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GARY BURTON Something’s Coming! / The Groovy Sound Of Music/ The Time Machine
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BGO RECORDS BGOCD1241
Vibraphonist Gary Burton is well-known as a jazz musician, composer and innovator. He has been active in the music industry since 1960. Early in his career, Gary developed his own technique of performing using four mallets. His style of holding two mallets in each hand for playing marimbas or vibraphones is known today as the Burton grip, a variant of the cross-grip style. Gary has performed with many top jazz, country and rock musicians, and created a variety of crossover jazz albums. This disc is a collection of three of his early productions, all released on the RCA label. Something’s Coming! was recorded in August 1963 in New York and released in 1964. The classic On Green Dolphin Street features lively 32-bar instrumental solos by Gary and electric guitarist Jim Hall, and a shorter solo by bassist Chuck Israels. The prophetic tuneSomething’s Coming from the musical West Side Story gets a new arrangement; the song’s jagged rhythm and jumpy melody are re-made into interesting counterpoints by the bass and guitar, while the vibraphone brightly leads and fills in the gaps. The Groovy Sound Of Music was recorded in December 1964 and released in 1965, and features jazz arrangement of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s songs from the musical The Sound of Music. The song Climb Ev’ry Mountain was arranged by Gary McFarland, and highlights Gary Burton’s vibraphone with unidentified background strings and woodwinds. Another interesting jazz remake is Sixteen Going On Seventeen, with a swinging bouncy rhythm, and cool clarinet solos contrasted by a melodious vibraphonic cloud. The album The Time Machine was recorded in 1966 in New York, with Steve Swallow on bass and drummer Larry Bunker. This album features multi-tracking on most numbers, with Gary performing on several different instruments. The bossa nova tune Chega de Saudade (No More Blues) by Antonio Carlos Jobim was first recorded in 1958. The trio performs the song with marimbas, as well as a vibraphone and various background percussive effects, giving it a lively rhythm and full, rich sound. Deluge is another overdubbed number, with simultaneous tracks on vibraphone that produce a dancing rainfall effect, contrasting nicely with the drums and bass solos.
An interesting 24-page booklet is included, with notes and photographs from the original albums, as well as additional notes by Charles Waring. This music was digitally remastered by Andrew Thompson at Sound Performance in London. The sound quality is excellent.
Bruce McCollum
Disc One:
Something’s Coming!
Gary Burton- vibes
Jim Hall- guitar
Chuck Israels- bass
Larry Bunker- drums
On Green Dolphin Street
Melanie
Careful
Six Improvisatory Sketches
Something’s Coming ( from ‘West Side Story’)
Little Girl Blue
Summertime
The Groovy Sound Of Music
Gary Burton- vibraphone
Bob Brookmeyer- trombone
Phil Woods- alto sax and clarinet
Joe Puma- guitar
Steve Swallow- bass
Joe Hunt- drums
Ed Shaughnessy- drums
Climb Ev’ry Mountain
Maria
An Ordinary Couple
My Favorite Things
Sixteen Going On Seventeen
Do-Re-Mi
Edelweiss
The Sound Of Music
TOTAL PLAYING TIME: [72:16]
Disc Two:
The Time Machine
Gary Burton- vibes, piano, marimbas
Steve Swallow- bass
Larry Bunker- percussion
The Sunset Bell
Six-Nix, Quix, Flix
Interim I
Chega De Saudade (No More Blues)
Childhood
Deluge
Norwegian Wood
Interim II
Falling Grace
My Funny Valentine
TOTAL PLAYING TIME: [37:52]
