4 Gary McFarland LPs: Orchestral Jazz Composer, Arranger, Vibraphonist Vocalist

$

45

 Four vinyl Gary McFarland LP quartet:

Butterscotch Rum, with Peter Smith, still in factory wrap. BDS 59001.

   Mint, factory Wrapped, never opened, upper left corner of sleeve, bumped, with distributor clip as well.

Hugh Oliver Review 

At $68 for the CD and no download available I doubt if this recording is doing brisk sales. I was fortunate enough to get it when it was around $25. Those who recognize the rare genius of McFarland AND have money should give Butterscotch Rum a try. The music and lyrics here have a definite counterculture angle, which dates the project, and that is probably a negative; but McFarland's version of counterculture still has his own unique talent and vision.

While all the songs are at least interesting and listenable, the overall highlight has to be the seven minute 'Rain On the Ocean'. Peter Smith's lyrics are about a disabled man who finds joy in dreams and limited affection. McFarland's music for 'Rain' uses a ground bass line with bowed string bass and bass clarinet combination under a melody with sequences of descending 5th intervals. While there's a nod to Debussy, it still emerges as pure McFarland. Keyboardist Warren Bernhardt makes a vital contribution on 'Rain' and all other songs for that matter.

McFarland and Peter Smith share vocals throughout this disc. Smith has a slightly raspier and rougher voice than McFarland but they blend well enough. Some songs, including 'Rain' have just McFarland doing the singing and he sounds great--gentle, smooth, plaintive.

I think Doug Payne had it right when he suggested that McFarland's Pop albums, or at least those which aren't pure jazz, are still valid and artistic works which showcase this artist's sensitivity, depth, and occasional melancholy.

Way too many don't seem to know anything about McFarland's music, much less that when McFarland passed away in 1971 (also the year of this recording) the world lost a great musician.

2.) Gary McFarland  Profiles: Recorded Live   (51yrs ago to the day  right now, Feb. 6th, 1966)  On Impulse.

      Also never played new vinyl in wrap, which has come loose in parts, but record has never been removed.

       I've scanned list of two dozen influential musicians whose work influenced these unique personal compositions of McFarland.

        Here is a review from RBSProds:

             Five FASCINATING Stars. This rare Impulse label vinyl recording captures the legendary composer, arranger, vibist Gary McFarland leading his 20-piece jazz orchestra through 6 joyous original compositions, recorded live at Lincoln Center in NYC on 6 February 1966. This music is still fresh in the 21st Century and is a perfect example of the star-crossed McFarland's acclaimed orchestral composing and arranging artistry during the jazz phase of his rather shorten career. Featuring a large all-star orchestra that includes Clark Terry, Bernie Glow, Bill Berry, and Joe Newman on trumpets, Bob Brookmeyer and Jimmy Cleveland on trombones, Zoot Sims, Phil Woods, Jerome Richardson on reeds; Bob Northern on french horn, Gabor Szabo and Sam Brown on amplified and unamplified guitars; Richard Davis on double bass; Joe Cocuzzo on drums, Tommy Lopez on congas, and the maestro himself on vibes and marimba.

The recording opens with an 8 minute, beautifully executed 3-movement jazz concerto called "Winter Colors": "An Early Morning Winter Stroll" is a gentle jazz waltz featuring the guitars of Gabor Szabo and Sam Brown, Richard Davis on double bass, piercing muted trumpets, and Jerry Dodgion's serpentine flute solo; the second short, languid movement features compelling ornate orchestrations depicting a "Grey Afternoon"; and finally the uptempo "January Jubilee" has solos by Szabo and an energized Phil Woods, amid McFarland's punchy 'see-saw' brass and reed sectional arrangement. "Willie" is a poignant, bluesy McFarland portrait of his friend, trombonist Willie Dennis who had perished in a car wreck the previous year, featuring dixieland-like orchestrations and a huge Zoot Sims solo. And closing out Side One, "Sage Hands" features marvelous solos by multi-instrumentalist Jerome Richardson on baritone sax this time, Woods, and Sims.

3.) America the Beautiful: An Account of its Disappearance,  Skype publisher, Stereo Sk-8, 1968

      VG+ scratch free vinyl in VG gatefold sleeve.

       Review by Contemporary Media Introspectives:

       My father introduced me to the music of Gary McFarland when I was in my early teens. As raised on Jazz and big band (Quincy, Ellington, Maynard Ferguson, etc), I found this album to be absolutely mind blowing on 1968, as it still is now, over 40 yrs later. It is quite ambitious in scope and still sounds very fresh-way ahead of it's time. The arrangements are powerful, the song melodies have traces of "West Side Story" all over them (in a good way), yet this is certainly no exploitation of that fine score. Key musicians include Jerome Richardson, Eric Gale, Bernard Purdie, Chuck Rainey. Eric Gale's screaming electric guitar provides & dominates the rock elements, and Eric was one of the most blusey flavored Jazz guitarists around. Grady Tate's drumming is steady and superb. But, for me, it's the shimmering brass, and the stellar production that stand out. ("80 Miles An Hour Thru Beer Can Country" is just killer). Originally recorded for McFarland's own custom label, Skye, this is complex harmonic Jazz fusion of a different breed. It has bite, it is cynical, it's humorous at moments, brooding and majestic, and at monents very in the pocket funky for lack of better tems to describe the music... Get this if you enjoy orchestral music that makes you think. It paints a sonic landscape of an America that once was, but isn't anymore. Gary, you are sorely missed...

4.)  The In Sound, near mint vinyl in gatefold sleeve, Fair, soiled, has a ring, label residue on front, with light spotting.

      Here is a review by  Cagney Davis

                Some of my earliests memories recall sunny childhood visions of southern california during the mid-sixties- the smell of ice plants, walks to the beach, the cool, cloudy mornings turning each day to the glorious warmth of lazy childhood afternoons spent running in the yard as mom worked in her garden. The soundtrack to these years was headlined by the glorious gentle tones of such monsters of bossa nova as Jobim, Getz and the Gilbertos'. Even now, though, nothing recalls that easy, breezy so.cal. feeling as fast as the soft samba sounds of Gary Mcfarland. This album, "The In Sound", reveals Mcfarlands truly unique gifts. Never is his vocalese smoother or more intoxicating. Sweet velvety vibes alternatingly soulful or filled with whimsy. From his haunting spanish landscapes in "The Moment of Truth" and "The Hills of Verdugo" to the gently swinging cool of "Overeasy" and "Fried Bananas", Mcfarlands sound captures completely the mix of innocence and meloncoly that is evoked by the bossa nova movement of the sixties. A absolute must have.