1. Gil Evans Out Of The Cool Rar File
2. Gil Evans Out Of The Cool Rare

Out of the Cool

I’ve been taking it easy today, attempting to recover from a bout of sickness by loafing about and listening to old records. I don’t know why I haven’t listened to Out of the Cool by the Gil Evans Orchestra for a while, but at least that meant I came back to it relatively fresh.

GIL EVANS - OUT OF THE COOL. Mastered by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound From Original Analog Tapes! Seeking to offer definitive audiophile grade. Gil Evans: Out of the Cool is the comprehensive biography of a self-taught musician whom colleagues often regarded as a mentor. His innovative work as a composer, arranger, and bandleader—for Miles Davis, with whom he frequently collaborated over the course of four decades, and for his own ensembles—places him alongside Duke Ellington. The first two titles are Reiner’s famed Also Sprach Zarathustra and the Gil Evans title featured here—a brilliant study in group improvisation and his finest effort outside of his work with Miles Davis— with 28 more releases scheduled through 2013. All are mastered from original tapes on customized versions of Demidoff electronics,.

Gil Evans was one of the few composer/arrangers in Jazz to have successfully blended his own orchestral textures with solo improvisations in such a way that both complement each other; the scored passages he devised are complex and beautiful, but never so rigid that they inhibit the soloist’s imagination. He directed a number of albums that incorporated Jazz solos in classically-inspired orchestral settings, including Sketches of Spain and Porgy and Bess (with Miles Davis). This one is less famous than those, but in my opinion at least as good.

Gil Evans Out Of The Cool Rar File

Gil Evans Out Of The Cool Rare

Trumpeter Johnny Coles (no relation) is particularly inspired by the imaginative surroundings constructed by Gil Evans on this album, and he responds by inventing beautiful solo lines on several tracks on this album. But the tonal spectrum he encompasses, his use of dynamics, and his distinctive play with inflection are best illustrated by his feature piece, Sunken Treasure, a mysterious, almost evanescent creation which he fashions out of Evans’ floating harmonies. I think this is the best track off a great album.