Giant Box

Last updated
Giant Box
Giant Box.jpg
Studio album by Don Sebesky
Released 1973
Recorded April and May, 1973
Studio Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ
Genre Jazz
Length59:31
Label CTI
CTI 6031/32
Producer Creed Taylor
Don Sebesky chronology
Distant Galaxy
(1972) Distant Galaxy1972
Giant Box
(1973)
The Rape of El Morro
(1975) The Rape of El Morro1975

Giant Box is a double album by American arranger/conductor and composer Don Sebesky recorded in 1973 and released on the CTI label. [1]

A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording is longer than the capacity of the medium. Recording artists often think of double albums as comprising a single piece artistically; however, there are exceptions such as John Lennon's Some Time in New York City and Pink Floyd's Ummagumma and OutKast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. Another example of this approach is Works Volume 1 by Emerson Lake and Palmer, where side one featured Keith Emerson, side two Greg Lake, side three Carl Palmer, and side four was by the entire group.

Don Sebesky is an American jazz trombonist, keyboardist and arranger.

CTI Records American record label

CTI Records is a jazz record label founded in 1967 by Creed Taylor. CTI was a subsidiary of A&M before becoming independent in 1970. Its first album was A Day in the Life by guitarist Wes Montgomery in 1967 Its roster included George Benson, Ron Carter, Eumir Deodato, Astrud Gilberto, Freddie Hubbard, Bob James, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Hubert Laws, Stanley Turrentine, and Walter Wanderley,

Contents

Reception

The Allmusic review states "This may have been Creed Taylor's most ambitious single project... Thankfully the musicmaking lives up to the billing. Everything that gave CTI its distinctive sound and identity is here -- the classical adaptations, elaborate orchestrations and structuring, pop-tune covers, plenty of room for the star soloists to stretch out in a combo format... Giant Box still ranks as a sensational coup and a reminder of how potent CTI was at its peak". [2] All About Jazz reviewer Dan Bilwasky said "While Giant Box is indicative of the bigger-is-better approach of the times, it also serves as a benchmark for creativity in arranging and composition, and helps to place Sebesky's talents in the proper light". [3]

<i>All About Jazz</i> comprehensive American website for jazz enthusiasts and professionals, based in Philadelphia

All About Jazz is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, Jazz Near You, about local concerts and events.

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [2]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [4]

Track listing

All compositions by Don Sebesky except where noted

  1. "Firebird/Birds of Fire" (Igor Stravinsky/John McLaughlin) - 13:57
  2. "Song to a Seagull" (Joni Mitchell) - 5:49
  3. "Free as a Bird" - 8:16
  4. "Psalm 150" (Jimmy Webb) - 8:10
  5. "Vocalise" (Sergei Rachmaninoff) - 5:40
  6. "Fly/Circles" - 9:49
  7. "Semi-Tough" - 7:50

Personnel

Electric piano musical instrument used by many of the great musicians such as Ray Charles

An electric piano is an electric musical instrument which produces sounds when a performer presses the keys of the piano-style musical keyboard. Pressing keys causes mechanical hammers to strike metal strings, metal reeds or wire tines, leading to vibrations which are converted into electrical signals by magnetic pickups, which are then connected to an instrument amplifier and loudspeaker to make a sound loud enough for the performer and audience to hear. Unlike a synthesizer, the electric piano is not an electronic instrument. Instead, it is an electro-mechanical instrument. Some early electric pianos used lengths of wire to produce the tone, like a traditional piano. Smaller electric pianos used short slivers of steel to produce the tone. The earliest electric pianos were invented in the late 1920s; the 1929 Neo-Bechstein electric grand piano was among the first. Probably the earliest stringless model was Lloyd Loar's Vivi-Tone Clavier. A few other noteworthy producers of electric pianos include Baldwin Piano and Organ Company and the Wurlitzer Company.

Clavinet musical instrument

The clavinet is an electrically amplified clavichord that was invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany from 1964 to the early 1980s. Hohner produced seven models over the years, designated I, II, L, C, D6, E7 and Duo. Its distinctive bright staccato sound has featured most prominently in funk, jazz-funk, reggae, rock, and soul songs.

Accordion Bellows-driven free-reed aerophone musical instruments

Accordions are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type, colloquially referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist. The concertina and bandoneón are related; the harmonium and American reed organ are in the same family.

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References

  1. CTI Records discography accessed February 24, 2012
  2. 1 2 Ginell, R. S. Allmusic Review accessed February 24, 2012
  3. Bilawsky, D. All About Jazz Review, accessed August 29, 2018
  4. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 176. ISBN   0-394-72643-X.