At the Five Spot
Composer-pianist George Russell literally wrote the book on chords and modes,The Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization, a theoretical text on harmonic organization that has had untold effect on jazz since the 1950s. He's also been a notable composer since first writing forDizzy Gillespie's big band in the '40s, but he didn't lead a working band until 1960, when he formed the sextet heard here. It's an energetic meeting of a visionary musician and a group of vigorous and enthusiastic younger players, including bassist Chuck Israels and a coterie of Russell's students: trombonist Dave Baker, trumpeter Al Kiger, tenor saxophonist Dave Young, and drummer Joe Hunt."Swingdom Come" is the only Russell original here, but his distinctive polytonal arranging style and very free, often dissonant piano playing immediately mark the music as his, a combination of hard-bop swing and precision combined with polyrhythms and a fresh tonal language. He's pressing the young soloists to move beyond their models, and the results are an important chapter in the emergence of the 1960s avant-garde.The set includes two of the earliest recordedCarla Bleycompositions, the tempo-shifting "Dance Class" with aDolphy-like melodic line and the slow and eerie "Beast Blues."Miles Davis's bop period "Sippin' at Bells" gains some collective improvisation before it's done, whileColtrane's "Moment's Notice" adapts handily to the Russell treatment. Despite the title, this isn't a "live" recording. It was made in a New York studio after the group's debut at the Five Spot.--Stuart Broomer