Released 1972 Length 97:53 Ode
(1972) Zurich Concerts
(1988) Release date 1972 | Recorded April 22, 1972 Label Incus 6/7 Artist Barry Guy Genre Free jazz | |
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Venue Oxford Town Hall, England Free jazz albums Iskra 1903, The Music Improvisation Company, The Topography of the Lun, Spirits Rejoice, The Eighth | ||
Ode is an album by the London Jazz Composers' Orchestra composed by bassist Barry Guy which was recorded as part of the English Bach Festival at the Oxford Town Hall in 1972 and first released as a double album on the Incus label then as a double CD on Intakt in 1996 with additional material.
Contents
Reception
The Allmusic review by Thom Jurek called it "among the most profound, hard-swinging, mind-bending exercises they've ever recorded" and states "the result is a stunning array of questions, colors, shapes, timbres, textures, and moods. For Guy to score such an intricate tome, opening up the orchestra is an artistic feat; for it to sound so approachable and welcoming to non-musicians, or those approaching the music tentatively or enthusiastically, Ode is a kind of miracle".
The Penguin Guide to Jazz identified the album as part of their suggested "Core Collection" of essential jazz albums and awarded the compilation a "Crown" signifying a recording that the authors "feel a special admiration or affection for".
Track listing
All compositions by Barry Guy.
- "Part I: Introduction - The End - Edgar Ende, 1931" - 8:58
- "Part II: Strophe I - Memory of the Future - Oscar Dominguez, 1939" - 8.56
- "Part III: Antistrophe I - Exact Sensibility - Oscar Dominguez, 1935" - 14.11
- "Part IV: Strophe II - Indefinite Indivisibility - Yves Tanguy, 1942" - 23.44
- "Part V: Antistrophe II - According to the Laws of Chance - Jean Arp, 1917" - 10.56
- "Part VI: Epôde - Presence of Mind- René Magritte, 1958" - 19.00
- "Part VII: Coda - Melancholy Departure - Georgio de Chirico, 1916" - 11.48 Bonus track on CD reissue