These two albums pair perfectly, as they were conceived and recorded while Gary McFarland (1933-71) was working on the troubled film production of “13” – which ended up being called “Eye of the Devil” when it was released a full year later. The film, which stars David Niven, Deborah Kerr, David Hemmings and the ill-fated Sharon Tate, was shot in England, mostly in the autumn of 1966.
McFarland was in London at the time to record the film’s score. A “13” soundtrack was scheduled for release on Verve Records in early 1967, but the film’s many production delays prevented the soundtrack from being released. The “Eye of the Devil” score/soundtrack was eventually issued in 2008 by Lukas Kendall’s Film Score Monthly label.
For many years, “Soft Samba Strings” and “Waiting Game” were the only evidence of those heady days when Gary McFarland indulged in his love of working in an orchestral environment and scoring for strings. Another disc worth checking out in this regard is McFarland and pianist Steve Kuhn’s superb chamber jazz outing “The October Suite” (Impulse), recorded shortly before the two dates discussed here.
The McFarland originals here – “Theme from ‘13’,” “Once We Loved” and “One I Could Have Loved” – are taken from McFarland’s film score. “One I Could Have Loved,” on the Zoot Sims record, which opens with David Snell on solo harp, is patterned exactly the way McFarland’s theme opens the movie – notably, atop a main title sequence shot by Maurice Binder (of James Bond fame).
Gary McFarland – “Soft Samba Strings” (Verve)
Produced by Creed Taylor (although I suspect McFarland supervised the London sessions). Rhythm section recorded at Rudy Van Gelder’s Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, studio on October 27, 1966, with strings added in London, on November 7, 1966.
Gary McFarland – vibes, vocals, arrangements
Plus orchestra, rhythm, voices
Jack Parnell – conductor
(I have always wondered whether Antonio Carlos Jobim plays uncredited piano here. It sounds like his style and the way Rudy Van Gelder recorded him. Jobim and McFarland had previously recorded together on at least two occasions. But the piano here seems, however appropriately, given the English lyrics to a Jobim song, slightly out of tune.)
1. Full Moon and Empty Arms
2. Skylark
3. I Know the Meaning (Based on Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo And Juliet”)
4. Manha de Carnaval (Morning of the Carnival)
5. The Lamp is Low
6. Reverie (Based on Debussy’s “Reverie”)
7. These Are the Things I Love (Based on Tchaikovsky’s “Melody, Opus 42 No. 3”)
8. Theme from “13” (a.k.a. “Eye of the Devil”) (McFarland)
9. Once We Loved (McFarland)
10. Our Love
Zoot Sims – “Waiting Game” (Impulse)
Produced by Gary McFarland and Bob Thiele (probably, though, just McFarland). Recorded in London on November 28 and 30, 1966.
Zoot Sims – tenor sax, vocal on “September Song” (whose line gives this album its title)
David Snell – harp
Gary McFarland – arrangements
Plus horns, strings, classical guitar, bass, drums
Jack Parnell (Nov. 28), Kenny Napper (Nov. 30) – conductor
1. Old Folks
2. I Wish I Knew
3. Once We Loved (McFarland)
4. It’s a Blue World
5. September Song
6. Over the Rainbow
7. Stella by Starlight
8. One I Could Have Loved (McFarland)
9. You Go to My Head
10. Does the Sun Really Shine on the Moon? (McFarland)
It’s worth noting here that the song “Does the Sun Really Shine on the Moon,” from McFarland’s 1964 ballet “Reflections in the Park,” does not appear on the 1968 Gary McFarland album of that name.