(Modal Jazz, Jazz, Avant-Garde Jazz, Experimental Big Band) George Russell And His Orchestra featuring Bill Evans - Jazz In The Space Age - 2011, FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This album points the way to the future. It is prophetic because George Russell felt compelled to make it so. "Jazz is changing; the '60s could well be a crucial decade", says the composer. "One thing is certain. A variety of sounds and rhythms, many of which are alien to what audiences are used to, will find their way into jazz", wrote George Russell in 1960 when presenting his LP Jazz in the Space Age. He continued: "Unaccountably, things we hear around us every day, very human things, have either disappeared or been left out of jazz as we know it.
Progress is inevitable. Today's musical palette is just not adequate. All feelings relative to life and beauty cannot be validly expressed with techniques now in vogue. What is more, jazz is an evolving art; it is not meant to be restricted. The very nature of the music and its history indicate this.
The jazz music of the future? What will it be like? Well, the techniques are going to get more complex, and it will be a challenge for the composer to master the techniques and yet preserve his intuitive approach. And it will be a challenge to the improviser to master these techniques and also preserve the intuitive, earthy dignity of jazz.
Specifically, it's going to be a pan-rhythmic, pan-tonal age. I think that jazz will by-pass atonality because jazz actually has roots in folk music, and folk music is scale-based music; and atonality negates the scale. I think that jazz will be intensely chromatic; but you can be chromatic and not be atonal.
The answer seems to lie in pan-tonality. The basic folk nature of the scales is preserved, and yet, because you can be in any number of tonalities at once and/or sequentially, it also creates a very chromatic kind of feeling, so that it's sort of like being atonal with a Big Bill Broonzy sound. YOU CAN RETAIN THE FUNK.
Every artistic evolution has been spirited by people of direction and purpose. It is people of this stripe that have moved jazz upward and outward, and given it real meaning. The innovators of today's generation, some discovered, others yet to be found, will do what has to be done. However, their row won't be easy to hoe. Has it ever been for the Parkers, the Ellingtons, the Youngs, etc? Breaking new ground is one thing, but convincing the world that it is the thing to do is quite another. The artist must believe in himself and what he has to give..."
George Russell's life is his work. His belief in its validity has grown as he has grown. To write music of worth has been the motivating force through all 16 years of his composing life. Ten of those years were spent shaping musical disciplines compatible to his needs. Disenchantment with traditional composing techniques and a notable lack of freedom when writing gave his Lydian Concept of Tonal Organization a raison d'etre.
The concept was completed in 1953. Like the instrumentalist who has licked the physical difficulties of playing, Russell became able to concentrate completely on the creation of music -from the more traditional to the exploratory. He had cut his own path through the woods, and all jazz stood to profit. As John Lewis, a composer and innovator in his own right, has said: "The Lydian Concept is the most profound theoretical contribution to come form jazz."
Because Russell is an individual, I feel he is more of a composer in the real sense of the word. Though concerned with the future of jazz, his thinking and work are filled with the realities of the past. He has not broken with his roots, but endeavored to enrich the soil, roots, indeed the whole tree. In his attempt to free himself of the tyranny of the chord and restricting rhythmic patterns, he has introduced stimulating new harmonic and rhythmic ideas, extended the jazz language, and made possible more expansive expression.
His work covers much emotional and technical terrain and possesses a definite sense of inner logic. It has element of surprise, and exhilaration native to the best of jazz. It has perspective. Most important, the feeling of improvisation carries through it all. "George composes things which sound improvised. You have to be deeply involved in jazz and understand all the elements to be able to do that", says pianist Bill Evans.
Jazz in the Space Age pursues George Russell's basic artistic conviction that an album should be a complete homogeneous work-an entity - rather than an assemblage of pieces. Like his first effort for Decca, New York, NX this presentation combines, indeed, meshes the emotional and intellectual aspects of music.
"Form and unity grew out of content", explains the composer. "By integrating important musical elements, which appear and reappear in various lights, I felt I could achieve both. The work is broken into six sections. One of the sections, 'Chromatic Universe', is in three parts, spaced out for pace."
"Chromatic Universe" -Part 1 -Following the establishment of atmosphere -Russell running a string of beads over tuned drums -pianists Bill Evans and Paul Bley are featured. Their improvisations are "free", not bound by chords or scales or by a given theme. The tonality projected by the bass and the 5/2 rhythmic pattern played by drums and bass function as guides. "Bill and Paul were free to come close to the tonality -sum total of the bass notes -relate to the 5/2 gravitational pull, or not", says Russell. "Tonally and rhythmically out in space, they were not victim to the tyranny of the chord or a particular meter. In essence, this is musical relativism. Everything can be right. The idea takes over. They worked in the realm of ideas, projecting one upon the other. This is panchromatic improvisation."
Part II opens with a minute and five seconds of improvisation by Bley and Evans. The rest of it is written and Russell considers it "probably my most ambitious piece of music yet." It is quite difficult to tell where the free improvisation stops and the writing begins: this is a telling tribute to the composer's talent.
Part III is all freely improvised, utilizing the same procedures as Part I. The 5/2 pattern figures in all three ' sections. It was first introduced by Russell in an earlier composition, "The Day John Brown Was Hanged".
The kind of improvisation that takes place in "Chromatic Universe" will be something new for the average listener. In spite of this, it should be judged in the same way as more conventional improvisation. As Art Farmer said when we were discussing this concept: "If it moves you, it doesn't matter if there are chords or scales or whatever. Communication is the thing."
"Dimensions" is described by Russell as "a sequence of freely associated moods indigenous to jazz." The composed section is done in a pan-tonal manner. There are no chords; it is horizontal. Liners were written. In the improvised sections, the soloists base their improvisations on chords. But rather than being related in the traditional harmonic patterns, they are used for their individual color. The combined color established by the chords forms the tonality of whole color. The soloists improvise on the whole color. This idea is basic to much of Ornefte Coleman's work. ("He's one of the truly fantastic innovators of our time", insists Russell.)
The soloists are Bill Evans, Al Kiger and Dave Young.
It is interesting to note that drummer Charlie Persip accompanies each soloist into the first portion of his solo, drops out leaving the time keeping to the bass, and then returns, making for variety in rhythmic tension and dimension. This sort of thing happens frequently in Russell's writing. It happens again here on "The Lydiot".
"The Lydiot", a vehicle for soloists, reiterates elements introduced during "Chromatic Universe" and "Dimensions". Once again, Russell plays beads on tuned drums for atmosphere on the opening. The 5/2 pattern reoccurs, then dissolves into 4/4 and a long line played by the reeds. The soloists are: Evans, 7 choruses; Bley, 3 choruses; Evans and Bley, 4 choruses. (The chorus length is 16 bars.) During interludes and in the close, the time reverts back to 5/2.
"Waltz from Outer Space" is one of the more immediately accessible selections of this work. What struck me, other than the provocative, earthy way waltz time was turned to jazz contours, was the Oriental sound of parts of it, and how rhythm and horns blended into an organic whole. This section, like the others, is exciting and thoughtfully constructed and related to the other sections. The soloists are Evans and Young.
THE SOLOISTS:
Bill Evans, the chief soloist in this presentation, is perhaps the most significant jazz pianist to come along in the past decade. His touch, sense of form, technique and wealth of ideas, and application thereof, mart him as a pianist of great consequence. Considering his quiet, unassuming nature, it comes as something of a surprise that there is an aggressive, apparently exhaustive spilling forth of ideas whenever he plays. Rhythmic thrust nourishes melodic content -he's terribly melodic -as he punches out phrases, or creates long, striking lines that speak well for the organization of his resources, and his ability to remain integrated and flow inventively when soloing at length.
He seems to welcome challenges. He plays better when the music calls on all his resources. This album is no every day matter. The results are stunning.
Evans' last affiliation was with the Miles Davis Sextet.
Pianist Paul Bley was called on by Russell because of the excellence of his technical equipment. The composer felt he could deal with the music adequately and complement Bill Evans. A Canadian by birth, Bley has studied extensively and played with a variety of jazzmen -from Charlie Mingus to Chet Baker. Until recently, he led his own group on the West Coast.
Al Kiger, trumpet; Dave Young, tenor sax; and Dave Baker, trombone, are all members of the University of Indiana Jazz Orchestra. This is the first time any of them have been recorded. Russell feels all three show great potential. Kiger and Baker studied with him at the School of Jazz in Lenox, Massachusetts.
Frank Rehak, of course, is the nationally known jazz trombonist. He has worked with many top bands and small units. Currently, he is a CBS staff musician.
Burt Korall

REM GENRE Jazz
REM DATE 2011
REM DISCID 910FB60B
REM COMMENT "ExactAudioCopy v1.0b2"
PERFORMER "George Russell"
TITLE "Jazz In The Space Age"
FILE "01 - Chromatic Universe Part 1.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 01 AUDIO
    TITLE "Chromatic Universe Part 1"
    PERFORMER "George Russell"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "02 - Dimensions.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 02 AUDIO
    TITLE "Dimensions"
    PERFORMER "George Russell"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "03 - Chromatic Universe Part 2.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 03 AUDIO
    TITLE "Chromatic Universe Part 2"
    PERFORMER "George Russell"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "04 - The Lydiot.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 04 AUDIO
    TITLE "The Lydiot"
    PERFORMER "George Russell"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "05 - Walts From Outer Space.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 05 AUDIO
    TITLE "Walts From Outer Space"
    PERFORMER "George Russell"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "06 - Chromatic Universe Part 3.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 06 AUDIO
    TITLE "Chromatic Universe Part 3"
    PERFORMER "George Russell"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "07 - Introduction.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 07 AUDIO
    TITLE "Introduction"
    PERFORMER "George Russell"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "08 - Things New.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 08 AUDIO
    TITLE "Things New"
    PERFORMER "George Russell"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "09 - Dance Class.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 09 AUDIO
    TITLE "Dance Class"
    PERFORMER "George Russell"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "10 - Potting Shed.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 10 AUDIO
    TITLE "Potting Shed"
    PERFORMER "George Russell"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "11 - Stratusphunk.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 11 AUDIO
    TITLE "Stratusphunk"
    PERFORMER "George Russell"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00

Exact Audio Copy V1.0 beta 2 from 29. April 2011
EAC extraction logfile from 19. January 2013, 10:53
George Russell / Jazz In The Space Age
Used drive  : HL-DT-STDVD-RAM GH22NP20   Adapter: 0  ID: 0
Read mode               : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache      : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction                      : 102
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out          : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks   : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations       : Yes
Used interface                              : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Gap handling                                : Appended to previous track
Used output format              : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate                : 1024 kBit/s
Quality                         : High
Add ID3 tag                     : No
Command line compressor         : C:\Program Files\Exact Audio Copy\Flac\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -8 -V -T "ARTIST=%artist%" -T "TITLE=%title%" -T "ALBUM=%albumtitle%" -T "DATE=%year%" -T "TRACKNUMBER=%tracknr%" -T "GENRE=%genre%" -T "PERFORMER=%albuminterpret%" -T "COMMENT=EAC V1.0 beta 2, Secure Mode, Test & Copy, Acc
TOC of the extracted CD
     Track |   Start  |  Length  | Start sector | End sector
    ---------------------------------------------------------
        1  |  0:00.00 |  3:33.50 |         0    |    16024
        2  |  3:33.50 | 13:11.32 |     16025    |    75381
        3  | 16:45.07 |  3:47.49 |     75382    |    92455
        4  | 20:32.56 | 10:05.18 |     92456    |   137848
        5  | 30:37.74 |  6:59.39 |    137849    |   169312
        6  | 37:37.38 |  4:55.54 |    169313    |   191491
        7  | 42:33.17 |  1:42.45 |    191492    |   199186
        8  | 44:15.62 |  7:58.67 |    199187    |   235103
        9  | 52:14.54 |  3:38.65 |    235104    |   251518
       10  | 55:53.44 |  4:34.46 |    251519    |   272114
       11  | 60:28.15 |  6:34.31 |    272115    |   301695
Track  1
     Filename D:\music\Musicgate's rips\George Russell - Jazz In The Space Age - 1960 (2011, American Jazz Classics 99024)\01 - Chromatic Universe Part 1.wav
     Pre-gap length  0:00:02.00
     Peak level 75.0 %
     Extraction speed 1.6 X
     Track quality 100.0 %
     Test CRC 79E08A4C
     Copy CRC 79E08A4C
     Track not present in AccurateRip database
     Copy OK
Track  2
     Filename D:\music\Musicgate's rips\George Russell - Jazz In The Space Age - 1960 (2011, American Jazz Classics 99024)\02 - Dimensions.wav
     Peak level 94.4 %
     Extraction speed 2.3 X
     Track quality 100.0 %
     Test CRC 12390FD1
     Copy CRC 12390FD1
     Track not present in AccurateRip database
     Copy OK
Track  3
     Filename D:\music\Musicgate's rips\George Russell - Jazz In The Space Age - 1960 (2011, American Jazz Classics 99024)\03 - Chromatic Universe Part 2.wav
     Peak level 85.6 %
     Extraction speed 2.3 X
     Track quality 100.0 %
     Test CRC 2D31C81A
     Copy CRC 2D31C81A
     Track not present in AccurateRip database
     Copy OK
Track  4
     Filename D:\music\Musicgate's rips\George Russell - Jazz In The Space Age - 1960 (2011, American Jazz Classics 99024)\04 - The Lydiot.wav
     Peak level 85.5 %
     Extraction speed 2.6 X
     Track quality 99.9 %
     Test CRC 348FD6D3
     Copy CRC 348FD6D3
     Track not present in AccurateRip database
     Copy OK
Track  5
     Filename D:\music\Musicgate's rips\George Russell - Jazz In The Space Age - 1960 (2011, American Jazz Classics 99024)\05 - Walts From Outer Space.wav
     Peak level 76.3 %
     Extraction speed 2.9 X
     Track quality 100.0 %
     Test CRC 270F02E0
     Copy CRC 270F02E0
     Track not present in AccurateRip database
     Copy OK
Track  6
     Filename D:\music\Musicgate's rips\George Russell - Jazz In The Space Age - 1960 (2011, American Jazz Classics 99024)\06 - Chromatic Universe Part 3.wav
     Peak level 74.1 %
     Extraction speed 3.0 X
     Track quality 100.0 %
     Test CRC 106DDB1B
     Copy CRC 106DDB1B
     Track not present in AccurateRip database
     Copy OK
Track  7
     Filename D:\music\Musicgate's rips\George Russell - Jazz In The Space Age - 1960 (2011, American Jazz Classics 99024)\07 - Introduction.wav
     Peak level 90.5 %
     Extraction speed 1.9 X
     Track quality 99.8 %
     Test CRC E2615AE0
     Copy CRC E2615AE0
     Track not present in AccurateRip database
     Copy OK
Track  8
     Filename D:\music\Musicgate's rips\George Russell - Jazz In The Space Age - 1960 (2011, American Jazz Classics 99024)\08 - Things New.wav
     Peak level 100.0 %
     Extraction speed 3.3 X
     Track quality 100.0 %
     Test CRC 773353A5
     Copy CRC 773353A5
     Track not present in AccurateRip database
     Copy OK
Track  9
     Filename D:\music\Musicgate's rips\George Russell - Jazz In The Space Age - 1960 (2011, American Jazz Classics 99024)\09 - Dance Class.wav
     Peak level 100.0 %
     Extraction speed 3.2 X
     Track quality 100.0 %
     Test CRC E61784F7
     Copy CRC E61784F7
     Track not present in AccurateRip database
     Copy OK
Track 10
     Filename D:\music\Musicgate's rips\George Russell - Jazz In The Space Age - 1960 (2011, American Jazz Classics 99024)\10 - Potting Shed.wav
     Peak level 87.6 %
     Extraction speed 3.4 X
     Track quality 100.0 %
     Test CRC 55DB7795
     Copy CRC 55DB7795
     Track not present in AccurateRip database
     Copy OK
Track 11
     Filename D:\music\Musicgate's rips\George Russell - Jazz In The Space Age - 1960 (2011, American Jazz Classics 99024)\11 - Stratusphunk.wav
     Peak level 95.8 %
     Extraction speed 3.4 X
     Track quality 99.9 %
     Test CRC 9E9C6287
     Copy CRC 9E9C6287
     Track not present in AccurateRip database
     Copy OK
None of the tracks are present in the AccurateRip database
No errors occurred
End of status report
==== Log checksum 6DE12B1193AFE79A1F39657D7DD38C8DED2523AB3948828FE8DB15AEDD08D9A3 ====