VA • Vanguard Records. Make It You Sound, Make It Your Scene [4 Vols]

 

 

Sandy Bull • Inventions

Artist Biography by Richie Unterberger

Long before Ry Cooder, Leo Kottke, Richard Thompson, and others were impressing listeners with their ability to hop from genre to genre, Sandy Bull glided from classical and jazz to ethnic music and rock & roll with grace and verve. Accompanied on his first two albums by renowned jazz drummer Billy Higgins, Bull produced some of the first extended instrumental compositions for guitar that incorporated elements of folk, jazz, and Indian and Arabic-influenced dronish modes. Not "rock" by any stretch of the imagination, it's nevertheless easy to see that it could have had an influence on the rock musicians who began incorporating eclectic and Middle Eastern sensibilities into their music a few years later. After his debut, Bull expanded his arsenal from the acoustic guitar and banjo to include oud, bass, and electric guitar. After his second album, however, his recordings were less focused and less impressive. In the 1970s, he dropped out of music altogether due to drug problems, although he began recording again in the late '80s. On April 11, 2001, Sandy Bull died of lung cancer at his home just outside of Nashville.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/sandy-bull-mn0000295213/biography

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Biografía del artista por Richie Unterberger

Mucho antes de que Ry Cooder, Leo Kottke, Richard Thompson y otros impresionaran a los oyentes con su habilidad para saltar de género en género, Sandy Bull se deslizó desde el clásico y el jazz hasta la música étnica y el rock & roll con gracia y entusiasmo. Acompañado en sus dos primeros álbumes por el renombrado baterista de jazz Billy Higgins, Bull produjo algunas de las primeras composiciones instrumentales extendidas para guitarra que incorporaron elementos de folk, jazz y modos dronísticos de influencia india y árabe. No se trata de "rock" en absoluto, pero es fácil ver que podría haber influido en los músicos de rock que empezaron a incorporar sensibilidades eclécticas y de Oriente Medio a su música unos años más tarde. Después de su debut, Bull amplió su arsenal de la guitarra acústica y el banjo para incluir el oud, el bajo y la guitarra eléctrica. Sin embargo, después de su segundo álbum, sus grabaciones fueron menos enfocadas y menos impresionantes. En los años 70, abandonó la música por problemas de drogas, aunque empezó a grabar de nuevo a finales de los 80. El 11 de abril de 2001, Sandy Bull murió de cáncer de pulmón en su casa en las afueras de Nashville.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/sandy-bull-mn0000295213/biography

Sandy Bull • Re-Inventions Best Of The Vanguard Years

 

Review
by Michael Gallucci
Sandy Bull's technical skills have always been correlated with his vision. As a guitarist, he could often slip into repetitive drags of both time and space, but as a musical theorist, those crawls into other dimensions were often fascinating excursions that were years ahead of their time. Re-Inventions: Best of the Vanguard Years gathers eight songs from three of the four albums Bull recorded for Vanguard for a decade beginning in 1963. It's Bull's most productive and exciting period, and this splendidly assembled compilation serves it well. His mastery of the acoustic and electric guitar, bass, banjo, and oud is prominently on display here. And on his most sublime track, the 21-minute "Blend," Bull constructs a psychedelic folk song that meanders through several glorious fields before slamming into an open crevice for a rejoicing journey home. It's a straight take, with no overdubs or edits, and it's Bull -- with drummer Billy Higgins -- at his most poetic and timeless.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/re-inventions-best-of-the-vanguard-years-mw0000048895

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Reseña
por Michael Gallucci
Las habilidades técnicas de Sandy Bull siempre han sido correlativas a su visión. Como guitarrista, a menudo podía caer en repetidos arrastres de tiempo y espacio, pero como teórico musical, esos arrastres a otras dimensiones eran a menudo excursiones fascinantes que se adelantaron a su tiempo. Re-Inventions: Best of the Vanguard Years reúne ocho canciones de tres de los cuatro álbumes que Bull grabó para Vanguard durante una década a partir de 1963. Es el periodo más productivo y excitante de Bull, y esta compilación espléndidamente ensamblada le sirve. Su dominio de la guitarra acústica y eléctrica, el bajo, el banjo y el oud es una muestra destacada. Y en su tema más sublime, "Blend", de 21 minutos de duración, Bull construye una canción folclórica psicodélica que serpentea a través de varios campos gloriosos antes de entrar de golpe en una grieta abierta para un regocijante viaje a casa. Es una toma directa, sin sobregrabaciones ni ediciones, y es Bull -con el baterista Billy Higgins- en su momento más poético y atemporal.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/re-inventions-best-of-the-vanguard-years-mw0000048895