Saturday 25 June 2011

The Elysian Spring



Super rare, and of holy grail proportions, here is Glass Flowers. Beautifully remastered and digitized for enhanced sonic pleasures.

Wise words from Re-release :

The history of Elysian Spring is as eclectic and unusual as the music they made. When the summer of love was gripping the west coast, the group was busy creating a sound based on pure improvisation. The members were inspired by the classic jazz of Brubeck and Adderley, and also sound of early new age music from Rainer’s trip to Berkeley. They quite literally would practice in the fields in Western MA. This openness helped the group evolve while keeping it separate from the frequently stale and clinical school-based jazz in the surrounding.

The original liner notes by Andy Haigh are striking in their honesty. Like good jazz, they ask more questions than they give solid answers. For the sound of Elysian Spring is in questioning, considering, and evaluating possibilities. This must be a meaningful album, because nearly 40 years later the music is still startlingly fresh.


Trickles of classic Blue Note bop can be heard throughout “Glass Flowers – a solid-grooving soul-jazz feel predominates “2 & 2” – but overall the album is full of the kind of deft choices that only happen when musicians give themselves over to improvisation. This experimentation is most papable on the Gilles Peterson favorite “Blue Sands,” a modal song in 4/4. The theme is carried by the guitar in an unusual way for the late 60s, and is the audio equivalent of a soothing balm.


“Lotus” is another song that stands out for its unusual instrumentation of two flutes. To achieve the tones he desired, Bertrams frequently disassembled his flute mid-performance and used his hand as an extension of the instrument. This track is to be included on a recent compilation on BBE Records called Super Heavy Jazz, but the only place to get the full album is right here.


Musicians


Rainer Bertrams – Piano, vibraphone, flute

Bruce Krasin – Saxophone, flute

Lenny Ezbicki – Drums, guitar

Jim Bridges – Guitar, bass


Merliani – Trumpet/flugelhorn, bass

Costello – Guitar on “7th Sea”


Notes


The self-titled album was here retitled “Glass Flowers” by Rainer Bertrams to more accurately reflect the music’s true nature.

Engineered by Art McLain

Recorded by John Wojciak

Photos by Ric Steliga


18 comments:

  1. http://www.mediafire.com/?6smcs3pyqc7krxd

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh yes. You never fail to deliver Katonah. What a way to start the whole thing off, Blue Sands. Excellent stuff allround.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Really enjoying this so far - thanks very muc!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Really loving this,Katonah.

    Cheers.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Going to be late for work so I can download and put on the old Ipod. Truly a gift. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  6. just awesome. thanks so much.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Praise to you! thank you mate! most beautiful thing I've heard in a while, this really hit the spot this evening. I dont know the words to describe how well it did :) this truly is All healer, Soul filler ;)

    ReplyDelete
  8. @ H. First time i heard this was pretty special. Glad it had an impact ...

    ReplyDelete
  9. It says your file of this is set to private. How I wish it were otherwise--I have the older LP rip from Reza. It's way cool that you posted it though, Katonah. Thanks for letting us know it was available.

    ReplyDelete
  10. katonah, please, repost this cd!!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I was inspiredfrom your commentary to purchase a digital file from the reissue label. Glad I did. Very nice period piece.

    ReplyDelete
  12. hi there any chance of a re-up?? this one's so hard to find. thanks :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. FreedomPop is Britian's #1 100% FREE mobile phone provider.

    With voice, SMS & data plans are priced at £0.00/month.

    ReplyDelete

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.