Jimmy Giuffre, Paul Bley, Steve Swallow - Emphasis, Flight, 1961

There was a request for this one which is reportedly gettng harder to come by. This copy was located on Usenet, so thanks to the original poster. These recordings were only out in the 90s as two single cds and then reissued as a double cd on the Hatology label, but in a limited edition. There is another double cd, reissued by ECM, containing studio recordings in New York from earlier in the same year and still generally available. We posted back in 2008 another concert, in Austria, from the same European tour here, but the links to that one may have to be updated, which I'll see to.

This is chamber jazz, somewhere at the intersection of contemporary music and jazz, on entirely new terrain and an experiment not well understood at the time, as this trio were to prove short-lived. However, they regrouped in the 90s and have belatedly received the recognition that should have been forthcoming thirty years earlier. Today a spin-off group of sorts has adopted the name of Free Fall, the final album from the trio, and the instrumentation as well. We have also posted the Free Fall trio in the past.

A couple of quotes to give an indication of what this trio was about:

It would be wrong to say that this trio was ahead of its time, though their methods have proven invaluable to the musicians who followed, since they were so much of their time, a time when a breath of fresh air blew through the arts and created an enthusiaswm of energy, an acceptance of new modes of expression. Swallow, Bley and Giuffre's remarkable musicianship, intellect, invention, and empathy created timeless music of significance and deep feeling.

Art Lange

Just as (Ornette) Coleman's music challenged the validity of the pianist as accompanist, Giuffre's music challenged the necessity of the drum/bass format as a rhythm machine. Now each instrument became their own rhythm machine, and since you were playing music with or without tempo, the group could consist of a cello and flute and oboe and that would be a jazz trio. We found that one of the ways to break out of successful molds - to get out of a particular era in music that had locked us in - was to change the instrumentation.

Paul Bley

Basic facts:


Jimmy Giuffre, Paul Bley, Steve Swallow - Emphasis & Flight, 1961
Hatology CD 595 - 1/2

Jimmy Giuffre clarinet
Paul Bley piano
Steve Swallow double bass

Emphasis, Stuttgart 1961

1. Whirrrr
2. Emphasis
3. Sonic
4. Venture
5. Jesus Maria (Carla Bley)
6. Stretching Out (Suite for Germany)
7. Carla (Paul Bley)
8. Cry, Want

Recorded November 2, 1961 at Mozartsaal, Liederhalle, Stuttgart, Germany

Flight, Bremen 1961

1. Call of the Centaur
2. Postures
3. Sonic
4. Goodbye
5. Stretching Out (Suite for Germany)
6. Cry, Want
7. Flight
8. That's True, That's True
9. Trance
10.Whirrrr

Recorded November 23, 1961, at Sendesaal Radio Bremen, Germany

All compositions (except otherwise noted) by Jimmy Giuffre