Out of the Cool

Out of the Cool
Studio album by The Gil Evans Orchestra
Released	February 1961
Recorded	November 18 & 30, December 10 & 15, 1960 Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs
Genre	Jazz
Length	44:06
Label	Impulse! A-4
Producer	Creed Taylor
The Gil Evans Orchestra chronology
Great Jazz Standards (1959) Out of the Cool (1961) Into the Hot (1961)

Out of the Cool is a jazz album by The Gil Evans Orchestra, recorded in 1960 and released on the Impulse! label the following year. The album was one of Impulse!'s first four albums, released together, and featured a gatefold design and high production values.^[1]:237

Background

Gil Evans recorded the album a short time after completing a six-week job at the Jazz Gallery club in New York; the personnel was largely the same, with Elvin Jones being added.^[1]:235–6

Music

The first track, "La Nevada", was also recorded by Evans less than two years earlier for the album Great Jazz Standards; the version for Out of the Cool is given a consistent rhythmic structure by Elvin Jones playing shakers, giving the rest of the band greater freedom and leading to a less boppish version than the earlier recording.^[1]:236–7 "Where Flamingos Fly" has a melody stated by trombonist Jimmy Knepper, and uses an earlier Evans arrangement done for vocalist Helen Merrill^[1]:237 The music on this album was part of a move by Evans towards greater freedom in his compostitions and arrangements, this "new work integrated the written and improvised, at times allowing the balance to shift imperceptibly".^[1]:238

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]

The Penguin Guide to Jazz selected this album as part of its suggested "Core Collection", calling it "Evans' masterpiece under his own name and one of the best examples of jazz orchestration since the early Ellington bands".^[3]

Track listing

1. "La Nevada" (Gil Evans) – 15:38
2. "Where Flamingos Fly" (Elthea Peale, Harold Courlander, John Benson Brooks) – 5:14
3. "Bilbao Song" (Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill) – 4:13
4. "Stratusphunk" (George Russell) – 8:04
5. "Sunken Treasure" (Evans) – 4:16
6. "Sister Sadie" (Horace Silver) – 6:57

Tracks 2, 4 and 5 recorded on November 18 and 30, 1960; the remainder on December 10 and 15, 1960.

Personnel

• Gil Evans – piano
• Johnny Coles – trumpet
• Phil Sunkel – trumpet
• Keg Johnson – trombone
• Jimmy Knepper – trombone
• Tony Studd – bass trombone
• Bill Barber – tuba
• Ray Beckenstein – alto saxophone, flute, piccolo
• Eddie Caine – alto saxophone, flute, piccolo
• Budd Johnson – tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone
• Bob Tricarico – flute, piccolo, bassoon
• Ray Crawford – guitar
• Ron Carter – bass
• Elvin Jones – drums
• Charli Persip – drums

References