Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com
Vibraphonist Gary Burton has had an extraordinary career. The four-mallet pioneer and jazz-fusion trailblazer has won seven Grammys and continues to make superb music in the States and abroad. I've always been fond of his 1960s recordings. Through these albums, you can hear jazz transition in the hands of one young artist, shifting from jazz-pop (Groovy Sound of Music) to jazz-samba (with Stan Getz), jazz-pop rock (Time Machine), jazz-country (Tennessee Firebird), Latin-jazz with George Shearing, jazz-fusion (Duster) and beyond. One of my favorites by Gary during this period is Something's Coming. [Photo above of Gary Burton in 1963]
Recorded in August 1963, Something's Coming features Gary Burton (vib), Jim Hall (g), Chuck Israels (b) and Larry Bunker (d). There are jazz standards (On Green Dolphin Street), abstract originals (Mike Gibbs' Six Improvisatory Sketches and Jim Hall's Careful) and Broadway show tunes (the album's title track, from West Side Story, which is the album's high point for me). What makes this album particularly special is how Gary and Jim Hall interact—circling each other, musically, and playing off each other in challenging ways.
The album was produced for RCA by George Avakian. Both Jim and Gary were recording separately for the label in 1963, and bringing them together must have seemed like a natural move for George, given each artist's musical sophistication and passion for improvisation. Gary was just 20 at the time, and like Herbie Hancock (who was 23 in '63), he was a prodigy, exhibiting enormous jazz skills and depth at an early age. Jim was 33 and had been recording extensively since the 1950s with artists on the cutting edge. Israels and Bunker had been two-thirds of the Bill Evans Trio.
As with Undercurrent (above), Jim's first duet album with Bill Evans in 1962, you can hear deft instrumental swordplay on Something's Coming. Breathtaking stuff.
Today, Gary and I spoke by email...
"Jim and I didn’t plan out the record together. I convinced Jim to do it, and he just came to the studio for the two days we recorded. I planned all the tunes and the arrangements, though we fine-tuned things during the sessions, of course. Jim was famously reclusive, but weeks later I managed to talk him into coming uptown to my apartment to listen to the rough takes of the album, to see if he had any suggestions. That's when I told him I had worries about choosing the vibes as my instrument—too little known, I feared. I said, 'What if it turns out to be about as popular as the accordion?' Jim told me about this Argentine guy—Astor Piazzolla—who was a killer jazz player of an accordion-type of instrument and that I shouldn't worry about it. Little did I know I would meet Astor a couple of years later and then tour and record with him in the 1980s. Two decades later, I mentioned that to Jim. He said he didn’t remember telling me about Piazzolla, but hey, a lot of time had passed in the meantime."
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Gary Burton's Something's Coming (RCA) with Jim Hall here.
JazzWax clip: Here's Something's Coming from the album of the same name...
Used with permission by Marc Myers
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