Just So Happens

Just So Happens

ASIN: B00000371J

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Gary Peacock is one of the great bassists of jazz, a stellar and flexible accompanist who has worked with such pianists as Bill Evans, Paul Bley, and Keith Jarrett, as well as with Miles Davis and tenor saxophonist Albert Ayler, a giant of the 1960s avant-garde. He's also one of the finest bass soloists, with the unusual combination of a huge, rich sound and guitarlike fluency of line. More than that, Peacock has a gift for melodic improvisation and a genuine expressive capacity; he's a master of bends, slurs, and slides, which give the bass an almost vocal dimension.

He's paired here with guitarist Bill Frisell, and the result is sustained musical dialogue between two partners with the keenest listening skills, responsive to one another's every nuance and subtle shift in direction, matching, mirroring, and moving one another's lines along. The program is largely improvised, and there are common interests in both the spontaneous kernel of melody, as on "Through a Skylight," and the pure sonic exploration of "Wapiti Dream," with its squiggles of guitar synth and high-bowed bass. Peacock's "N.O.M.B" is a luminous ballad in which the two pass the melody back and forth, a technique that works just as well on the CD's sole standard, "Good Morning Heartache." The two versions of "Home on the Range," played without irony, show the depth of their sources, while Peacock's solo version of "Red River Valley" seems to resonate as well with the folk motifs he once explored with Albert Ayler. This is superior duet playing, sometimes roaming free, but often etched with incredible care and economy. With Frisell's very bright guitar sound and Peacock's darker-hued bass, there's an arresting play of light and shadow. --Stuart Broomer

Product Description
Just So Happens presents the fascinating combination of legendary bassist Gary Peacock with eclectic guitarist Bill Frisell. Together, they create original duet compositions, play a poignant, affecting version of "Good Morning Heartache," and surprise the listener with fresh interpretations of two traditional American tunes, "Home on the Range" and "Red River Valley". Just So Happens also features Peacock playing bowed bass for the first time on a recording since his work with Albert Ayler in the 1960's.

Just So Happens

Tracks:

Only Now
In Walked Po
Wapatis Dream
Home on the Range 1
Home on the Range 2
Through a Skylight
Red River Valley
Reciprocity
Good Morning Heartache
N.O.M.B.
Just So Happens

Amazon.com

Gary Peacock is one of the great bassists of jazz, a stellar and flexible accompanist who has worked with such pianists as Bill Evans, Paul Bley, and Keith Jarrett, as well as with Miles Davis and tenor saxophonist Albert Ayler, a giant of the 1960s avant-garde. He's also one of the finest bass soloists, with the unusual combination of a huge, rich sound and guitarlike fluency of line. More than that, Peacock has a gift for melodic improvisation and a genuine expressive capacity; he's a master of bends, slurs, and slides, which give the bass an almost vocal dimension.

Album Description

Just So Happens presents the fascinating combination of legendary bassist Gary Peacock with eclectic guitarist Bill Frisell. Together, they create original duet compositions, play a poignant, affecting version of "Good Morning Heartache," and surprise the listener with fresh interpretations of two traditional American tunes, "Home on the Range" and "Red River Valley". Just So Happens also features Peacock playing bowed bass for the first time on a recording since his work with Albert Ayler in the 1960's.

Customer Reviews:

Some people just don't get it ..........2007-05-22

... and that's fine: there is a lot to get. However, I find it hard to believe that anyone who listens to either Bill Frisell of Gary Peacock extensively would find this album terribly out of character for either of them.

While I'm not dissing the above reviewer who offered one star for this album, please take his advice with a grain of salt. For the uninitiated, his is excellent advice. If not familiar with either of these mercurial artist's work, this is NOT a good place to start. It is a difficult album.

However, if you are one of the Frisell or Peacock faithful, than this album will strike you in much the same way it struck the other reviewer here.

Frisell is extremely tasty (for lack of a better term) on this record. And he and Peacock play off one another as you would expect from two players of this caliber and sensitivity.

I have had this album since it was first released, and I still listen to it faithfully as kind of a musical centering mechanism.

It's a very relevant album. Good stuff.

Bizarre and boring.......2004-03-10

I bought this without listening to any cuts. Mistake. Though the cuts couldn't possibly show the breadth of zigs and zags of nothingness. I have the weirdest collection of music and rarely do I dislike something. This takes the cake. It is like listening to a psychotic on downers--nothing makes sense.

Dreamy, perfect CD for pondering life........2000-09-27

Great CD that treads the line between beautiful and bizarre, with some great playing by Frisell and Peacock. My favorites are the elastic Repciprocity and the windswept Good Morning Heartache. NMOB and Just So Happens are beautiful as well, like a kaleideoscope that keeps shifting with a colorful and strange vision. The more I look and Listen, the more I like. Bill and Gary at their most poetic. Lots of space, this is a great artistic statement. If you like the Haden/Metheny Duet CD, this is a "must listen" companion.

Average customer rating:

It Just So Happens to be GREAT!!

It Just So Happens
Ray Anderson
Manufacturer: Enja
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Avant Garde & Free Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

Bebop General | Bebop | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Modern Postbebop | Jazz | Styles | Music

Bebop & Post-Bop | Compilations | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Indie Music | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000005C7W
Release Date: 1993-06-23

Tracks:

Once In A While
It Just So Happens
Ross The Boss
Elegy For Joe Scott
La Vie En Rose
Once In A While (Alternate Take)
Raven's Jolly Jump-Up
Fatelet
Fishin' With Gramps

Customer Reviews:

It Just So Happens to be GREAT!!.......2004-03-01

I must confess that I tend to dig just about everything Ray Anderson has done (well, at least musically -- and that's about all I know). My favorite cuts on the disc are the ones you can't hear samples of: "Raven's Jolly Jump Up" and "Fishin' With Gramps". Okay, okay -- so I like the twisted stuff. But it's all primo 'bone, babies. Too bad the sucka is outta print!!

Jazz Music:

Jazz Music

Jazz Music