George Russell: Electronic Sonata for Souls Loved by Nature

This is an amazing work by a remarkable theorist, composer and arranger who had a tremendous influence on many musicians, including Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy, who are big favorites of this blogger.  George Russell, however, never received the recognition he deserved and this stunning album is likely the best example of why.  It's ambitious, complex, innovative, expertly composed and arranged and well-played, but it was far afield from the commercial world, especially as jazz was becoming less popular.

Composed in 1968 with a fascinating merging of jazz, classical, electronics, field recordings and other elements, Electronic Sonata for Souls Loved by Nature, takes the attentive listener to an alternate reality that is of its time, but doesn't sound dated a half-century later.  While Miles definitely deserved plenty of kudos for his audacious leap into new directions of music with Bitches Brew, released not long after and which sold well (even leading to absurd claims that Davis "sold out" by using electric instruments and pop and rock rhythms and effects), Russell's masterpiece, released in 1969 on producer Bob Thiele's Flying Dutchman and remastered and reissued almost fifteen years later on the great Italian label Black Saint, and his work generally should be better known.  Let's hope some day it is.