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As a toddler in the late sixties, I was surrounded by waves of sound in the air--- from Miles, Aretha, Sly and the Beatles to Three Dog Night, Rotary Connection, Hendrix and The Free Design, music by Aaron Copland , Richard Rogers, Wes Montgomery, Sergio Mendes,Leonard Bernstein, Ennio Morricone, Curtis Mayfield...oh, and also some Kool breezy sounds from a vibist/Keyboardist/arranger/ composer named Gary McFarland.



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One of the first albums I remember hearing (and seeing) as a child was Gary McFarland's album, 'Scorpio and Other Signs'. looking back, it was an album of tunes all mixing Jazz, Pop, Light Samba, and R&B - basically just Kool, laid-back mix of all the sounds I was that I was hearing at the time!




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Over the years, I would go back to that album and some of his others and wonder what happened to him. I could tell that during the late sixties he was a fairly popular musician, at least in the Jazz world-- he worked with the likes of Bill Evans, Gerry Mulligan, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Stan Getz, Cal Tjader, Anita O' Day, Phil Woods, Zoot Sims, Steve Kuhn, Clark Terry, and Johnny Hodges, and his regular ensemble would include greats like Gabor Szabo, Eric Gale, Chuck Rainey, Grady Tate, Marvin Stamm, Bernard Purdie, Warren Bernhardt, Hubert Laws, and a young Sadao Watanabe...he produced Grady Tate's solo album, 'Windmills of My Mind' (one McFarland tune from that album, "Sack Full Of Dreams" would later be covered by Donny Hathaway on his live "In Performance" album). Apparently, he was once the darling of the Jazz world, but when he moved more toward Commercial Pop, Samba and Bossa Nova influences, the jazz critics began to dismiss his work. By all accounts, though, one of his materworks was a Classical/Rock/Jazz/Pop piece entitled, "America the Beatiful: An Account of it's Disappearance"(1968). A commentary on society, The album had provocative titles like "Due To Lack Of Interest, Tomorrow has Been Cancelled", and "Suburbia : Two Poodles and A Plastic Jesus"...



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I noticed that despite a wide and varied body of work, Gary seemed to be largely forgotten by the 70's, while other arranger/bandleaders like Gil Evans, Quincy Jones, Clare Fischer, and Stan Kenton were still being lionized. In the first decade of compact discs, only one of his albums was rereleased domestically, with only one or two more in Japan or Europe.


I later learned that McFarland died under 'mysterious circumstances' in 1971 (after apparently having a drink that someone had laced with liquid methadone).
Anyway, that at least explained why I couldn't find any output more recent than 1970. But I still wondered why I didn't hear or see much information about him, Other than a great tribute site by Doug Payne ( http://www.dougpayne.com/gary1.htm)


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Luckily, that's now changing on a number of fronts. First of all, the same Hip-Hop DJ/ Electronica record collector and beatmaker culture that led to a resurgence of interest in artists like Charles Stepney, David Axlerod, and the Mizell Brothers is now bringing more of McFarland's works to light. At the same time, Japanese imports of several Mcfarland albums are now being reissued (including my childhood favorite, Scorpio and Other Signs -btw-Thanks, Dusty Groove America! http://www.dustygroove.co...&incl_cs=1 ).... and Third, a new documentary by Kristian St. Clair on Gary's life and work is now making the rounds at several film festivals. Entitled, " This Is Gary McFarland", the documentary has received rave reviews so far. I'm keeping my ear to the ground to find out if and when it's playing in my neck of the woods!



Info on the Film:

http://www.thisisgarymcfa...m/film.php

http://www.dougpayne.com/gmtigm.htm



Interview with filmmaker Kristian St. Clair:

http://www.wahmee.com/mcfarland.html








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[Edited 3/7/07 15:41pm]

Great to finally have you back GapMan.

Just put these...



...in my "shopping cart" for $18.98 and $6.98 respectively.


The Gabor Szabo cover especially brings back memories.

Listening to The October Suite at the moment.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

theAudience said:

Co-

That McFarland/Evans date is really nice, too!


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paligap said:

Gotta give some more props to Doug Payne for the great site.
Not just the McFarland stuff but the features on Schifrin, Szabo, Shirley Scott (did you see this Harley?), various other musicians and the Pete Turner album art.



tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

theAudience said:

Ndeed!! Actually, it was those Pete Turner/CTI albums that first brought me to that site!!
Great features on all of the artists!!






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