[5]

Allmusic awarded the album 4 stars stating: "One of the most successful third stream efforts ...This is very interesting music".[5]

Track listing

All compositions by Gunther Schuller except as indicated

  1. "Abstraction" - 4:06
  2. "Piece for Guitar & Strings" (Jim Hall) - 6:22
  3. "Variants on a Theme of John Lewis (Django)" - 10:15
    1. "Variant I" - 5:27
    2. "Variant II" - 1:38
    3. "Variant III" - 3:10
  4. "Variants on a Theme of Thelonious Monk (Criss-Cross)" - 15:23
    1. "Variant I" - 6:22
    2. "Variant II" - 1:49
    3. "Variant III" - 4:12
    4. "Variant IV" - 3:00

Personnel

  • Gunther Schuller - arranger, conductor
  • Jim Hall - guitar
  • Ornette Coleman - alto saxophone (tracks 1 & 4)
  • Eric Dolphy - alto saxophone, bass clarinet, flute (tracks 3 & 4)
  • Robert DiDomenica - flute (tracks 3 & 4)
  • Bill Evans - piano (tracks 3 & 4)
  • Eddie Costa - vibraphone (tracks 3 & 4)
  • Charles Libove, Roland Vamos - violin
  • Alfred Brown (track 2), Harry Zaratzian - viola
  • Joseph Tekula - cello
  • Alvin Brehm (track 1), George Duvivier (tracks 3 & 4), Scott LaFaro - bass
  • Sticks Evans - drums (tracks 1, 3 & 4)

References

  1. ^ "Jazz Abstractions" (PDF). The Cash Box. The Cash Box, New York. 18 November 1961. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  2. ^ "Albums of the Week". Billboard Music Week. The Billboard Publishing Co. 6 November 1961. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  3. ^ Atlantic Records Catalog: 1300 series accessed September 11, 2015
  4. ^ Gunther Schuller discography Archived 2015-09-27 at the Wayback Machine accessed September 11, 2015
  5. ^ a b Yanow, Scott. John Lewis Presents Jazz Abstractions – Review at AllMusic. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
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Studio albums
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