This release by
John Lewis'
third stream Orchestra U.S.A. is an ambitious attempt to combine elements of
jazz and
classical music, although not as successful as his earlier LP
Debut. Most of this music was performed by the 30-piece orchestra in a series of concerts during 1964 and 1965, following
Harold Farberman's takeover as conductor following
Gunther Schuller; the music within this release, however, was recorded in the studio.
Lewis only composed one track for this session,
"The Spriritual," an elaborate reworking of the very familiar
"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," featuring alto saxophonist
Jerome Richardson. The remaining tracks come off a bit heavy-handed; at their worst, they sound like part of an overblown movie
soundtrack.
Milijenko Prohaska's three-part
"Concerto No. 2 for Orchestra" has some fine solos by trumpeter
Joe Newman and pianist
Dick Katz, but is quite uneven.
Hall Overton, who was best known for his
big-band arrangements of the works of
Thelonious Monk, was commissioned by
Lewis to write
"Sonorities for Orchestra" for this recording. Bassist
Richard Davis is prominently featured but, again, the music is a bit obtuse.
Jimmy Giuffre's
"Hex" was also commissioned by
Lewis; it falls plainly in the
avant-garde, but comes up short when compared to his more familiar compositions.
Teo Macero's atonal
"Pressure" grows tiresome even more quickly. This long-unavailable LP may attract the attention of the most devout fans of
John Lewis, but anyone else can safely bypass it. ~ Ken Dryden
