Jazz Abstractions

Jazz Abstractions
Studio album by John Lewis, Gunther Schuller and Jim Hall
Released	ca. November 1961[1][2]
Recorded	December 19–20, 1960 NYC
Genre	Jazz
Length	36:06
Label	Atlantic SD 1365
Producer	John Lewis, Nesuhi Ertegun
John Lewis chronology
The Wonderful World of Jazz (1960) Jazz Abstractions (1961) Original Sin (1961)

Jazz Abstractions (subtitled John Lewis Presents Contemporary Music: Compositions by Gunther Schuller and Jim Hall) is a third stream album combining elements of jazz and classical music recorded in late 1960 for the Atlantic label.[3][4]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[5]

Allmusic awarded the album 4 stars stating: "One of the most successful third stream efforts ...This is very interesting music".[5]

Track listing

All compositions by Gunther Schuller except as indicated

1. "Abstraction" - 4:06
2. "Piece for Guitar & Strings" (Jim Hall) - 6:22
3. "Variants on a Theme of John Lewis (Django)" - 10:15
   1. "Variant I" - 5:27
   2. "Variant II" - 1:38
   3. "Variant III" - 3:10
4. "Variants on a Theme of Thelonious Monk (Criss-Cross)" - 15:23
   1. "Variant I" - 6:22
   2. "Variant II" - 1:49
   3. "Variant III" - 4:12
   4. "Variant IV" - 3:00

Personnel

• Gunther Schuller - arranger, conductor
• Jim Hall - guitar
• Ornette Coleman - alto saxophone (tracks 1 & 4)
• Eric Dolphy - alto saxophone, bass clarinet, flute (tracks 3 & 4)
• Robert DiDomenica - flute (tracks 3 & 4)
• Bill Evans - piano (tracks 3 & 4)
• Eddie Costa - vibraphone (tracks 3 & 4)
• Charles Libove, Roland Vamos - violin
• Alfred Brown (track 2), Harry Zaratzian - viola
• Joseph Tekula - cello
• Alvin Brehm (track 1), George Duvivier (tracks 3 & 4), Scott LaFaro - bass
• Sticks Evans - drums (tracks 1, 3 & 4)

References

1. "Jazz Abstractions" (PDF). The Cash Box. The Cash Box, New York. 18 November 1961. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
2. "Albums of the Week". Billboard Music Week. The Billboard Publishing Co. 6 November 1961. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
3. Atlantic Records Catalog: 1300 series accessed September 11, 2015
4. Gunther Schuller discography Archived 2015-09-27 at the Wayback Machine accessed September 11, 2015
5. Yanow, Scott. John Lewis Presents Jazz Abstractions – Review at AllMusic. Retrieved September 11, 2015.