OK now I'm into this. So continuing in this vein, I offer the record before Empty Suits, which will always have special meaning for me as it was the first record I did that was different from the standard "jazz" instrumentation I had been about for years. So different in fact it almost died on the operating table (i.e. - rehearsal, where it sounded awful until we all "got the picture."). Just look at the credits - a wild and disparate collection of instruments. This must have been some kind of fever dream. anyway, I had been listening a lot to Sunny Ade, so I wrote this for him (and his pedal steel player).
From some description somewhere:
By the second Gramavision release, “Claude’s Late Morning,” in 1988, Previte had grown tired of the two horn front line and embarked on an ambitious, (some say crazy) project with an outcast instrumentation, including guitarist Bill Frisell, Josh Dubin on pedal steel, Wayne Horvitz on hammond, Ray Anderson on tuba and trombone, Guy Klucevsek on accordion, Carol Emmanuel on Harp, and two other drummers (Joey Baron, and Jim Mussen on electronic drum pads). We can’t say it any better than Amazon.com did—“Where most composers would have no idea of what to do with such a melange, Previte molds it into an unforgettable band that plays affirmative, unpredictable music.” The New York Times—“An often brilliant record, deep in resourcefulness, and sounds as if it is without precedent.” People magazine noted, "Here is an album worthy of repeated listening, and it comes with the guarantee that you'll hear something new every time." And Interview Magazine simply said— “One of the finest compositions of the decade.” Also one of Previte’s personal favorites. A landmark CD.
Ray Anderson, trombone, tuba
Bill Frisell, guitars
Josh Dubin, pedal steel
Wayne Horvitz, Hammond organ, piano
Carol Emanuel, Harp
Guy Klusevsek, accordion
Joey Baron, drums
Jim Mussen, electronic drums
Bobby Previte, drums, conductor
Recorded and mixed by Jim Anderson