Mike Gibbs Michael Gibbs/Tanglewood '63 CD - Import

Michael Gibbs/Tanglewood '63 assembles arranger Michael Gibbs classic LPs for the Deram label. If Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band had actually existed -- a sprawling, Nehru-jacketed psychedelic orchestra come to life -- their music would have undoubtedly sounded exactly like Gibbs' self-titled Deram debut. Recorded with British crossover titans including guitarist Chris Spedding, trumpeter Kenny Wheeler and electric pianist Gordon Beck, the album was a seminal turning point in the history of U.K. jazz-rock, embracing avant-garde-inspired brass passages, electrifying guitar solos, and thunderous yet funky rhythms to create music entirely of its time but distinctly out of time as well. And for all its post-Hendrix sound and spirit, Michael Gibbs still retains the soulfulness of conventional jazz -- the music speaks to the body as loudly as it does the intellect. Tanglewood '63 is even better, vividly majestic music of remarkable scope and energy -- Gibbs' ingenious arrangements suggest a pop-art incarnation of a traditional big band. Assembled from blistering guitar riffage, fiery brass and deeply idiosyncratic rhythms, Tanglewood '63 is most impressive for the tactile sumptuousness of Gibbs' sound -- the music boasts as many tints and textures as a Pantone Color Guide. ~ Jason Ankeny

2 LPs on 2 CDs: MICHAEL GIBBS (1970)/TANGLEWOOD 63 (1971).

Composer: Michael Gibbs.

Personnel: Chris Spedding (guitar, bass guitar); Ray Russell (guitar); Alan Skidmore (flute, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone); John Surman (soprano saxophone, baritone saxophone); Ray Warleigh (alto saxophone); Kenny Wheeler (flugelhorn); Chris Pyne (trombone); Gordon Beck (electric piano); Jack Bruce (bass guitar); John Marshall , Tony Oxley (drums).Down Beat (p.77) - 4 stars out of 5 - "Gibbs' gift for melody is as powerful as his talent for complex orchestration..."