In the Beginning (Hubert Laws album)

In the Beginning
Studio album by
Hubert Laws
Released1974
RecordedFebruary 6–8 and 11, 1974
StudioVan Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ
GenreJazz
Length63:12
LabelCTI
ProducerCreed Taylor
Hubert Laws chronology
Carnegie Hall
(1973) 		In the Beginning
(1974) 		The Chicago Theme
(1975)
Then There Was Light Vol 2 cover

In the Beginning is a double album by flutist Hubert Laws released on the CTI and recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in 1974.[1] The album was later reissued on CTI as two separate volumes entitled Then There Was Light.

Reception

Viewed, at the time of its release, as a "Recording of Special Merit" in the estimation of Stereo Review[2] (which, in addition, proclaimed the "recording excellent," the "performance impeccable," and the resulting album a welcome return to Laws' pre-CTI form),[3] In the Beginning would provoke a similarly enthusiastic response decades later from Allmusic's Scott Yanow, who awarded the album 5 stars, stating "This double album features flutist Hubert Laws at his finest. The music ranges from classical-oriented pieces to straight-ahead jazz with touches of '70s funk included in the mix... this recording is one of the most rewarding of Hubert Laws' career".[4] The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings describes it as Laws’s “best album and a good, expansive representation of his flute playing.”[5]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[4]
Stereo Review"Recording of Special Merit"[2]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings[5]

Track listing

  1. "In the Beginning" (Clare Fischer) - 6:53
  2. "Restoration" (Harold Blanchard) - 8:59
  3. "Gymnopédie No. 1" (Erik Satie) - 3:55
  4. "Come Ye Disconsolate" (Traditional) - 5:21
  5. "Airegin" (Sonny Rollins) - 5:32
  6. "Moment's Notice" (John Coltrane) - 6:56
  7. "Reconciliation" (Rodgers Grant) - 10:08
  8. "Mean Lene" (Hubert Laws) - 15:28
  • Recorded at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on February 6–8 and 11, 1974

Personnel

References

  1. ^ CTI discography accessed February 7, 2012
  2. ^ a b "Recording of Special Merit: Hubert Laws: In the Beginning". Stereo Review. Volume 33. Retrieved 2013-03-29.
  3. ^ Excerpt from Stereo Review's 1974 review. Google Books. Retrieved 2013-03-29.
  4. ^ a b Yanow, S. Allmusic Review accessed February 7, 2012
  5. ^ a b Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 871. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.