Jazz Abstractions

Jazz Abstractions
Studio album by John Lewis, Gunther Schuller and Jim Hall
Released	1961
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 of combining elements of jazz and classical music recorded in late 1960 for the Atlantic label.^[1][2]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[3]

Allmusic awarded the album 4 stars stating "One of the most successful third stream efforts ...This is very interesting music".^[3]

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. Atlantic Records Catalog: 1300 series accessed September 11, 2015
2. Gunther Schuller discography accessed September 11, 2015
3. Yanow, Scott. John Lewis Presents Jazz Abstractions – Review at AllMusic. Retrieved September 11, 2015.