Escalator Over the Hill

by Carla Bley

Escalator Over the Hill cover art
  • Type: Album
  • Released: 1971
  • Label: JCOA
  • Country: United States
  • Length: 35:17
  • Community rating: 4.16/5 from 5 ratings

Artists on this release: Linda Ronstadt, Don Cherry, Roswell Rudd, Gato Barbieri, Jack Bruce, John McLaughlin

Album Notes & Community Reviews

A monumental, genre-defying triple album, 'Escalator Over the Hill' is a 'chronotransduction' or jazz opera. It's a sprawling, surreal, and brilliant work that blends free jazz, rock, Indian classical music, and musical theater into a singular artistic vision. Featuring a who's-who of the 1960s avant-garde and rock scenes, the album is a landmark of large-scale composition and a testament to Carla Bley's unique genius.

Genres

Descriptors: operatic, tribute, syncopated, ambitious, funky

Tracklist

  1. Hotel Overture (13:12)
  2. ...And It's Again (7:00)
  3. Why (2:20)
  4. Rawalpindi Blues (12:45)

Credits

  • Carla Bley - primary artist, organ, celesta, organ [calliope], written-by, adapted by, editor, mixed by
  • Paul Haines - primary artist, lyrics by
  • Sam Brown - acoustic guitar
  • Dewey Redman - alto saxophone
  • Jimmy Lyons - alto saxophone
  • Chris Woods - baritone saxophone
  • Charlie Haden - bass
  • Jack Bruce - bass, vocals
  • Richard Youngstein - bass
  • Ron McClure - bass
  • Jack Jeffers - bass trombone
  • Bill Morimando - bells, celesta
  • Calo Scott - cello
  • Perry Robinson - clarinet
  • Souren Baronian - clarinet
  • Gato Barbieri - clarinet, tenor saxophone
  • Peggy Imig - clarinet, tenor saxophone
  • Roger Dawson - congas
  • Paul Motian - drums
  • Bob Carlisle - french horn
  • Sharon Freeman - french horn
  • John McLaughlin - guitar
  • Karl Sjodahl - mixed by
  • Ray Hall - mixed by
  • Gary Winogrand - photography by
  • Paul McDonough - photography by, layout
  • Tod Papageorge - photography by, vocals
  • Don Preston - synthesizer [moog]
  • Jimmy Knepper - trombone
  • Roswell Rudd - trombone
  • Sam Burtis - trombone
  • Don Cherry - trumpet
  • Enrico Rava - trumpet
  • Michael Mantler - trumpet, producer, coordinator, mixed by
  • John Buckingham - tuba
  • Karl Berger - vibraphone
  • Nancy Newton - viola
  • Leroy Jenkins - violin
  • Linda Ronstadt - vocals
  • Bob Stewart - voice
  • Howard Johnson - voice
  • Jane Blackstone - voice
  • Jeanne Lee - voice
  • Karen Mantler - voice
  • Paul Jones - voice
  • Rosalind Hupp - voice
  • Sheila Jordan - voice
  • Steve Ferguson - voice
  • Timothy Marquand - voice
  • Viva - voice

More from Carla Bley: full discography