Back in the late 1980's, there was a backlash of sorts against the new traditionalist tendencies in mainstream jazz. Wynton and his cohorts had come along to celebrate (and honestly, expand upon) the early strengths of bop and, as usual, the major labels started releasing like material by the truckload. Listeners tired of the "young lions" trend and commence to wax less than poetic about the funny smells coming from behind the curtain.
More generally, jazz fans became more skeptical about any release that looked back. Bop, hard bop, fusion, and even (to a much lesser extent) various improvised musics were subject to scrutiny. I'm all for focusing a raised eyebrow at industry trickery but, if taken too far, it's possible to miss out on some great stuff because the filter is tossing everything out.
Tom Gullion's Carswell reminds me of those times because it's exactly the kind of recording that the chip-on-shoulder skeptic would toss into the "I-Heard-An-Electric-Piano-Ick-It's-Fusion" bin.
Big mistake. Yeah sure, there are some obvious (and intentional, I bet) electric-Miles influences here, but there are also touches of things like Fluid Rustle-era Eberhard Weber, Hubert Laws, and even a little Paul Winter. There's a lot more going on here than just a simple fusion notalgia festival.
Carswell was recorded in two separate locales with completely different lineups. The La Crosse, Wisconsin session consisted of Gullion on tenor sax and alto flute, David Cooper (trumpet, flugelhorn), Tim Whalen (electric piano), Mark Urness (bass), and Dane Richeson on drums. For the Chicago sessions it was Gullion on tenor and soprano saxes plus bass clarinet, Vijay Tellis-Nayak (piano), Shawn Sommer (bass), and Ernie Adams (drums and percussion). Normally, I'm not so fond of listing full band lineups, but in this case it does illustrate the breadth of sonics presented across the entire program.
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