Outback CTI Records

When I think of the CTI releases of the 1970s, I'm reminded of the old saw about the girl with the curl: when she was good, she was very, very good, but when she was bad, she was horrid. There were plenty of saccharine, overproduced records released on the label, but there was also a lot of excellent music that emerged, and Joe Farrell contributed his share. "Outback," from 1970, was one of them.Farrell, who left us much too early in 1986, was a versatile player capable of swinging hard on sax and floating on flute, and his talents are on display here. His flute is moody and ethereal on the title cut, then he burns on soprano sax on "Sound Down." He's back on soprano for pianist Chick Corea's "Bleeding Orchid," but in a very different vein, playing slowly and lyrically while Corea and bassist Buster Williams weave in and out behind him. He races through the opening of "November 68th" on soprano before switching to tenor and soloing powerfully over Elvin Jones's Latin rhythms.All in all, it makes for a consistently interesting and varied set that shows off Farrell's improvisational skills. But it's hardly a blowing date. This is a solidly fused quartet playing interesting compositions and listening to and interacting with one another carefully. Corea plays melodically and with great attentiveness on electric piano, especially on "Bleeding Orchid," for me the best tune on the album. Buster Williams is consistently inventive, and Elvin Jones, always a powerful presence, plays with a bit more restraint than usual without sacrificing an ounce of influence. He and Farrell made a great pair, as had been evidenced, for example, on Jones's '68 Blue Note release, "Puttin' It Together" (also highly recommended).All six of Farrell's CTI releases are worth acquiring, though the rock influence of the last two, "Upon This Rock" and "Canned Funk," may not be every listener's cup of tea. "Outback," along with "Joe Farrell Quartet," which preceded it, and "Moon Germs," which followed it, is a gem. Highly recommended.

Fans of Elvin Jones should have this in their collection, and Joe Farrell was an excellent player.

In my opinion, this is the best work that Farrell has done. The recording is gorgeous (as are most of the CTI recordings). I like Buster Williams (bassist) & consider this his best work.

This is one of the few CTI releases that is a must have. Farrell was a wonderful multi-instrumentalist with serious chops on tenor, soprano and flute. This beautiful set features Chick Corea, Buster Williams and Elvin Jones as band mates. A little bit dated in overall sound but a very satisfying date.

Very good playing by one of the forgotten Jazz greats on every tune of this album.

Plays Great flute, soprano, tenor...perhaps underrated, but a monster nonetheless...even the later disco stuff has killer tenor solos worth listening to in it.

classic

Fantastic

Great album

I got this in Forbes' Music Shop in Dundee in 1980 after I bought Fuse One (N.B. the Amazon listings on both of the original albums and the compilation disc are utterly confused and it is unclear which album is being offered for sale in some cases)Outback was a real revelation for me it was a jazz album but not a jazz album the music was challenging but quickly very rewarding. This was the period when I got into a whole range of fusion albums, Return to Forever, Weather Report etc. I did not realise at the time what a powerful effect Miles Davis had on all the bands and musicians that I was being drawn to. There were three other CTI albums which I bought along with this one, Joe Farrell's Song of the Wind (which very strangely , I have since found out, was also released as The Joe Farrell Quartet. Why strange you ask? Because on it was Joe Farrell, Chick Corea, John McLaughlin, Dave Holland and Jack De Johnette. Isn't there a better name for a five piece band?) but this album is not available under either cover on CD. I also bough two Ron Carter albums at that time, Spanish Blue (Shm) and Yellow & Green neither of which are available at a reasonable price on CD.Outback is a wonderful 70s fusion album with very strong Miles Davis credentials, the playing is intense in places but it is utterly rewarding and beautiful music and I would recommend it to anyone who likes that period and style of music.

Return to Foreverのジョーファレルがお好きなら、きっと気に入って貰えるでしょう！特に2曲目の「サウンドダウン」はもう涙モノで、ボクは大学生の頃にRTF繋がりでLPを買ってから、彼の曲の中で最も好きなものになりました。アドリブは4ビートですが、リフの部分は6/8も挿入され、ジョーファレルによるソプラノ、そのメロディーの美しさは絶品です。ベースのバスターウィリアムスもスタンクラークほどではないものの実に粘りのある音を聞かせてくれ、そこにあのコルトレーンと共に活躍したエルヴィンジョーンズのドラム。メンバーだけを見ると違和感がありますが、他のメンバーはチックコリアにエアートモレイラ。そこにあるのはまさしく初期のRTFそのものです。この1年後に録音された「ムーンジャームス」はロック色が強いものになってしまいましたが（また、その後に録音された数々の作品も）、このアルバムが一番初期のRTFに近いものだと思います。

Wow! What a spectacular album. Elvin and Chick out-due themselves and make the whole awesome-sauce! I want to check out all of the CTI-Farrell albums now.

The product shipped from Amazon in December 2021 was a CD-R and not a factory pressed CD, which may or may not be important to other buyers. Amazon's description really should note that it's a CD-R.However, the music itself is wonderful. So five stars for the music, with the overall rating losing a star because of the missing product information.