Ecm Records
1992
Jimmy Giuffre 3, 1961
About This Album
This reissue of Fusion and Thesis, the two albums the new Jimmy Giuffre 3 made in 1961, prior to their breakthrough and breakup in 1962, is nothing short of a revelation musically. Originally produced by Creed Taylor, who was still respectable back then, the two LPs have been complete remixed and remastered by ECM proprietor and chief producer Manfred Eicher and Jean Philippe Allard and contain complete material from both sessions resulting in one new track on Fusion and three more on Thesis. The music is Giuffre at his finest -- at that point, finding a language with his two collaborators, pianist Paul Bley and bassist Steve Swallow (who hadn't made the permanent switch to electric then) -- that was outside even the avant-garde at the time, yet in the tradition enough for some listeners and critics to be able to hold onto as modern jazz. Both recordings make use of a profound use of subtlety in gesture -- this is more true of Giuffre and Bley than Swallow, but without a drummer, the guy had a tough gig to hold down -- and a creative use of space, one that allowed for a free contrapuntal interplay between musicians while keeping their distance in order to keep the music in front of them.
Track List

Disc 1 (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5 and 6)

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Disc 2 (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 and 8)

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