• Source: Escalator over the Hill

Escalator over the Hill (or EOTH) is mostly referred to as a jazz opera, but it was released as a "chronotransduction", with "words by Paul Haines, adaptation and music by Carla Bley, production and coordination by Michael Mantler", performed by the Jazz Composer's Orchestra.




History


Escalator over the Hill is more than an hour and a half long and was recorded over three years (1968 to 1971). It was originally released as a triple LP box which also contained a booklet with lyrics, photos and profiles of the musicians. Side six of the original LPs ended in a locked groove, the final track "...And It's Again" continuing infinitely on manual record players. (For the CD reissue, the hum is allowed to play for 17 minutes before slowly fading out.)
In 1997, a live version of Escalator over the Hill, re-orchestrated by Jeff Friedman, was performed for the first time in Cologne, Germany. In 1998, "Escalator" toured Europe. Another live performance took place in May 2006 in Essen, Germany.
The musicians involved in the original recording play in various combinations, covering a wide range of musical genres, from Kurt Weill's theater music, to free jazz, rock and Indian music. Writer Stuart Broomer considers this to be a summing up "much of the creative energy that was loose between 1968 and 1972".
Viva acts as narrator. Jack Bruce also appears on bass and vocals. Among the vocalists is a young (and still relatively unknown) Linda Ronstadt, in addition to Jeanne Lee, Paul Jones, Carla Bley, Don Preston, Sheila Jordan, and Bley's and Mantler's then-4-year-old daughter Karen Mantler.




Reception


Jonathon Cott's Rolling Stone article stated: "Like an electric transformer, Escalator Over the Hill synthesizes and draws on an enormous range of musical materials – raga, jazz, rock, ring modulated piano sounds, all brought together through Carla Bley's extraordinary formal sense and ability to unify individual but diverse musical sections by means of the editing of the record medium... The opera is an international musical encounter of the first order."
Marcello Carlin, writing for Stylus Magazine, considers the album to be "the greatest record ever made." He said: "No protest, no social commentary. No expression of love, of grief, of hope, of despair. It is literally whatever you want to make of it. It is devoid of every quality which you might assume would qualify it to be the greatest of all records. And yet it is that tabula rasa in its heart, the blank space which may well exist at the very heart of all music, revealing the hard truth that we have to fill in the blanks, we have to interpret what is being played and sung, and our interpretation is the only one which can possibly be valid, as we cannot discern any perspective other than our own."




Track listing


Side one

"Hotel Overture" – 13:11
Side two

"This Is Here..." – 6:02
"Like Animals" – 1:21
"Escalator over the Hill" – 4:57
"Stay Awake" – 1:31
"Ginger and David" – 1:39
"Song to Anything That Moves" – 2:22
Side three

"EOTH Theme" – 0:35
"Businessmen" – 5:38
"Ginger and David Theme" – 0:57
"Why" – 2:19
"It's Not What You Do" – 0:17
"Detective Writer Daughter" – 3:16
"Doctor Why" – 1:28
"Slow Dance (Transductory Music)" – 1:50
"Smalltown Agonist" – 5:24
Side four

"End of Head" – 0:38
"Over Her Head" – 2:38
"Little Pony Soldier" – 4:36
"Oh Say Can You Do?" – 1:11
"Holiday in Risk" – 3:10
"Holiday in Risk Theme" – 0:52
Side five

"A.I.R. (All India Radio)" – 3:58
"Rawalpindi Blues" – 12:44
Side six

"End of Rawalpindi" – 9:40
"End of Animals" – 1:26
"... And It's Again" – 8:55 (ends with a locked groove)
The CD release has sides one to three on CD 1, and sides four to six on CD 2.
"... And It's Again" runs for 27:17 on the CD release, with the locked groove at the end of the original LP playing for about 17 minutes. This is followed by a hidden track (starting at 27:02) consisting of calliope music and Bill Leonard saying “Oh say can you do?”, followed by faint laughter.




Personnel






= Principal cast

=
Jack, Parrot: Jack Bruce
Leader, Mutant, Voice, Desert Women: Carla Bley
Sand Shepherd: Don Cherry
Ginger: Linda Ronstadt
Ginger II: Jeanne Lee
David: Paul Jones
Doctor, Lion: Don Preston
Viva: Viva
Cecil Clark: Tod Papageorge
His Friends: Charlie Haden, Steve Ferguson
Calliope Bill: Bill Leonard
Roomer: Bob Stewart
Ancient Roomer: Karen Mantler
Loudspeaker: Roswell Rudd
Used Woman: Sheila Jordan
Operasinger: Rosalind Hupp
Nurse: Jane Blackstone
Yodelling Ventriloquist: Howard Johnson
Therapist: Timothy Marquand
Dad: Perry Robinson
Phantoms, Multiple Public Members, Hotelpeople, Women, Men, Flies, Bullfrogs, Mindsweepers, Speakers, Blindman:




= Musicians (alphabetical)

=
Gato Barbieri – tenor saxophone
Souren Baronian – clarinet
Karl Berger – vibraphone
Carla Bley – organ, celeste, chimes, calliope, piano
Sam Brown – guitar
Jack Bruce – bass, vocal
John Buckingham – tuba
Sam Burtis – trombone
Bob Carlisle – French horn
Don Cherry – trumpet
Roger Dawson – congas, xylophone
Sharon Freeman – French horn
Charlie Haden – bass
Peggy Imig – clarinet
Jack Jeffers – bass trombone
Leroy Jenkins – violin
Howard Johnson – tuba
Sheila Jordan – vocal
Jimmy Knepper – trombone
Jeanne Lee – vocal
Jimmy Lyons – alto saxophone
Michael Mantler – prepared piano, trumpet, valve trombone
Ron McClure – bass
John McLaughlin – guitar
Bill Morimando – orchestra bells, celeste
Paul Motian – drums, dumbec
Nancy Newton – viola
Don Preston – Moog synthesizer
Enrico Rava – trumpet
Perry Robinson – clarinet
Linda Ronstadt – vocal
Roswell Rudd – trombone
Calo Scott – cello
Michael Snow – trumpet
Chris Woods – baritone saxophone
Richard Youngstein – bass




= Musicians (chronotransductional)

=



Orchestra (& Hotel Lobby Band)

Carla Bley (piano)
Jimmy Lyons (alto saxophone)
Gato Barbieri (tenor saxophone)
Chris Woods (baritone saxophone)
Michael Mantler, Enrico Rava (trumpet)
Roswell Rudd, Sam Burtis, Jimmy Knepper (trombone)
Jack Jeffers (bass trombone)
Bob Carlisle, Sharon Freeman (French horn)
John Buckingham (tuba)
Nancy Newton (viola)
Karl Berger (vibraphone)
Charlie Haden (bass)
Paul Motian (drums)
Roger Dawson (congas)
Bill Morimando (orchestra bells, celeste).



Jack's Traveling Band

Carla Bley (organ)
John McLaughlin (guitar)
Jack Bruce (bass)
Paul Motian (drums)



Desert Band

Carla Bley (organ)
Don Cherry (trumpet)
Souren Baronian (clarinet)
Leroy Jenkins (violin)
Calo Scott (cello)
Sam Brown (guitar)
Ron McClure (bass)
Paul Motian (dumbec)



Original Hotel Amateur Band

Carla Bley (piano)
Michael Snow (trumpet)
Michael Mantler (valve trombone)
Howard Johnson (tuba)
Perry Robinson, Peggy Imig (clarinet)
Nancy Newton (viola)
Richard Youngstein (bass)
Paul Motian (drums)



Phantom Music

Carla Bley (organ, celeste, chimes, calliope)
Michael Mantler (prepared piano)
Don Preston (Moog synthesizer)




Awards


Jazz Album of the Year 1972 by a Melody Maker Readers Poll
Oscar du meilleur disque de jazz moderne (best modern jazz album) in 1972, given by the Académie du Jazz.




References






External links


Karen Mantler Biography at www.wattxtrawatt.com – the Official Carla Bley Web Site
Jazz Composers Orchestra: Escalator Over the Hill at www.jazzdiscography.com
Accomplishing Escalator Over the Hill by Carla Bley. Written in 1972 shortly after the release of the Escalator
The Jazz Composer's Orchestra Information Page
film clips @ The John McLaughlin Archives
Album booklet
"Carla Bley and Paul Haines' Escalator Over the Hill". 8 June 2005. Retrieved 2006-01-18.
"Stranded: Escalator Over the Hill – Article – Stylus Magazine". Retrieved 2006-01-18.

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Fusion jazz
• Linda Ronstadt
• Charlie Haden
• Escalator over the Hill
• Central–Mid-Levels escalator
• Carla Bley
• Backwash (album)
• Tropic Appetites
• Don Cherry (trumpeter)
• Gato Barbieri
• Viva (actress)
• Linda Ronstadt
• Jack Bruce