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Yes, yes, yes, Concierto was beyond beautiful. It was the early 70’s. And a company called CTI created some brilliant recordings. This is but one of many. I have this recording on vinyl and cd.
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One of my absolute favourites! The whole album is one of the best, and the personnel is on another level.
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Producer Creed Taylor's output was very hit and miss for my taste, but when he was on, he really hit it over the fence - like this recording.
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Well let’s take a peek at Producer Creed Taylor’s output. Creed was a psychology major who launched a recording career from nothing. He then began Impulse records recording John Coltrane, Gil Evans, Cecil Taylor, Ray Charles, and the like. And barely a year later in 1961 he was offered a contract to oversea all recordings at Verve records. Creed recorded a whose who of jazz artists from the great Bill Evans to Stan Getz and Jimmy Smith, Carlos Jobim, Wes Montgomery, just to name a few. He had such an impact at Verve that in 1967 A&M records just had to have him, so he switched yet again to form the first CTI records owned by A&M. The team Creed took with him included none other than Rudy Van Gelder, the well known studio artist and developed a small in house staff of musicians who included Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter to provide premium showcases for the musicians he would later record like, Wes and George Benson. In 1970 Creed took CTI independent and began recording a whose who of all jazz. Freddie Hubbard’s First Light came from Creed and arranger Don Sebesky’s tutelage. Countless artists recorded under the CTI label. And something else, CTI had some of the most groundbreaking album covers of the era, which made their albums a complete work of art. Creeds career continued into recording Dizzy Gillespie, Larry Coryell, and Jim Hall in the 90’s. All in all, not bad for a psych major. Perhaps some didn’t like Creed for his string arrangements behind Wes, which btw, made him a household name. But all in all I can’t think of a single producer whose had a greater long term career. Let’s remember too that rock was king in the 60’s and 70’s, all the while Creed just kept churning out recording after recording during these musically turbulent times. Creed Taylor deserves respect for all he accomplished. Well anyway, that’s my take on Creed, for without him this stellar recording doesn’t even happen.
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