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Kaleidoscope Of Rainbows is one of the landmark recordings of British jazz-rock, composed and directed by Neil Ardley and originally released in 1976.
The album completed a trilogy of large-scale works begun with Greek Variations and continued with A Symphony Of Amaranths. For Kaleidoscope Of Rainbows, Ardley turned to the five-note scales of Balinese gamelan music as the foundation for a sequence of compositions and improvisations, creating music that combines orchestral jazz, fusion, minimalism and early world-music influences.
The remarkable ensemble includes some of the most important musicians of the British jazz scene of the period: Ian Carr on trumpet and flugelhorn, Barbara Thompson, Tony Coe, Brian Smith and Bob Bertles on saxophones and woodwinds, Paul Buckmaster on acoustic and electric cello, Ken Shaw on guitar, Geoff Castle and Dave MacRae on keyboards, Roger Sutton on bass, Roger Sellers on drums and Trevor Tomkins on percussion and vibraphone.
The music develops through seven interconnected “Rainbow” compositions framed by a Prologue and Epilogue. Ardley's unusual modal structures give the musicians a distinctive harmonic framework for improvisation, moving between lyrical passages, hypnotic rhythmic patterns, powerful brass and reed arrangements and spacious electronic textures.
Both adventurous and remarkably accessible, Kaleidoscope Of Rainbows has become recognised as a major achievement of 1970s British jazz, bridging orchestral jazz-rock, progressive music and the more exploratory side of fusion.
This 2022 reissue from Lantern Heights is pressed on heavyweight 180 gram vinyl and was manufactured in a limited edition of only 500 copies.
Track Listing:
Side A
Side B
