Escalator over the hill

cover Yesterday I found myself humming a song that at one point said

Contemplating
suicide
As protection from fraud
Escalator
over
the hill

and I was reminded of the monumental work of Carla Bley and Paul Haines, recorded between 1968 and 1971 and released on a triple vinyl, passing as a jazz opera, while in reality it was and is much more.

I went to listen to it again and among other things, I realized that many of the melodies that I still hum, walking or tidying the house, come from this work. But even more, I was struck by the depth and artistic universality of this work, which encompasses elements of jazz, pop, and rock of the time (with various other influences, from atonal to Weill, and even a foray into Indian music, which was relatively popular in those years).

Let's be clear: Escalator over the hill I've always liked it and always remembered it as a work of great depth, but it's been years since I've listened to it again, and its freshness, 40 years later, has truly surprised me. Above all, I was surprised by the compositional relevance of the whole thing, whereas today, when concepts like world music and the collapse of walls, including those that delimit genres, should be well established, I don't see works of this power around.

In the 1971 version (it was later performed live in 1997, 98 and 2006 with other musicians), Escalator put together a very prestigious personnel:

Acoustic Guitar – Sam Brown
Bass – Charlie Haden , Jack Bruce , Richard Youngstein , Ron McClure
Bells, Celesta – Bill Morimando
Cello – Calo Scott
Clarinet – Perry Robinson , Souren Baronian
Clarinet, Saxophone [Tenor] – Gato Barbieri , Peggy Imig
Congas – Roger Dawson
Drums – Paul Motian
French Horn – Bob Carlisle , Sharon Freeman
Guitar – John McLaughlin
Lyrics By – Paul Haines
Organ, Celesta, Organ [Calliope], Written-by – Carla Bley
Saxophone [Alto] – Dewey Redman , Jimmy Lyons
Saxophone [Baritone] – Chris Woods
Synthesizer [Moog] – Don Preston
Trombone – Jimmy Knepper , Roswell Rudd , Sam Burtis
Trombone [Bass] – Jack Jeffers
Trumpet – Don Cherry , Enrico Rava
Trumpet, Producer – Michael Mantler
Tuba – John Buckingham
Vibraphone – Karl Berger
Viola – Nancy Newton
Violin – Leroy Jenkins
Vocals – Jack Bruce , Linda Ronstadt

All these musicians are divided into several groups to tell a complex story whose characters are represented by both the singers and the musicians, where the latter contribute to defining the characters by expressing emotions that go beyond the simple but visionary words, open to many interpretations, of Paul Haines.

From YouTube, here is the complete playlist (27 tracks. Move the mouse to the top-right angle and some icons will appear. Click the three lines to see the list).

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