Neil Ardley, Ian Carr & Don Rendell - Greek Variations & Other Aegean Exercises (1969) {Columbia-Impressed/RePressed 986 689 9}
Neil Ardley, Ian Carr & Don Rendell - Greek Variations & Other Aegean Exercises (1969) {Columbia-Impressed/RePressed 986 689 9}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 311 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 111 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 16 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1969, 2004 Impressed/RePressed / Columbia / Universal | 986 689 9
Jazz / Post Bop / Experimental Big Band / Fusion / British Jazz
Another masterpiece of British jazz reissued on Universal's outstanding Impressed Re-pressed series, where it joins other long unavailable classics such as Amancio D'Silva's Integration , reviewed last month.
Recorded in '69, Greek Variations & Other Aegean Exercises is irresistible on two counts. First, for its daringly conceived and brilliantly performed music, inspired by Greek folk songs and instrumental textures and deep enough to reveal all its treasures only after many repeated listenings. Second, for being recorded at the moment when the Don Rendell/Ian Carr Quintet, a major force in British straight-ahead jazz since '62, had broken up and Carr's equally influential jazz-rock band Nucleus was rising from the ashes.
The first half of the album has composer Neil Ardley directing a fourteen-piece chamber orchestra featuring Rendell and Carr, plus a supporting cast of creme de la creme British musicians in "The Greek Variations," a six-part suite based on a traditional Greek folk tune. The second half features in turn a quintet led by Carr—Nucleus in all but name—and a quartet led by Rendell, on shorter suites maintaining a Greek flavour and ambience.
An undercurrent of brooding turbulence surfaces at various points in the "Variations" suite, as though some sort of tidal wave might erupt from the Aegean at any moment, but at other times the mood is sunnier and vivacious (or delicately moonlit), and there are lovely solo passages, both improvised and composed, from Frank Ricotti on marimba/vibraphone, Karl Jenkins on oboe, Rendell on alto flute (on which he has a voice as distinctive as on tenor sax) and Carr on flugelhorn. Comparisons with the Miles Davis and Gil Evans collaborations inevitably spring to mind. But Carr, though strongly influenced by Davis, is ultimately his own man, and Ardley is absolutely so too, and the result is an entirely fresh approach to composed/improvised orchestral jazz.
The three Carr-composed tracks are performed by Carr plus Nucleus founding members Brian Smith, Chris Spedding, Jeff Clyne and John Marhsall. "Wine Dark Lullaby" and "Orpheus" conjure up balmy Mediterranean nights, soft and lush, while "Persephone's Jive" is a wild Greek dance made ever more urgent by the sustained clatter of Afrobeat in Spedding's aggressive, staccato comping. Only a few minutes long, but still one of the highlights of the set.
The closing Rendell-composed tracks feature Rendell alongside Stan Robinson, Neville Whitehead and Trevor Tomkins. The wistful "Farewell Penelope" could almost come from a film noir soundtrack, with Rendell's tenor evoking a lonely night-time cityscape. "Odysseus, King of Ithaca" and "Veil of Ino" are fiercer, showing off his well loved ruff 'n' tuff side.
It's sad that Ardley, who died earlier this year (2004), didn't live long enough to witness this CD release and the growing renewal of interest in his work. But how very fortunate we are to have this wonderful album available again.
Neil Ardley, Ian Carr & Don Rendell - Greek Variations & Other Aegean Exercises (1969) {Columbia-Impressed/RePressed 986 689 9}
tracklist & personnel:
01 - The Greek Variations
Ian Carr - trumpet,flugelhorn
Mike Gibbs - trombone
Barbara Thompson - soprano & alto sax, flute
Don Rendell - soprano & tenor sax, flute
Karl Jenkins - soprano & baritone sax, oboe
Frank Ricotti - vibes, marimba, percussion
Jeff Clyne - bass
Jack Bruce - bass, electric bass
John Marshall - drums, percussion
Jack Rothenstein, Kenneth Isaacs - violin
Kenneth Essex - viola
Clive Tunnell, Amaryllis Flemming - cello
Neil Ardley - arranger, director
Recorded: October 12, 1969 London
02 - Wine Dark Lullaby
03 - Orpheus
04 - Persephone's Jive
Ian Carr - trumpet, flugelhorn
Brian Smith - tenor & soprano sax
Chris Spedding - guitar
Jeff Clyne - bass
John Marshall - drums
Recorded: November 19, 1969 London
05 - Farewell Penelope
06 - Odysseus, King Of Ithaca
07 - Siren's Song
08 - Veil Of Ino
Don Rendell - tenor & soprano sax, clarinet, alto-flute
Stan Robinson - tenor sax, flute
Neville Whitehead - bass
Trevor Tomkins - drums
Recorded: November, 1969 London
Exact Audio Copy V1.0 beta 1 from 15. November 2010
EAC extraction logfile from 4. March 2011, 17:04
Neil Ardley, Ian Carr & Don Rendell / Greek Variations & Other Aegean Exercises
Used drive : _NEC DVD_RW ND-3520A Adapter: 1 ID: 0
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 48
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Installed external ASPI interface
Gap handling : Appended to previous track
Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 1024 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files\Exact Audio Copy\FLAC\FLAC.EXE
Additional command line options : -8 -V -T "ARTIST=%a" -T "TITLE=%t" -T "ALBUM=%g" -T "DATE=%y" -T "TRACKNUMBER=%n" -T "TOTALTRACKS=%x" -T "GENRE=%m" -T "ALBUMARTIST=%v" -T "ALBUM ARTIST=%v" -T "COMMENT=EAC Secure Mode, Test & Copy, AccurateRip, FLAC -8" %s
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 23:50.02 | 0 | 107251
2 | 23:50.02 | 5:05.70 | 107252 | 130196
3 | 28:55.72 | 1:54.13 | 130197 | 138759
4 | 30:50.10 | 3:30.65 | 138760 | 154574
5 | 34:21.00 | 2:40.41 | 154575 | 166615
6 | 37:01.41 | 4:17.13 | 166616 | 185903
7 | 41:18.54 | 3:59.10 | 185904 | 203838
8 | 45:17.64 | 2:22.05 | 203839 | 214493
Track 1
Filename C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Uploads\Ex\Neil Ardley, Ian Carr & Don Rendell - Greek Variations (1969) [FLAC]\01 - The Greek Variations.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:02.00
Peak level 96.6 %
Extraction speed 5.0 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC E003A2C2
Copy CRC E003A2C2
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [0A3384D9]
Copy OK
Track 2
Filename C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Uploads\Ex\Neil Ardley, Ian Carr & Don Rendell - Greek Variations (1969) [FLAC]\02 - Wine Dark Lullaby.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:02.65
Peak level 96.6 %
Extraction speed 5.6 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 84182542
Copy CRC 84182542
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [752F4598]
Copy OK
Track 3
Filename C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Uploads\Ex\Neil Ardley, Ian Carr & Don Rendell - Greek Variations (1969) [FLAC]\03 - Orpheus.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:02.65
Peak level 96.6 %
Extraction speed 4.8 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC EA489C32
Copy CRC EA489C32
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [A7A4640E]
Copy OK
Track 4
Filename C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Uploads\Ex\Neil Ardley, Ian Carr & Don Rendell - Greek Variations (1969) [FLAC]\04 - Persephone's Jive.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:02.65
Peak level 96.6 %
Extraction speed 4.5 X
Track quality 99.9 %
Test CRC 107F54DC
Copy CRC 107F54DC
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [6F482402]
Copy OK
Track 5
Filename C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Uploads\Ex\Neil Ardley, Ian Carr & Don Rendell - Greek Variations (1969) [FLAC]\05 - Farewell Penelope.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:01.55
Peak level 96.6 %
Extraction speed 5.6 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC FFE62584
Copy CRC FFE62584
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [93F0849E]
Copy OK
Track 6
Filename C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Uploads\Ex\Neil Ardley, Ian Carr & Don Rendell - Greek Variations (1969) [FLAC]\06 - Odysseus, King Of Ithaca.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:02.65
Peak level 96.6 %
Extraction speed 6.2 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 4B77CCC1
Copy CRC 4B77CCC1
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [A0D3FA8D]
Copy OK
Track 7
Filename C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Uploads\Ex\Neil Ardley, Ian Carr & Don Rendell - Greek Variations (1969) [FLAC]\07 - Siren's Song.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:02.65
Peak level 96.6 %
Extraction speed 6.3 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC EDFE0E42
Copy CRC EDFE0E42
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [88AC09AB]
Copy OK
Track 8
Filename C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Uploads\Ex\Neil Ardley, Ian Carr & Don Rendell - Greek Variations (1969) [FLAC]\08 - Veil Of Ino.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:02.65
Peak level 96.6 %
Extraction speed 5.8 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 3DC25062
Copy CRC 3DC25062
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [49B206C6]
Copy OK
All tracks accurately ripped
No errors occurred
End of status report
==== Log checksum 6125B8CAEEA302A04CABEB30FA1E35E16770C82D132E93362AC30B6B99B6C5A8 ====
EAC extraction logfile from 4. March 2011, 17:04
Neil Ardley, Ian Carr & Don Rendell / Greek Variations & Other Aegean Exercises
Used drive : _NEC DVD_RW ND-3520A Adapter: 1 ID: 0
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 48
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Installed external ASPI interface
Gap handling : Appended to previous track
Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 1024 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files\Exact Audio Copy\FLAC\FLAC.EXE
Additional command line options : -8 -V -T "ARTIST=%a" -T "TITLE=%t" -T "ALBUM=%g" -T "DATE=%y" -T "TRACKNUMBER=%n" -T "TOTALTRACKS=%x" -T "GENRE=%m" -T "ALBUMARTIST=%v" -T "ALBUM ARTIST=%v" -T "COMMENT=EAC Secure Mode, Test & Copy, AccurateRip, FLAC -8" %s
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 23:50.02 | 0 | 107251
2 | 23:50.02 | 5:05.70 | 107252 | 130196
3 | 28:55.72 | 1:54.13 | 130197 | 138759
4 | 30:50.10 | 3:30.65 | 138760 | 154574
5 | 34:21.00 | 2:40.41 | 154575 | 166615
6 | 37:01.41 | 4:17.13 | 166616 | 185903
7 | 41:18.54 | 3:59.10 | 185904 | 203838
8 | 45:17.64 | 2:22.05 | 203839 | 214493
Track 1
Filename C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Uploads\Ex\Neil Ardley, Ian Carr & Don Rendell - Greek Variations (1969) [FLAC]\01 - The Greek Variations.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:02.00
Peak level 96.6 %
Extraction speed 5.0 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC E003A2C2
Copy CRC E003A2C2
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [0A3384D9]
Copy OK
Track 2
Filename C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Uploads\Ex\Neil Ardley, Ian Carr & Don Rendell - Greek Variations (1969) [FLAC]\02 - Wine Dark Lullaby.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:02.65
Peak level 96.6 %
Extraction speed 5.6 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 84182542
Copy CRC 84182542
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [752F4598]
Copy OK
Track 3
Filename C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Uploads\Ex\Neil Ardley, Ian Carr & Don Rendell - Greek Variations (1969) [FLAC]\03 - Orpheus.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:02.65
Peak level 96.6 %
Extraction speed 4.8 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC EA489C32
Copy CRC EA489C32
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [A7A4640E]
Copy OK
Track 4
Filename C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Uploads\Ex\Neil Ardley, Ian Carr & Don Rendell - Greek Variations (1969) [FLAC]\04 - Persephone's Jive.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:02.65
Peak level 96.6 %
Extraction speed 4.5 X
Track quality 99.9 %
Test CRC 107F54DC
Copy CRC 107F54DC
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [6F482402]
Copy OK
Track 5
Filename C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Uploads\Ex\Neil Ardley, Ian Carr & Don Rendell - Greek Variations (1969) [FLAC]\05 - Farewell Penelope.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:01.55
Peak level 96.6 %
Extraction speed 5.6 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC FFE62584
Copy CRC FFE62584
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [93F0849E]
Copy OK
Track 6
Filename C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Uploads\Ex\Neil Ardley, Ian Carr & Don Rendell - Greek Variations (1969) [FLAC]\06 - Odysseus, King Of Ithaca.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:02.65
Peak level 96.6 %
Extraction speed 6.2 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 4B77CCC1
Copy CRC 4B77CCC1
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [A0D3FA8D]
Copy OK
Track 7
Filename C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Uploads\Ex\Neil Ardley, Ian Carr & Don Rendell - Greek Variations (1969) [FLAC]\07 - Siren's Song.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:02.65
Peak level 96.6 %
Extraction speed 6.3 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC EDFE0E42
Copy CRC EDFE0E42
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [88AC09AB]
Copy OK
Track 8
Filename C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Uploads\Ex\Neil Ardley, Ian Carr & Don Rendell - Greek Variations (1969) [FLAC]\08 - Veil Of Ino.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:02.65
Peak level 96.6 %
Extraction speed 5.8 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 3DC25062
Copy CRC 3DC25062
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [49B206C6]
Copy OK
All tracks accurately ripped
No errors occurred
End of status report
==== Log checksum 6125B8CAEEA302A04CABEB30FA1E35E16770C82D132E93362AC30B6B99B6C5A8 ====
Neil Ardley, Ian Carr & Don Rendell - Greek Variations & Other Aegean Exercises (1969) {Columbia-Impressed/RePressed 986 689 9}
Neil Ardley, Ian Carr & Don Rendell - Greek Variations & Other Aegean Exercises (1969) {Columbia-Impressed/RePressed 986 689 9}
===