Track Listing

1. Nevada
2. Where Flamingos Fly
3. Bilbao Song
4. Stratusphunk
5. Sunken Treasure
6. Sister Sadie [*]

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #127885 in Music
• Brand: Evans
• Released on: 1996-03-26
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .19 pounds

Amazon.com
Recorded after Gil Evans provided the orchestral clouds through which Miles Davis blew on such classics as Sketches of Spain, Porgy and Bess, and Miles Ahead, Out of the Cool is a starburst. Evans's title makes clear that this is a path away from the legendary 1949 Birth of the Cool, opening as it does with an obsessive (if calmly so) vamp that pulses for two minutes with maracas rattling before all the orchestra's instruments enter. Built on a repeating four-bar figure, "La Nevada" goes on to peg Evans as a fully realized orchestra player, one who uses the color palette of over a dozen distinct voices as his instrument. As a pianist Evans manages startling spareness, making dramatic miniature figures and then comping through the orchestra's skein with ritual regularity. Looking at the provenance of these tunes, one realizes Evans's true scope of knowledge: he moves from Kurt Weill's "Bilbao Song" to the Lydian (as in George Russell) modal structure of "Stratusphunk" to close the session with a regally charted take on Horace Silver's "Sister Sadie." Note how trumpeter Johnny Coles steps up as a main soloist, and follow the harmonic topography. It's a rare treat. --Andrew Bartlett

Customer Reviews

A Masterpiece
The first and centerpiece song of this album, La Nevada (snowfall in Spanish) is one of the most beautiful and original jazz pieces ever written. Every time I hear it, it makes me stop and listen closely. The music is VISUAL, that is it conjures up images of nature dancing with joy. The solos, (of which I have memorized every note) are virtuoso improvisations. The rest of the album is great too. But La Nevada stands alone.

A rare gem
Sometimes you listen to a piece of music for the first time and it strikes you that it sounds so original yet so logical, so beautiful and natural yet so rare. This is how this music struck me when I first heard it in LP 20+ years ago. Is a recording for the ages. When the trombones come in out of nowhere in "La nevada" you feel taken by them, yet you feel like there is nothing else that could have come in but these bones. "Where Flamingos Fly" is a masterpiece of arranging and shows the artistry of Jimmy Knepper. The session continues with one beautiful surprise after another. Do yourself a favor and get this recording if is the only one you can get.

Gil's Greatest
Following on from his three classic albums with Miles Davis, this is Evans' best ever album. Stand-out tracks are the long, swinging 'La Nevada', and the dark, moody 'Where Flamingos Fly' and 'Hidden Treasure'. The CD also has a bonus track, the jolly 'Sister Sadie'. Great arrangements, great musicianship, particularly Ron Carter on bass and Elvin Jones on drums. A real gem of an album.