Echo (Dave Burrell album)

Echo
Echo
Studio album by Dave Burrell
Released	1969
Recorded	13 August 1969
Genre	Post-bop, free jazz, avant-garde jazz
Length	42:25
Label	BYG (1969); Get Back (2001); Sunspots (2004)
Producer	Claude Delcloo; Jean Luc Young; Jean Georgakarakos
Dave Burrell chronology

Echo is a studio album released by jazz pianist Dave Burrell. It was recorded on August 13, 1969, and first released as an LP album by BYG Actuel. It was re-released twice, first again on LP by Get Back Records in 2001 before finding its way to compact disc in 2004 via Sunspots Records.

Burrell had been part of an all-star group led by Archie Shepp that played during the 1969 Pan-African Festival in Algiers. While there, French journalists from Paris were on hand and mentioned to Burrell the possibility recording in the city. Deciding on such a venture, Burrell remarked that he "remembered the sound of the ambulances and the police cars in Algiers and that unstable interval of an augmented fourth and thought that was the interval that I wanted to put into 'Echo'." The recording was Burrell's way of honouring the group, since all were involved in the album.^[1]

It has been said that the album as a whole "is [a] monster of an LP" and "a curiously schizophrenic set."^[2]^[3]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[2]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz	^[3]

AllMusic marvels at the talented ensemble whose members are each "simply blowing or pounding his respective brains out" in the first track that "becomes pleasantly numbing after a while." They even say that "if Echo isn't the noisiest jazz song in the world, it's damned close."^[2] The Penguin Guide to Jazz remarks that Echo is "a swirling, all-in blast that palls very quickly."^[3] Both sources mention that the second track is more structured and is welcomed after the first song's barrage. Still, The Penguin Guide says that "this is a historical document, hard to listen to now."^[3] In response, Burrell has mentioned in interviews that "The French did not know how to record the music, nor did anybody else. The dials were going wild and nobody really knew how to mix it back then."^[1]

Track listing

All tracks by Dave Burrell

"Echo" — 20:21
"Peace" — 22:04

Personnel

Band:

Dave Burrell — piano, arranger, liner notes
Arthur Jones — saxophone (alto)
Grachan Moncur III — trombone
Sunny Murray — bass, drums
Archie Shepp — saxophone (tenor)
Alan Silva — bass
Clifford Thornton — cornet

Production:

Jacques Bisceglia — coordination
Claude Delcloo — executive producer
Claude Jauvert — engineer
Philippe Gras — photography
Jean Luc Young, Jean Georgakarakos — producers

References

^ ^a ^b Fred Jung (November 10, 2004). "A Fireside Chat with Dave Burrell". Retrieved 2006-12-28.
^ ^a ^b ^c Brandon Burke. "Echo". Retrieved 2006-12-28.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d The Penguin Guide to Jazz by Richard Cook, Brian Morton, et al. pg 189.