''Flexible Flyer'' is an album by trombonist

Roswell Rudd Roswell Hopkins Rudd Jr. (November 17, 1935 – December 21, 2017) was an American jazz trombonist and composer. Although skilled in a variety of genres of jazz (including Dixieland, which he performed while in college), and other genres of musi ...

. It was recorded in March 1974 at Blue Rock Studios in New York City, and was released in 1975 by

Freedom Records Freedom Records was a jazz record label headed by Shel Safran and founded by Alan Bates as a division of Black Lion Records. Individual recordings were distributed via Polydor Records and Transatlantic Records during the early 1970s before the ...

. On the album, Rudd is joined by vocalist

Sheila Jordan Sheila Jordan (born Sheila Jeanette Dawson; November 18, 1928) is an American jazz singer and songwriter. She has recorded as a session musician with an array of critically acclaimed artists in addition to recording her own albums. Jordan pionee ...

, pianist

Hod O'Brien Walter Howard "Hod" O'Brien (January 19, 1936 – November 20, 2016) was an American jazz pianist. O'Brien was born in Chicago. He attended the Hotchkiss School and then studied at the Oberlin Conservatory and the Manhattan School of Music (1954� ...

, bassist

Arild Andersen Arild Andersen (born 27 October 1945) is a Norwegian jazz musician bassist, known as the most famous Norwegian bass player in the international jazz scene. Career Andersen was born at Strømmen, Norway. He started his musical career as jazz g ...

, and drummer

Barry Altschul Barry Altschul (born January 6, 1943, New York City) is a free jazz and hard bop drummer who first came to notice in the late 1960s for performing with pianists Paul Bley and Chick Corea. Biography Altschul is of Russian Jewish heritage, the s ...

Reception

In a review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, Scott Yanow wrote: "The trombonist plays quite well; the rhythm section is tight yet adventurous; and the use of Jordan (who also has some individual spots) as part of some of the ensembles helps make the date something special. Recommended." Bill Shoemaker, writing for

Jazz Times ''JazzTimes'' is an American magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade of growth ...

, called the album "an against-the-grain gem," and noted: "At a time when AACM and BAG artists were writing the new chapter in jazz history, Rudd moved as far away as he could from the '60s new thing that initially brought him international recognition." Shoemaker commented: "The finesse-oriented team of bassist Arild Anderson and drummer Barry Altschul was well attuned to Rudd's delicate balance of joyous swing and introspective lyricism. The result is an album that has just not stood up well over the years, but has gained gravity with the passage of time." In a

New York magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'', ...

article,

Gary Giddins Gary Giddins is an American jazz critic and author. He wrote for ''The Village Voice'' from 1973; his "Weather Bird" column ended in 2003. In 1986 Gary Giddins and John Lewis created the American Jazz Orchestra which presented concerts using a j ...

stated that Rudd "casts an unexpected eye on bebop, possibly under the influence of... Hod O'Brien. The phlegmatically humorous 'Waltzing in the Sagebrush' and 'Moselle Variations' are amusing, but the more adventuresome readings of two standards are pretentious, largely due to Sheila Jordan's vocals."

Track listing

# "

What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life? "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?" is a song with lyrics written by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman and original music written by Michel Legrand for the 1969 film ''The Happy Ending''. The song was nominated for an Academy Award for Best ...

" (

Michel Legrand Michel Jean Legrand (; 24 February 1932 – 26 January 2019) was a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and jazz pianist. Legrand was a prolific composer, having written over 200 film and television scores, in addition to many son ...

) – 5:06 # " Maiden Voyage" ( Herbie Hancock ) – 8:43 # "Suh Blah Blah Buh Sibi" (Roswell Rudd) – 9:40 # "Waltzing in the Sagebrush" (Hod O'Brien) – 5:34 # "Moselle Variations: Whatever Turns You On Baby / Tuff Muffins / Moselle" (Roswell Rudd) – 16:10

Personnel

– trombone, French horn *

– vocals *

– piano *

– bass *

– drums

References

{{Reflist 1975 albums Roswell Rudd albums Freedom Records albums