Search - George Russell :: The London Concert Volumes 1 + 2

Jazz-rock big band music

N. Dorward | Toronto, ON Canada | 11/14/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This set documents the latterday work of George Russell, conducting a set of jazz-rock charts performed by a large, mostly British band with fine players like Andy Sheppard & Ian Carr. (It also features the notable guitarist Dave "The Fuse" Fiucynski, one of the best players here.) It's very much of a piece with Russell's Blue Note discs of the period (which seem now to be out of print--_The African Game_ & _So What_). Sad to say, despite the talent on display, I find this music only mildly engaging. I respect Russell for his exploration since the mid-1960s of jazz-rock, which parallels the developments in the oeuvres of Miles Davis, Carla Bley & Gil Evans, but I don't think he has ever made an essential album in the idiom. This is worth a listen, but hardly displaces the memory of Russell's classic Riverside & Decca dates."