Jimmy Giuffre-Music for People Birds Butterflies and Mosquitoes 1973+ River Chant 1975

 Jimmy Giuffre genre bender extraordinaire, without who's contribution contemporary free improvised music might not even exist ..or would at least be very different.

.He did it before AMM, SME,MEV.. or any other Acronymed cats!....

Innovative arranger with Woody Herman in the 40's,inventor of folk inflected chamber
Jazz,,............pioneer of so called third stream... and  in a lesser trawled period as on these lp's synthesiser of a raw rhythmically but paradoxically ethereal.. propulsive  freewheeling free Jazz,with strong Asian and African accents ....and the tunes are in no way generic or anodyne (despite the track titles new age connotations)

Giuffre had the gift here of a flexible creative rhythm section ..(where the F..are they now?), huge dynamic range .. extraordinary MAGICO empathy!

Damned...these records are ., too beautiful ,for this grotesque corrupting physical reality we are obliged to inhabit..or think we inhabit... trapped in some Devils dream time!

I know the Choice catalogue has been reissued in Japan circa early thousands , i think there was also an abridged reissue culled from both these lp's .. but that's long gone too..i think!

enjoy!

Jimmy Giuffre Trio (with Paul Bley, Steve Swallow) - Live Austria 1961 (Radio broadcast)

Giuffre's first trio comprised himself, guitarist Jim Hall and a number of different bass players. The bass was subsequently replaced by valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer.

The second trio, of which this recording is an example, was formed in 1961. It has often been described as chamber jazz. Listening to it you can easily imagine that Anthony Braxton might have taken some inspiration from Giuffre's playing. Commercially, they weren't successful. They recorded the excellent album "Free Fall", but disbanded in 1963 after, it is said, that they made only 35 cents each from one gig. They were playing stuff that was year's ahead of what the US audience would listening to. Perhaps if they'd upped sticks and moved to Europe they may have been part of the free jazz scene that developed there in the 60s.

I guess that they each went there separate ways, Guiffre largely to teaching and writing music. The trio reformed briefly in the 1990s and did a European tour, but Parkinson's disease forced Giuffre into retirement.

Jimmy Giuffre/Steve Swallow/Paul Bley
Live at Großer Saal der Arbeiterkammer, Graz/A, October 27,1961

Lineup:
Jimmy Giuffre -cl
Paul Bley -p
Steve Swallow -b

Tracks:
01 ICTUS 3.13
02 RIEF HESITATION 4.56
03 THE GAMUT 5.39
04 STRETCHING OUT 12.33 [aka Suite for Germany]
05 TRANCE 7.28
06 CRY, WANT 10.34
07 CARLA 7.24
08 WHIRRRR 5.47
09 TEMPORARILY 5.41
10 SCOOTIN' ABOUT 7.19
11 THAT'S TRUE, THAT'S TRUE 8.08

Flac and MP3 links in comments. Sound quality is reasonable for a nigh on fifty year old recording. My thanks to seeder.