Pieces of Dreams
Encyclopedia
Pieces of Dreams is an album by jazz
saxophonist Stanley Turrentine
, his first recorded for the Fantasy
label after associations with Blue Note Records
and CTI
, featuring performances by Turrentine with an orchestra arranged and conducted by Gene Page
. The CD rerelease added three additional tracks.
awarded the album 2 stars and states "Stanley Turrentine's recording of Michel Legrand's "Pieces of Dreams" is quite memorable and made the song into a standard. There are two versions of that song on this CD reissue, but unfortunately, the other six numbers and the two added alternate takes are all quite commercial... None of the other then-recent material is up to the level of "Pieces of Dreams," making this a disc that can be safely passed by".
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
saxophonist Stanley Turrentine
Stanley Turrentine
Stanley William Turrentine, also known as "Mr. T" or "The Sugar Man", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.-Biography:Turrentine was born in Pittsburgh's Hill District into a musical family...
, his first recorded for the Fantasy
Fantasy Records
Fantasy Records is a United States-based record label that was founded by Max and Sol Weiss in 1949 in San Francisco, California. They had previously operated a record-pressing plant called Circle Record Company before forming the Fantasy label...
label after associations with Blue Note Records
Blue Note Records
Blue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. Francis Wolff became involved shortly afterwards. It derives its name from the characteristic "blue notes" of jazz and the blues. At the end of the 1950s, and in the early 1960s, Blue Note headquarters...
and CTI
CTI Records
CTI Records was a jazz record label founded in 1967 by producer/A&R manager Creed Taylor. Initially, CTI was a subsidiary of A&M Records, but the label went independent in 1970...
, featuring performances by Turrentine with an orchestra arranged and conducted by Gene Page
Gene Page
Eugene Edgar "Gene" Page, Jr. was an influential conductor, composer, arranger and record producer most active from the mid-1960s through the mid-1980s....
. The CD rerelease added three additional tracks.
Reception
The Allmusic review by Scott YanowScott Yanow
Scott Yanow is an American jazz commentator, known for many contributions to the Allmusic website, for writing ten books on jazz and for reviewing jazz recordings for over 30 years.-Biography:...
awarded the album 2 stars and states "Stanley Turrentine's recording of Michel Legrand's "Pieces of Dreams" is quite memorable and made the song into a standard. There are two versions of that song on this CD reissue, but unfortunately, the other six numbers and the two added alternate takes are all quite commercial... None of the other then-recent material is up to the level of "Pieces of Dreams," making this a disc that can be safely passed by".
Track listing
- "Pieces of Dreams" (Alan BergmanAlan BergmanAlan Bergman is an American lyricist and songwriter.-Life & career:Born in Brooklyn, New York, he studied at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UCLA. His involvement in the entertainment industry began in the early 1950s as a director of children's television shows...
, Marilyn BergmanMarilyn BergmanMarilyn Bergman is a composer, songwriter and author.She was born Marilyn Keith in Brooklyn, New York and studied psychology and English at New York University...
, Michel LegrandMichel LegrandMichel Jean Legrand is a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and pianist...
) - 4:37 - "I Know It's You" (Leon WareLeon WareLeon Ware is a soul music singer, songwriter and producer. Best known for crafting the hit album, I Want You, originally recorded for Ware, until friend and Motown icon Marvin Gaye was assigned to the album in 1976...
) - 6:25 - "Deep in Love" (Johannes BrahmsJohannes BrahmsJohannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
) - 4:04 - "Midnight and You" (Billy Page, Gene Page) - 4:38
- "Evil" (Stevie WonderStevie WonderStevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
) - 4:11 - "Blanket on the Beach" (Page, Page) - 4:30
- "I'm in Love" (Bobby WomackBobby WomackRobert Dwayne "Bobby" Womack is an American singer-songwriter and musician. An active recording artist since the early 1960s where he started his career as the lead singer of his family musical group The Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing guitarist, Womack's career has spanned more than 40...
) - 4:01 - "Pieces of Dreams" [alternate take] (Bergman, Bergman, Legrand) - 5:01 Bonus track on CD
- "Blanket on the Beach" [alternate take] (Page, Page) - 3:34 Bonus track on CD
- "I'm in Love" [alternate take] (Womack) - 3:35 Bonus track on CD
- Recorded at Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, CA on May 30 & 31, 1974
Personnel
- Stanley TurrentineStanley TurrentineStanley William Turrentine, also known as "Mr. T" or "The Sugar Man", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.-Biography:Turrentine was born in Pittsburgh's Hill District into a musical family...
- tenor saxophoneTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble... - Gene PageGene PageEugene Edgar "Gene" Page, Jr. was an influential conductor, composer, arranger and record producer most active from the mid-1960s through the mid-1980s....
- keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, arranger, conductor - Sonny BurkeSonny BurkeSonny Burke was a big band leader. In 1937, he graduated from Duke University where he had formed and led the jazz big band known as the Duke Ambassadors....
, John Miller - keyboards - Ray Parker Jr.Ray Parker Jr.Ray Erskine Parker, Jr. , is an American guitarist, songwriter, producer and recording artist. Parker is known for writing and performing the theme song to the motion picture Ghostbusters, for his solo hits, and performing with his band Raydio as well as the late Barry White.-Early life and...
, Dean ParksDean ParksDean Parks is an American session guitarist and record producer from Ft. Worth, TX.-Albums:Dean was member of The North Texas State One O'clock Lab Band before moving to Los Angeles to work with Sonny and Cher in 1970. Dean is best-known through his many contributions to albums by Steely Dan...
, David T. WalkerDavid T. WalkerDavid T. Walker is an American guitarist born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In addition to numerous session musician duties since the early 1970s, Walker has issued over twelve albums in his own name.-Career:...
- guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Ron Brown - bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
- Ed Moore, Ed GreeneEd Greene (musician)Ed Greene is an American drummer and session musician.An early recording in 1971 has him as a member of the Donald Byrd Group, together with Thurman Green Harold Land Bobby Hutcherson Joe Sample and Wilton Felder , among others....
- drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - Joe Clayton - congas
- Gary Coleman - percussion
- Myrna Matthews, Carolyn Willis, Edna Wright - vocals
- Unidentified strings