Gabor Szabo

Gabor Szabo - Dreams - 1968 - Skye

This is no an ordinary Jazz album. Through the seven pieces here, the guitar is naturally at the forefront, yet the backing group is anything but secondary. Here, Gabor Szabo's guitar genius, set to magnificent arrangements by Gary McFarland pairs his outstanding quintet (featuring Jimmy Stewart) with Gary McFarland's subtle string and horn arrangements in a collection of originals, pop covers, and classical reinterpretations. This is one of the most sophisticated albums Szabo ever cut, and the result is a sort of accessible third-stream music. The album has a slow-building style that steps off of his Impulse years with a deeper, broader vision of music. Szabo has many fine moments, and provides nice spaces for the beautiful guitar solos of Jimmy Stewart.by Douglas Payne. The warm tones and Eastern influences of 'Dreams' makes this one of Gabor Szabo's best albums.

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

a. Galatea's Guitar (Gabor Szabo) - 5:33
b. Half the Day is the Night (Gary McFarland) - 4:23
c. Song of Injured Love (DeFalla) - 4:05
d. The Fortune Teller (Gabor Szabo/Louis Kabok) - 4:28
e. Fire Dance (DeFalla) - 5:39
f. The Lady in the Moon (Gabor Szabo) - 5:13
g. Ferris Wheel (Donovan) - 5:27

MUSICIANS

Los Angeles, California: August 6, 7 & 9, 1968
Gabor Szabo, Jim (Jimmy) Stewart (g); Louis Kabok (b); Jim Keltner (d); Hal Gordon (perc);

New York City: August 22, 1968
Tony Miranda, Ray Alonge, Brooks Tillotson (fhr); Gary McFarland (p,arr); Julius Schacter (vln); George Ricci (cello).

BIO

b: March 8, 1936, d: February 26, 1982. Gabor Szabo was one of the most original guitarists to emerge in the 1960s; mixing his Hungarian folk music heritage with a deep love of jazz and crafting a distinctive, largely self-taught sound. Inspired by a Roy Rogers cowboy movie, Szabo began playing guitar when he was 14 and often played in dinner clubs and covert jam sessions while still living in Budapest. He escaped from his country at age 20 on the eve of the anti-Communist uprising and eventually made his way to America, settling with his family in California. He attended Berklee College (1958-60) and in 1961 joined Chico Hamilton’s innovative quintet featuring Charles Lloyd. Urged by Hamilton, Szabo crafted a most distinctive sound; agile on intricate, nearly-free runs as he was able to sound inspired during melodic passages. Szabo left the Hamilton group in 1965 to leave his mark on the pop-jazz of the Gary McFarland quintet and the energy music of Charles Lloyd’s fiery and underrated quartet featuring Ron Carter and Tony Williams. Szabo initiated a solo career in 1966, recording the exceptional album, SPELLBINDER, which yielded many inspired moments and "Gypsy Queen," the song the rock group, Santana, turned into a huge hit in 1970. Szabo formed an innovative quintet (1967-69) featuring the brilliant, classically-trained guitarist Jimmy Stewart and recorded many notable albums during the late 1960s. The emergence of rock music (especially George Harrison, Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix) found Szabo successfully experimenting with feedback and less successfully (but innovative at the time) with more commercially-oriented forms of jazz. During the 1970s, Szabo regularly performed along the West Coast; hypnotizing audiences with his enchanting, spellbinding style. But from 1970, he was locked into a commercial groove – even though records like MIZRAB occasionally revealed the success of his jazz, pop, Gypsy, Indian and Asian fusions. Szabo had revisited his homeland several times during the 1970s, finding opportunities to perform brilliantly with native talents. He was hospitalized during his final visit and died in 1982 – just short of his 46th birthday and five years after his final American album was released. © www.dougpayne.com