The October Suite Explained

The October Suite
Type:	Album
Artist:	Steve Kuhn and Gary McFarland
Cover:	The October Suite.jpg
Released:	January 1967^[1]
Recorded:	October 14 and November 1, 1966 New York City
Genre:	Jazz
Length:	38:42
Label:	Impulse! A-9136
Producer:	Bob Thiele
Chronology:	Gary McFarland
Prev Title:	Simpático
Prev Year:	1966
Next Title:	Soft Samba Strings
Next Year:	1966

The October Suite is an album by American jazz pianist Steve Kuhn and composer/arranger/conductor Gary McFarland featuring performances recorded in 1966 for the Impulse! label.^[2]

Reception

The Allmusic review by Thom Jurek awarded the album 4½ stars stating "it is an anomaly in the Impulse catalog of the time in that it did not pursue the free jazz realms with the vengeance that most of the label's other acts did during that year".^[3]

Track listing

All compositions by Gary McFarland

1. "Remember When" - 4:52
2. "St. Tropez Shuffle" - 6:22
3. "One I Could Have Loved" - 7:13
4. "Traffic Patterns" - 7:38
5. "Childhood Dreams" - 6:34
6. "Open Highway" - 6:03

Recorded on October 14, 1966 (tracks 1-3) and November 1, 1966 (4-6).

Personnel

• Steve Kuhn - piano
• Gary McFarland – arranger, conductor
• Isadore Cohen, Matthew Raimondi - violin (tracks 1–3)
• Al Brown - viola (tracks 1–3)
• Charles McCracken - cello (tracks 1–3)
• Don Ashworth, Joe Firrantello (aka Joe Farrell), Irving Horowitz, Gerald Sanfino - woodwinds (tracks 4–6)
• Corky Hale - harp (tracks 4–6)
• Ron Carter - bass
• Marty Morell – drums

Notes and References

1. https://books.google.com/books?id=9SgEAAAAMBAJ&dq=October+Suite+kuhn&pg=PA53 Billboard Jan 28, 1967
2. http://www.jazzdisco.org/impulse-records/catalog-9100-series/#a-9136 Impulse! Records discography
3. Jurek, T. Allmusic Review accessed April 1, 2011