American Record Guide
Martin Williams : April, 1958

The quality of this set is very different from that of the recent Evans–Miles Davis reunion and, although I have reservations about parts of Remember and about Jambangle, I think it has little flabby lushness but, generally, firm if gentle musical statements. In Ella Speed he gives his followers who have tried the same thing a lesson in the straightforward effective handling of “folk” tunes (although as Willie the Weeper etc., this one has quite a past in jazz). Steve Lacy, whose Davis-influenced work fits Evans’ conception excellently, has a very effective solo on that one. The other major soloist is trombonist Jimmy Cleveland, another asset, especially during some of the heavy Claude Thornhill-isms in If You Could See Me Now. Bassist Paul Chambers‘ constant warmth is another. Happily, Evans’ piano can be treated as a functional part of the scoring.

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Billboard : 02/10/1958
Special Merit Jazz Album

Arranger-composer Evans, a dealer and manipulator of beautiful musical colors, inventively marries the swinging and aurally pleasant. Modern, moving lines and blocks of ensemble pleasantness are balanced by solos of substance by soprano saxist Steve Lacy, trumpeter Jake Koven, trombonist J. Cleveland and Evans at the piano. The individuality and warmth of sound that abounds, plus the undercurrent of swing, will please the modern coterie and certainly beyond. Could sell well to varied clientele, if shown.

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Oakland Tribune
Russ Wilson : 02/23/1958

The first album presenting Evans leading his own recording group in a set of his own arrangements, this was long overdue. The seven tracks are a superfine display cabinet for Evans’ imaginative use of voicings (first expressed in his charts for the Thornhill Band, later on the famed Miles Davis nonet album) and his ability to write with a feeling for the individual soloist. A soprano sax, French horn, bass trombone and bassoon are among the ingredients of this dish, which modern jazz fans will find irresistible.

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Pittsburgh Courier
Harold L. Keith : 02/15/1958
Four Stars

Esmund Edwards and sundry tub-thumpers of the Prestige Record Company have been long preparing the disc pluggers for the emergence of Gil Evans‘ latest contribution to the Valhalla of jazz.

The disc entitled Gil Evans and Ten most certainly lives up to all of the advance raves made in its behalf.

Evans has come through with many mighty arrangements in the past, but on this particular disc has outstripped himself on two members in particular. Ella Speed encompasses a sensational take-off by the brass ensemble on Just One of Those Things. Excruciating heights of beauty are reached on Nobody’s Heart and Remember. For those who appreciate flashing darts of accelerated rhythms, there’s Jambangle and Big Stuff.

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San Bernardino County Sun
Jim Angelo : 03/15/1958

Nothing is constant but change. This truism, almost universally applicable, is characteristic of all art forms. And, though traditionalists will shriek and moan, jazz likewise must evolve. Although a clear-cut line of demarcation between “modern” and “progressive” is sometimes difficult to perceive, there are some recent albums on which the shape of things to come is definitely forecast.

One of the more striking examples is offered by Gil Evans and Ten, a series of “far out” scores by a founding father of the current modernist movement. The provocative cleffings are ably interpreted by Evans’ confreres who include Steve Lacy on soprano sax, Jimmy Cleveland and Bart Varsalona, trombones; and Paul Chambers on bass. Gil himself makes his recording debut on piano, contributing a number of crisp solos in a Basie-inspired manner. Program samplings: Remember, Big Stuff, Ella Speed, and If You Could See Me Now.

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Toronto Star
Roger Feather : 02/08/1958
5 Stars

Evans is one of a few fresh, original composer-arrangers in jazz. In his hands each selection becomes an intricate, well-constructed opus as opposed to the usual riff or framework writing in jazz. He builds memorable melodies, using distinctive and fascinating harmonies. There is an ethereal quality in his work which gives it a muted, restrained mood.

This is his first album under his own name and it is nothing short of brilliant. The haunting sound which Gil gave to the Claude Thornhill band of the forties and the Miles Davis records which ushered in the “cool” period in 1949 is still evident but much better developed on this LP. There are seven tunes and almost all are little masterpieces. The mood Remember with an excellent Lacy vibratoless soprano solo, Leonard Bernstein‘s Big Stuff featuring some wonderful counterpoint by Koven and Cleveland and Nobody’s Heart are all carefully written, reflective ballads. Jambangle is a humorous romp and Ella Speed, which is the best tune on the album, has an amazing two choruses by the full ensemble.

The men listed above are the soloists of this 11-piece group. This is Evans’ record debut on piano and he plays rich chords mixed with clusters of notes. All the soloists are excellent and merge with the mood of the music perfectly.

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Washington Post
Paul Sampson : 02/09/1958

In contrast to Basie is Gil Evans‘ approach to writing for large jazz groups. His scores for a 11-piece band on a Prestige LP, Gil Evans and Ten, are marked by subtle, shifting sonorities, unusual harmonies and unexpected and fresh figures both in lead and in background.

At times, Evans’ sounds are too stately and plump (Nobody’s Heart), but most of them are intriguing. Even the Jambangle, for example, contrasts a boogie woogie piano with some strange brass figures, while in Just One of Those Things Stece Lacy‘s soprano sax receives varied backing from Evans’ piano and the whole band.

Besides Evans and Lacy, Jimmy Cleveland, trombone, is the principal soloist. All play very well, but the main interest here is the superb ensembles. Highly recommended.

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Down Beat : 03/20/1958
Don Gold : 4.5 stars

Prestige, in a welcome departure from the blowing session atmosphere that characterizes so many of its sessions, here presents Evans leading an 11-piece studio group in performances of his own arrangements.

The charts are significant, as further indication of Evans’ orchestral skill. The individual performances are devoted ones, from the supporting ensemble cast to featured soloists Lacy and Cleveland. Evans’ spare piano style heightens the impact of the rich voicings he has created, reemphasizing his knowledge of instruments and the sounds various combinations can produce.

Although these performances do not have the vigor of Evans’ 1949-50 efforts for Miles Davis‘ historic “birth of the cool” group, they are meaningful examples of what can be done in the field of jazz orchestration.

The liner notes quote Evans – “Orchestration is one of the elements of composition. You might say that it is the choice of sound units and their manipulation as part of expressing a musical idea.” He does this with consistent effectiveness and a regard for the participating musicians as well.

Evans’ thickly carpeted ensemble sound is constantly at work, introducing solos, backing solos, serving as transition, and existing independently. And Evans, Cleveland, and Lacy interact memorably with that ensemble sound. There are many moments of interest in this LP.

The ensemble sound is emphasized on Remember. Ella Speed is a tune Evans heard Leadbelly sing. Stuff, from Leonard Bernstein‘s Fancy Free, includes some fascinating Koven-Cleveland interplay. Heart, one of the last contributions from Rodgers and Hart, is a melancholy ballad. Things consists of two Lacy passages separated by an Evans solo, with the ensemble pushing both soloists. Cleveland’s simply-stated solo on See Me brings out the exquisite nature of the Tadd Dameron tune. Evans’ Jambangle is a kind of capsule history of jazz, from boogie-woogie to swing to modern, with pertinent solos by Evans, Lacy, and Cleveland.

Here, as in past efforts, Evans indicates the meaningful contribution he is capable of making to the development of jazz. his work is exhilarating, yet never pretentious. He should be far more active in jazz than he has been in recent years. And this LP should be “must” listening for musicians who feel that the end of jazz is in the horns they own.

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Liner Notes by Ira Gitler

With the maturation of the modern idiom during the late Forties came a new awareness in the area of sound. While this was fostered by the sounds of new, individual instrumentalists, due, in part, to improvement in playing technique, the main impact was registered through the efforts of arrangers. Foremost as an influence among them was Gil Evans, first with the orchestra of Claude Thornhill and then in the historic Miles Davis nonet of 1949-50.

Orchestration is Gil’s forte but he is not merely an orchestrator, he is a composer-arranger of magnitude. Gil states, “Orchestration is one of the elements of composition. You might say that it is the choice of sound units and their manipulation as part of expressing a musical idea.”

It is Gil’s genius as an orchestrator which binds all the elements of his work into the beautifully integrated whole that it is. Both his skill in voicing and ability to notate with a feeling for the individual, as well as the ensemble, are strong reasons for his high value.

Gil relates that there are three basic approaches to orchestration. One is to pre-determine the instruments to be used; second is to select them after the composition is completed; third is the simultaneous method of incorporation as the ideas grow out of one another. Evans, who has used all three, knows that instrumentation is what can make an idea come across. The same arrangement can sound very different with a dissimilar instrumental format.

In the Thornhill band, Gil was given an unusual instrumentation to work with. As has been stated before, the use of French horns and tuba were Claude’s innovations but it was what Gil did with them then and later, in an even more personal manner, on the Davis recordings, that was important.

Gil has operated as a freelance arranger in the Fifties; his connections with jazz were, up until 1957, more tied in with people mentioning his name then with actual activity. This album is an important first for it presents him at the helm of his own recording group in a set of his own arrangements.

It is also his recording debut as a pianist, a lesser known role but one which he has followed in conjunction with his arranging career. He appeared at various times with the Thornhill band in the Forties; in the Fifties he has played with Gerry Mulligan at Basin Street and in a duo with Nick Stabulas in a Greenwich Village club. His style is a singular one, spare, uncluttered, dotted with grace notes and oft-times sounding a modern Count Basie.

Some of the personnel is made up of men who were associated with Gil before. Trumpeters Louis Mucci, Jake Koven and altoist “Zeke Tolin” (anyone for anagrams?) were all with Thornhill in the 1946-48 period and trumpeter Johnny Carisi was one of the composer-arrangers for the Davis session. The trumpeters all have been active in studio work; Mucci has also appeared with John LaPorta and at several concerts at Cooper Union and Brandeis University. Koven is with the Broadway musical Bells are Ringing and Carisi is still active as a composer-arranger. “Tolin” continues to be an important solo voice with groups of his own and more recently with Gerry Mulligan. His is a supporting role in this album.

The remainder of the brass is handled by trombonists Jimmy Cleveland, Bart Varsalona and French hornist Willie Ruff. Cleveland, formerly with Lionel Hampton, has been with Johnny Richards during 1957. His is one of the brightest solo voices on the trombone today; he reiterates this in his solos here. Vasalona, of the bass trombone, is well remembered for his work with the Stan Kenton orchestra while the versatile Ruff is regularly heard on both French horn and string bass with pianist Dwike Mitchell in the Mitchell-Ruff Duo.

Filling out the reeds are soprano saxist Steve Lacy and bassoonist Dave Kurtzer. Lacy, who has brought the soprano to a new prominence while establishing himself as a young, dedicated jazzman with a highly promising future, is one of the main soloists here. Steve can also be heard with his own quartet in Soprano Sax (Prestige 7125). Kurtzer, who has been heard on baritone sax in many of the leading Latin bands (Tito Puente, etc.) plays an effective supporting role on the double-reed, bassoon in this set.

The rhythm section is manned, for the most part, by Paul Chambers and Nick Stabulas. Paul, bassist with Miles Davis for the past two years, is equally effective in support and solo. Stabulas, heard in the combos of George Wallington, Phil Woods–Gene Quill and Zoot Sims, shows his capabilities in the context of a larger-sized group with Evans. Grand old veteran, Jo Jones, is on Remember.

Remember, the set opener, has Gil remembering Thornhill in brief flashes which shift into other feelings. The ethereal quality connected with Thornhill is present but thematically the piece is different. Soloists are Evans, Lacy and Chambers.

A traditional tune, with changes that are, at times, similar to Sweet Georgia Brown, is Ella Speed. Gil heard Leadbelly sing it and in the first two choruses, approximates Leadbelly’s phrasing as he states the melody in clusters of notes. Lacy’s spirited solo is followed by a flowing, biting Cleveland. Then the ensemble emerges in a passage that is pure poetry of swing, melody and sound. Chambers bows before Koven blows a warm, muted solo in an old but undated style. Stabulas’ solo, demarcated by the ensemble, is succeeded by Evans’ piano which takes it out.

Big Stuff is from the ballet Fancy Free by Leonard Bernstein. Billie Holiday‘s recording, which was used during the ballet, was heard by Gil ten years ago and he developed an affection for the song. Cleveland carries the theme first, then the ensemble. Chambers picks it up and an Evans interlude leads into a wistful Lacy solo entwined with effective ensemble. Koven and Cleveland play some delicately beautiful counterpoint before Jimmy concludes the number.

Rodgers‘ and Hart‘s Nobody’s Hurt, which Gil informs us is one of the last things they wrote together, is opened by Kurtzer and the ensemble with brass smears and a sprinkling of the Evans piano. The mood of the lyrics is well captured; the “no one belongs to me” and “heigh-ho who cares.” Cleveland and Evans are the soloists.

Lacy steps out on Just One Of Those Things and swings it lyrically with alternate segments of rhythmic, punching figures and long, swooping lines. Evans’ solo separates Steve’s two flights.

Gil begins Tadd Dameron‘s If You Could See Me Now with the bridge as an introductory measure to the velvet trombone of Jimmy Cleveland. After Cleve’s chorus, Gil’s singular piano style prances over a brighter-tempoed bridge before Jimmy returns for the finale. This most beautiful of songs receives a befitting treatment.

Jambangle, the sound of whose title seems to fit its “eccentric” character, is a tricky Evans original with elements of boogie-woogie and a Swing feeling. Gil opens the soloing and is followed by Lacy and Cleveland.

There is no need for further elaboration. As the old, liner-writer’s bromide goes, “All that is necessary is that you listen.”

Or as Bob Hope used to say, “Some guys have got it, some guys haven’t.”

Gil Evans has “got it.”