Gil Evans New Bottle Old Wine

Featured in Michael Fremer's Heavy Rotation in the November 2007 Issue of Stereophile! Pressed at Pallas in Germany!
If you have admired Gil Evans' arrangements on the Miles Davis recordings, you owe it to yourself to check this out. These recordings help make the case that Gil Evans was one of the great jazz arrangers of all time. Gil Evans always manages to communicate with sophistication and nuance, and on these sessions he manages to have fun as well. This is an LP of Gil Evans rearranging classic jazz standards like "St. Louis Blues," "King Porter Stomp" and "Lester Leaps." It's an LP you can enjoy as a peek into modern jazz of the late '50s, or as a set of very interesting big band orchestrations.
Gil Evans has arranged recordings for Miles Davis, among others – and if you like them, then you should definitely listen to the LP "New Bottle Old Wine". Among other things, these recordings owe Gil Evans his reputation as one of the greatest jazz arrangers of all time. He has always understood how to create a communication between solid craftsmanship and artistic subtleties and here you can see that he also includes the fun of music.
On this LP, Gil Evans has rearranged classics. "St. Louis Blues", "King Porter Stomp", and "Lester Leaps" sound so interesting even 50 years after their recording because they were modern recordings of jazz pieces that were already considered classics at the time. In this way you can hear the 'Old Masters' interpreting the compositions that date back to even more distant times of the 'Old Old Masters'. The album is a highlight of the modern jazz of the late '50s and at the same time a very interesting big band recording. An absolute jazz classic.

Features:

• 180 Gram Audiophile Vinyl
• Pressed at Pallas in Germany

Musicians:

• Julian Cannonball Adderley, alto sax
• Frank Rehak, trombone
• John Coles, trumpet
• Chuck Wayne, guitar
• Gil Evans, piano, arrangements

Selections:

Side A
1. St. Louis Blues
2. King Porter Stomp
3. Willow Tree
4. Struttin' With Some Barbeque
Side B
1. Lester Leaps In
2. 'Round About Midnight
3. Manteca!
4. Bird Feathers