Although this is probably not what Harold Arlen had in mind when he wrote the music for his Broadway hit Jamaica, the astounding arrangements Gil Evans did in 1957 for the octet of multi-instrumentalist Don Elliott, are a welcome surprise. His unique jazz approach and the solo talents of Elliott on trumpet, mellophone, vibraphone, marimba and bongos breathe new life into a classic. All the musicians involved perform superbly, with Candido giving excellent support on conga, but the real glory belongs to Evans, whose kaleidoscopic arrangements dominate the album.
About A Musical Offering, recorded the previous year with a sextet, Elliott said he was searching for “the sound of beautiful simplicity.” With that in mind, he had commissioned a young and skilled arranger, Quincy Jones, to write clear-cut, modern arrangements for twelve tunes that, in Quincy’s own words, were “without the complexity of ‘Bird’ and without the dissonance of Kenton. Polite, nonchalant pleasing music. You may call them ‘daylight arrangements’.” They all feature fine soloing by great jazzmen.
Source : http://www.freshsoundrecords.com/don_elliott_octet_&_sextette_-_arrangements_by_gil_evans_&_quincy_jones_2_lps_on_1_cd-cd-5430.html
Don Elliott
Octet & Sextette
Arrangements By Gil Evans & Quincy Jones
Tracks
1 Push de Button (Arlen, Harburg) 5:52
2 Cocoanut Sweet (Arlen, Harburg) 4:07
3 Little Biscuit (Arlen, Harburg) 3:50
4 Savanna (Arlen, Harburg) 3:53
5 Pretty to Walk With (Arlen, Harburg) 3:42
6 Ain't It the Truth ? (Arlen, Harburg) 4:16
7 Napoleon (Arlen, Harburg) 4:58
8 What Good Does It Do ? (Arlen, Harburg) 4:41
9 Soon (Gershwin, Gershwin) 2:45
10 Catana (Newman, DeLange) 2:26
11 Rough Ridin' (Fitzgerald, Jones) 3:29
12 Straits of McClellan (Elliott) 2:53
13 Cry Me a River (Hamilton) 2:34
14 It's You or No One (Styne, Cahn) 2:51
15 Our Love (Clinton, Bernier, Emmerich) 2:52
16 Jazz Me Blues (Delaney) 2:20
17 Azure Te' (Davis) 3:12
18 Miss Wiss-Key (Elliott) 2:30
19 Mood Indigo (Bigard, Mills, Ellington) 2:35
20 Don't You Know I Care (Ellington, David) 2:50
*
Personnel
[# 1-8] from the 12" LP "Jamaica Jazz" (ABC Paramount ABC-228)
Don Elliott Octet - Arrangements by Gil Evans
[# 2, 3 & 8]
Don Elliott - tp, mllphn, mrmb & vb
Frank Rehak - tb
Jimmy Buffington, Willie Ruff - fhrn
Hal McKusick - fl, as & b-cl
Dave Kurtzer - bssn
Paul Chambers - b
Art Taylor - dr
Candido Camero - cng
[# 1, 4, 5, 6 & 7]
Don Elliott - tp, mllphn, mrmb & bng
Don Ashworth, Phil Bodner, Romeo Penque - fl, ob & egh
Al Klink - b-cl & ts
Barry Galbraith - g
Ernie Furtado - b
Art Taylor - dr
Candido Camero - cng [# 4 & 6]
Recorded in New York City ; November 26 & December 23, 1957.
[# 9-20] from the 12" LP "A Musical Offering" (ABC Paramount ABC-106)
Don Elliott Sextette - Arrangements by Quincy Jones
Don Elliott - mllphn & vb
Herbie Mann - fl & ts
Al Cohn - bs, replaced by Sol Schlinger [# 10, 11, 17, 18 & 20]
Joe Puma - g
Vinnie Burke - b
Osie Johnson - dr
Recorded in Newark, New Jersey ; June 29 & 30, 1956.