Cobham, Billy / Colin Towns / HR Big Band - Meeting Of The Spirits: A Celebration Of The Mahavishnu Orchestra
SKU
21-IOR 77086
Colin Towns, the very excellent UK composer and arranger who made the very good Zappa tribute with the HR-Bigband, Frank Zappa's Hot Licks (and Funny Smells), tackles something another audacious project, that of the Mahavishnu Orchestra! And Billy Cobham sounds great and more engaged than I've heard him in a long, long time!!
"In the earlier days of my career, I was, and still am, a great fan of Thelonious Monk. One day I found a recording of his music transcribed for big band. This was a milestone recording for me, since I grew up listening to big bands, but always played in small
groups, and to hear Thelonious' music in this way was revolutionary. Today I have been granted the same honor by the HR Bigband and my old colleague from those marvelous times, Billy Cobham. I would have never imagined these particular compositions being played by a big band, but in a way you have made a dream come true! Very special thanks!!!" - John McLaughlin"
"There are easier exercises than transforming songs into a big
band context which formerly have been created for smaller line-ups. The hr-Big Band under the direction of English sound magician Colin Towns succeeds in catching the explosive spirituality of John McLaughlin’s Mahavishnu Orchestra with their heart and soul. Towns, who in the 1970s played keyboard for the Ian Gillan Band and just has finished to orchestrate Frank Zappa's work, is capable of incorporating the spirit of the Seventies without losing energy into the perception of the new millennium. With drummer Billy Cobha...one of the leading musicians of the original Mahavishnu Orchestra, the project has to its disposal two
authorities for this difficult task...a vivid piece of “music history
acquisition” being able to deal without nostalgia and false admiration of heroes."-Jazzfest Berlin magazine
- LabelIn and Out
- UPC798747708623