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Gil Melle: Complete Blue Note 50's Sessions

By John Sharpe
January 1, 1999
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This wonderful 2-CD set by saxophonist Gil Melle is one of six titles released as part of Blue Note's new Connoisseur 10" series. The set consists of four 10" LPs and the one 12" LP (Patterns In Jazz) Gil recorded for the label. These extremely rare sessions contain a mix of straight bop, a number of standards and many of Melle's unique third stream compositions. Melle's use of a guitar (Tal Farlow, Lou Mecca and Joe Cinderella) in place of a piano was seen as a bold, innovative step.

At the time of these recordings, 1952 to 1956, Melle was quite prolific, but by 1957 he had moved on to pursue other interests. He has scored over 125 films, painted, experimented with electronic instruments and is often credited for inventing the first drum machine.

Although these discs do contain some sonic imperfections they remain a valuable document of one of the most cerebral and creative figures in jazz.

Track Listing

DISC 1:
1. Four Moons; 2. Gears; 3. Mars; 4. Sunset Concerto; 5. Cyclotron; 6. October; 7. Under Capricorn; 8. Venus; 9. Lover Man; 10. Spellbound; 11. Transition; 12. Lion Lives Here; 13. Timepiece; 14. Gingersnap; 15. Nearness of You; 16. Lullaby of Birdland; 17. Ballade For Guitar; 18. Metropolitan; 19. Newport News.

DISC 2:
1. Summertime; 2. Quadrille For Moderns; 3. Five Impressions of Color: Spectrum Violet / Sea Green / Royal; Blue / Ebony / Spectrum Red; 4. Life Begins at Midnight; 5. Night Train to Wildwood; 6. Threadneedle Street; 7. Weird Valley; 8. Set Break; 9. Moonlight in Vermont; 10. Long Ago and Far Away; 11. Arab Barber Blues; 12. Nice Questions.

Personnel

Album information

Title: Complete Blue Note 50's Sessions | Year Released: 1999 | Record Label: Blue Note Records

About Gil Melle

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