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Don Sebesky – Giant Box (1973/2013)
DSF Stereo DSD64/2.82MHz | Time – 59:32 minutes | 2,35 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download – Source: e-Onkyo | Booklet, Front Cover | © CTI Records
This may have been Creed Taylor’s most ambitious single project. As the cash was flowing in the wake of Deodato’s massive “2001” hit, Taylor rounded up almost every headliner on CTI’s roster, had house-arranger Don Sebesky write big-thinking charts for them, and gave Sebesky top billing and two LPs of space. Two decades later, the lineup reads almost like a gathering of the gods — Freddie Hubbard, Randy Brecker, Hubert Laws, Paul Desmond, Joe Farrell, Grover Washington, Jr., Milt Jackson, George Benson, Bob James, Ron Carter, Jack DeJohnette, Billy Cobham, Airto Moreira, Jackie Cain and Roy Kral, all on one album. Thankfully the musicmaking lives up to the billing. Everything that gave CTI its distinctive sound and identity is here — the classical adaptations (Stravinsky’s Firebird is merged shotgun-style with John McLaughlin’s “Birds of Fire”), elaborate orchestrations and structuring, pop-tune covers, plenty of room for the star soloists to stretch out in a combo format. The stars all come out to shine; Desmond sounds especially inspired in a shimmering “Song to a Seagull” and Hubbard and Washington burn furiously on the appropriately-titled “Free as a Bird.” And Sebesky was given a flyer to experiment; hence the wild extended swarms of freeform strings on “Firebird” and Laws’ fancy Echoplexed winds on “Fly.” The two original LPs were gathered in a classical-style box, complete with a booklet of photos and an interview with Sebesky, but the austere CBS CD reissue condenses everything onto a generic single disc. However less ostentatious, Giant Box still ranks as a sensational coup and a reminder of how potent CTI was at its peak.
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Don Sebesky – The Rape Of El Morro (1975/2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 36:29 minutes | 1,34 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © CTI Records
The Rape of El Morro is an album by American arranger/conductor and composer Don Sebesky featuring performances recorded in 1975 and released on the CTI label.
An album with one of the most compelling covers ever featured on the CTI label – a fantastic achievement for ultra-hip arranger Don Sebesky! Don first got his start working on complicated charts for 60s singers and musicians – an early legacy of music that really set him apart, and made Sebesky one of the key forces in taking popular music into much mature territory at the time! By the point of this album, Sebesky’s really at the top of his game – an artist with a vision that’s complex, but never clunky – able to hang onto the jazz core you’d expect from CTI, while stretching out into these rich modes that really blow away the competition. There’s a spooky, soundtrack-like vibe at points – although the album’s definitely a jazz set through and through – thanks to horns from the Brecker Brothers and David Sanborn. Joan LaBarbera turns in a bit of nicely eerie vocals – and titles include “Moon Dreams”, “Footprints Of The Giant”, “Lucky Seven”, and “Skyliner”.
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