Sunbird (album)

Last updated
Sunbird
Allan Holdsworth & Gordon Beck - 1979 - Sunbird.jpg
Studio album by Gordon Beck
Released 1979 (1979) [1]
Genre Jazz
Length36:28
Label JMS–Cream
Producer Jean-Marie Salhani
Gordon Beck chronology
The French Connection
(1978)		Sunbird
(1979)		 The Things You See
(1980)

Sunbird is a studio album by pianist Gordon Beck, released in 1979 through JMS–Cream Records. This was the second Beck recording to feature guitarist Allan Holdsworth, following up Conversation Piece (1977). [2] Two additional collaborative albums would follow: The Things You See (1980) and With a Heart in My Song (1988). Both Sunbird and The Things You See were reissued together as a compilation in 1989 (with the omission of "Flight" from Sunbird) [3] and again in 1994 (including "Flight"). [4] Sunbird by itself was reissued on 17 September 1996. [5]

Gordon James Beck was an English jazz pianist and composer. At the time of his death, 26 albums had been released under his name.

Allan Holdsworth English guitarist and composer

Allan Holdsworth was a British guitarist and composer. He released twelve studio albums as a solo artist and played a variety of musical styles in a career spanning more than four decades, but is best known for his work in jazz fusion.

<i>The Things You See</i> album by Allan Holdsworth

The Things You See is a collaborative studio album by guitarist Allan Holdsworth and pianist Gordon Beck, released in 1980 through JMS–Cream Records. Both The Things You See and Beck's 1979 album Sunbird were reissued together as a compilation in 1989 and again in 1994. Holdsworth and Beck would later collaborate again on With a Heart in My Song in 1988.

Contents

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [6]

Scott Yanow at AllMusic gave Sunbird three stars out of five, noting that "the overall music is not as memorable as one would hope". However, despite saying that it was not a classic, he nonetheless deemed it of interest to Holdsworth fans curious to hear him in a different context than usual. [6]

Scott Yanow is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author.

AllMusic online music database

AllMusic is an online music database. It catalogs more than 3 million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musical artists and bands. It launched in 1991, predating the World Wide Web.

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."The Gathering"2:45
2."Flight"
  • "Part 1"
  • "Part 2"
  • "Part 3"
  • "Part 4""
15:29
  • 6:43
  • 3:00
  • 2:49
  • 3:14
3."Halfway House"6:21
4."Sunbird"5:03
5."Second Summer"6:49
Total length:36:32

Personnel

Guitar fretted string instrument

The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that usually has six strings. It is typically played with both hands by strumming or plucking the strings with either a guitar pick or the finger(s)/fingernails of one hand, while simultaneously fretting with the fingers of the other hand. The sound of the vibrating strings is projected either acoustically, by means of the hollow chamber of the guitar, or through an electrical amplifier and a speaker.

An electric violin is a violin equipped with an electronic output of its sound. The term most properly refers to an instrument intentionally made to be electrified with built-in pickups, usually with a solid body. It can also refer to a violin fitted with an electric pickup of some type, although "amplified violin" or "electro-acoustic violin" are more accurate in that case.

Rhodes piano Electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes

The Rhodes piano is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became particularly popular throughout the 1970s. Like a piano, it generates sound using keys and hammers, but instead of strings, the hammers strike thin metal tines, which are then amplified via an electromagnetic pickup which is plugged into an external keyboard amplifier and speaker.

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References

  1. ↑ "Gordon Beck - Sunbird". Discogs. Retrieved 2014-09-17.
  2. ↑ "John Stevens-"Conversation Piece"". www.gordonbeck.net. Retrieved 2016-09-10.
  3. ↑ "Allan Holdsworth / Gordon Beck – The Things You See / Sunbird". Discogs. Retrieved 2014-09-16.
  4. ↑ "Allan Holdsworth,Gordon Beck-"The Things You See/Sunbird"". gordonbeck.net. Retrieved 2014-09-17.
  5. ↑ "Gordon Beck - Sunbird CD". CD Universe. Retrieved 2014-09-17.
  6. 1 2 Yanow, Scott. "The Things You See/Sunbird - Allan Holdsworth & Gordon Beck". AllMusic . Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2014-09-17.
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