There is a view, shared by many jazz historians and writers, that the history of jazz parallels in its broad outlines that of Western classical music—only on a much briefer time scale: what took nearly nine centuries in European music is concentrated into a mere six decades in jazz. According to this view, the separate lines of classical music and jazz, veering steadily toward each other from divergent starting points, eventually converge and become one. While this final point has perhaps not yet been reached, the rapprochement between classical music and jazz and the steady catching up of jazz techniques and concepts with those of the Western avantgarde has brought the two idioms so close that at times they are barely distinguishable from each other.
Track List and Credits:
- SUMMER SEQUENCE (Parts 1, 2, 3) (Ralph Burn
- (publ. Edwin H. Morris & Co., Inc.)
- Woody Herman and His Orchestra
- THE CLOTHED WOMAN (Duke Ellington)
- (publ. Mercer K. Ellington)
- Duke Ellington and His Orchestra
- YESTERDAYS (Jerome Kern and Otto Harbach)
- (publ. T. B. Harms Co.)
- Lennie Tristano Quartet
- MIRAGE (Pete Rugolo)
- (publ. Leslie Music Corp.)
- Stan Kenton and His Orchestra
- ECLIPSE (Charles Mingus)
- (publ. Jazz Workshop)
- Charles Mingus Octet, with Janet Thurlow
- EGDON HEATH (Bill Russo)
- (publ. Benton Publications)
- Stan Kenton and His Orchestra
- CONCERTO FOR BILLY THE KID
- (George Russell)
- (publ. Russ-Hix Music)
- George Russell and His Smalltet
- TRANSFORMATION (Gunther Schulier)
- (publ. Malcolm Music Inc.)
- Brandeis Jazz Festival Ensemble
- PIAZZA NAVONA (John Lewis)
- (publ. MJQ Music, Inc.)
- John Lewis and His Orchestra
- LAURA (David Raksin and Johnny Mercer)
- (publ. Robbins Music Corp.)
- Jeanne Lee, vocal; Ran Blake, piano
