Gil Evans Orchestra: Blues In Orbit

A sudden, welcome reappearance of Evans's rare Ampex album from the early 1970s, when his music was just beginning to assume its later character. Looser in form and tinged with rock rhythms, this is still unmistakably the work of the orchestral magician who had earlier created marvellous settings for Miles Davis. Here the soloists emerging from the ensemble include saxophonist Billy Harper, trombonist Jimmy Knepper and the previously self-effacing Evans himself on piano. Some of the textures and effects are quite dazzling - and all achieved through scoring and direction, without electronic aid.