Oregon in Moscow

The formation OREGON has surely been well-known to most jazz and classical music enthusiasts. During the past 50+ years of band history, OREGON has become a synonym for genre-crossing music of the finest.
Emerging in 1970 from the legendary Paul Winter Consort, OREGON, right from the start combined elements of jazz with those of symphonic classical music and what is known today under the makeshift term "world music". If one takes into consideration that integrating musical elements from non-"western" cultures wasn't exactly common back then, this band's pioneering status is all the more clear.
Despite (or maybe actually because of) their music defying classification, and also despite a few harsh setbacks – for example, the tragic death of founding member Collin Walcott in 1984, or the abrupt drop-out of percussionist Trilok Gurtu for less fateful reasons in the mid-1990s – OREGON has not only persevered until today but has also long become a legend of its own.
In the late 1990s, the core trio – supported by the outstanding percussionist Mark Walker and star producer Steve Rodby – set out to realize an ambitious project which they had often thought about, but not yet put to action: an OREGON album accompanied by a symphony orchestra.
This turned out to be a task none too easy. Even though OREGON had performed with orchestral accompaniment on several occasions in the course of the band's long career, recording with an orchestra proved to be a real challenge to the coordination skills of everybody involved. After all, you can't just hop on the next best airplane, grab any old orchestra on arrival, rent an appropriate studio and start recording.
After a long search and several dead-end plans - and with the tailwind of the Perestroika – Moscow was finally chosen – more specifically, the "Great Symphony Orchestra of Moscow Radio in the Name of Tchaikovsky", and the musically exemplary State Recording House of the GDRZ. Here, in June 1999, the 15 tracks of this double-album were recorded in just six days of recording. These tracks represent excerpts from the entire musical history of the band OREGON.
This album was recorded strictly simultaneously, meaning that the band and the orchestra faced each other in the recording room and played the songs together. No overdubbing each other, no faking a relationship that wasn't there; just recording and mixing with the highest standards of quality. In this respect, "OREGON in Moscow" combines the best qualities of a live recording with those of a studio production.
Moreover, one can tell by the result that the 'six days in Moscow' must have been an intense and satisfying experience for all those involved, even despite the tough time schedule and demanding recording situation. In the liner notes, producer Steven Rodby describes one exemplary moment as follows: "…the music was soaring, and with its [the take's] conclusion, came stomping feet, bows banging on music stands, applause and shouts. I'll never forget this moment, such as many others which occurred in these six days."
After such a statement, there's not much left to add. OREGON and the Tchaikovsky Orchestra, directed by George Garanian, joined forces to take this exceptional formation's repertoire (which is exceptionally beautiful to begin with) to new dimensions; to cinemascope, in a way. A lush, lavish celebration of music, full of beauty, grace and finesse, which all those involved can be very proud of. We definitely are.
The legendary double-album has now been remastered for the 25th anniversary of its recording and will be released as a double vinyl (180 gr) in gatefold as part of the "Intuition Master Series".