1. Gil Evans Arrangements
2. Gil Evans Death

'Out of the cool' sits somewhere between the two extremes of Evans' music but in doing so, it expertly captures the cutting edge jazz of the time and is probably the arranger's masterpiece after 'Miles ahead.' It is almost a midway point between his writing for Claude Thornhill and BotC and the later, electronic stuff. I had recently discovered the Gil Evans classic Out of the Cool (through MCA’s then-recent 25th anniversary reissue program, worth noting now that Impulse is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year), delighting time and again in the magnificent “La Nevada,” and, of course, knew the great Miles Davis/Gil Evans classics Porgy and Bess.

The Gil Evans Orchestra Out of the Cool: 2021 180g Vinyl LP

All-Analog 180g Vinyl LP of The Gil Evans Orchestra's Out of the Cool Remastered from the Original Analog Tapes, Pressed at QRP, and Housed in Stoughton Gatefold Jacket

If one album evokes the style, the ethos, and the vibe of Creed Taylor's Impulse! label it is The Gil Evans Orchestra's 1961 masterpiece Out of the Cool. The 48 year old pianist, arranger and bandleader had done much to establish his reputation working with Miles Davis on his Birth of the Cool sessions in the late 1940s and this album's title is a nice nod to its antecedent. When Miles went to record for Columbia he called upon Evans for arrangements for his Miles Ahead (1957), Porgy and Bess (1958), and Sketches of Spain (1960) albums, the latter LP released four months before Out of the cool was recorded.

It features Evans on piano with drummer Elvin Jones and bassist Ron Carter as the rhythm section plus a fabulous horn section, with Ray Beckinstein, Budd Johnson, and Eddie Caine on saxophones; trombonists Jimmy Knepper, Keg Johnson, and Tony Studd; Johnny Coles and Phil Sunkel on trumpet; Bill Barber on tuba; and Bob Tricarico on flute, bassoon, and piccolo. This album was a move towards greater freedom in Evans' compositions and arrangements, but at the same time there are echoes of his recent work with Miles. It includes two great Evans compositions in 'La Nevada' and 'Sunken Treasure.' There's also the lovely standard, 'Where Flamingos Fly,' George Russell's 'Stratusphunk' and Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht's, 'Bilbao Song.'

This all-analog 180g vinyl LP reissue was mastered from the original analog tapes by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound, pressed at QRP, and comes housed in a Stoughton tip-on gatefold jacket.

The Gil Evans Orchestra Out of the Cool: 2021 Track Listing:

1. La Nevada
2. Where Flamingos Fly
3. Bilbao Song
4. Stratusphunk
5. Sunken Treasure

Out of the Cool

Gil Evans Arrangements

I’ve been taking it easy today, attempting to recover from a bout of sickness by loafing about and listening to old records. I don’t know why I haven’t listened to Out of the Cool by the Gil Evans Orchestra for a while, but at least that meant I came back to it relatively fresh.

Gil Evans was one of the few composer/arrangers in Jazz to have successfully blended his own orchestral textures with solo improvisations in such a way that both complement each other; the scored passages he devised are complex and beautiful, but never so rigid that they inhibit the soloist’s imagination. He directed a number of albums that incorporated Jazz solos in classically-inspired orchestral settings, including Sketches of Spain and Porgy and Bess (with Miles Davis). This one is less famous than those, but in my opinion at least as good.

Gil Evans Death

Trumpeter Johnny Coles (no relation) is particularly inspired by the imaginative surroundings constructed by Gil Evans on this album, and he responds by inventing beautiful solo lines on several tracks on this album. But the tonal spectrum he encompasses, his use of dynamics, and his distinctive play with inflection are best illustrated by his feature piece, Sunken Treasure, a mysterious, almost evanescent creation which he fashions out of Evans’ floating harmonies. I think this is the best track off a great album.