GEORGE RUSSELL - THE ESSENCE OF GEORGE RUSSELL (1966-67)

electronic sonata for souls loved by nature (A)
now and then (B)

(A) jan allan, maff falay, bertil lövgren, lars samuelson, stanton davis (tp), arne domnerus, claes rosendhal, lennart aberg, erik nilsson, jan garbarek (reeds), olle lind (bass tb), berndt egerblach (vbs), bengt hallberg, george russell (p), rune gustafsson, terje rypdahl (g), georg riedel, aril andersen (b), egil johansen, jon christensen (d), sabu martinez (cgs)

(B) pall boldtvig, palle mikkelborg, bertil lövgren, jan allan (tp), georg vernon, gunnar medberg (tb), runo ericksson (b tb), christer boustedt, claes rosendahl, bernt rosengren, jan garbarek, erik nilsson (reeds), george russell (p), rune gustafsson (el-g), roman dylag, jon christensen (d), rupert clemendore (cgas)

"Originally issued on the Norwegian Sonet label in 1971 and later re-released on Soul Note (without "Concerto for Self-Accompanied Guitar"), The Essence Of... contained George Russell's first large-scale work to incorporate electronic elements from contemporary classical music as well as an emerging influence of modern rock. "Electronic Sonata for Souls Loved by Nature" is a massive work in which a jazz big band made up of many of the period's finest Scandinavian musicians serves as the backing orchestra for the very youthful Jan Garbarek quartet with guitarist Terje Rypdal, bassist Arild Andersen, and drummer Jon Christensen. A fairly abstract tape made up of moody, organy sounds is generally running in the background, sometimes predominating when the orchestra subsides [...]" ~ Brian Olewnick, All Music Guide