Released date: 25-06-2007 (originally released in 1958)

2007 UK limited edition 8-track LP pressed on 180gram VIRGIN VINYL; originally released in 1958 - This is a LP of Gil Evans rearranging classic jazz standards like "St. Louis Blues," "King Porter Stomp" and "Lester Leaps." you can enjoy as a peek into modern jazz of the late '50s, or as a set of very interesting big band orchestrations - Presented in sealed & stickered picture slee

Tracks:
01. St Louis Blues 
02. King Porter Stomp 
03. Willow Tree 
04. Struttin’ With Some Barbecue 
05. Lester Leaps In 
06. ‘Round Midnight 
07. Manteca 
08. Bird Feathers

At last, one might cry, at last these gems are available again after so many years! Strangely enough, connoisseurs of fine sound and music with a difference have been very reserved when it came to expressing their appreciation of the arranger, composer and conductor Gil Evans. Gil’s milestones in jazz history (his work with Miles Davis and his melancholy trumpet is now legendary) have become entrenched in our memories thanks to his unusual combination of instruments: waldhorns, tuba, oboe - all played by jazz musicians.
In particular Kurt Weill’s "Barbara Song" from the Dreigroschenoper is a real hit as regards the art of arranging: to use a harp and tenor saxophone was risky, to say the least, but the result is highly convincing. In "El Toreador" the influence of the Spaniard Manuel de Falla is undeniable, but what Johnny Coles and the three bass players make of it is pure jazz.
Without wanting to resort to a cliché, it must be said that this re-release has been worth the waiting: work on the numbers took three years, and the tape has been lingering in the archive for the past 40 years. From beginning to end, the five numbers provide fans in the year 2005 with proof of Gil Evans’s masterly arrangements and endless ideas. And what is more, the sound of this re-release is far better than the flat sound of that from the Sixties.