Greek Cooking
Encyclopedia
Greek Cooking is an album by American saxophonist Phil Woods
featuring performances recorded in 1967 for the Impulse!
label.
Phil Woods
Philip Wells Woods is an American jazz bebop alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader and composer.-Biography:...
featuring performances recorded in 1967 for the Impulse!
Impulse! Records
Impulse! Records was an American jazz record label, originally established in 1960 by producer Creed Taylor as a subsidiary of ABC-Paramount Records, based in New York City...
label.
Reception
The Allmusic review by Ken Dryden awarded the album 3 stars stating "Probably one of the more unusual recordings in Phil Woods' considerable discography, Greek Cooking features the alto saxophonist leading a tentet with a distinctly Greek flavor, including four Greek musicians... it should appeal to Woods' fans because of his ability to make the best of the material with his powerful, never dull playing".Track listing
- All compositions by Norman Gold except as indicated
- "Zorba the GreekZorbasZorbas is a song by Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis. It is based on two traditional Cretan songs, "Armenohorianos Syrtos" and "Kritiko syrtaki", composed by Giorgis Koutsourelis. The song featured in the 1964 film Zorba the Greek, for which Theodorakis wrote the soundtrack, and become extremely...
" (Mikis TheodorakisMikis TheodorakisMikis Theodorakis is one of the most renowned Greek songwriters and composers. Internationally, he is probably best known for his songs and for his scores for the films Zorba the Greek , Z , and Serpico .Politically, he identified with the left until the late 1980s; in 1989, he ran as an...
) - 3:08 - "A Taste of HoneyA Taste of Honey (song)"A Taste of Honey" is a pop standard written by Bobby Scott and Ric Marlow. It was originally an instrumental track written for the 1960 Broadway version of the 1958 British play A Taste of Honey . Both the original and a cover by Herb Alpert in 1965 earned the song Grammy Awards...
" (Bobby ScottBobby Scott (musician)Bobby Scott was an American musician, record producer, and songwriter.-Biography:He was born Robert William Scott in Mount Pleasant, New York, and became a pianist, vibraphonist, and singer, and could also play the accordion, cello, clarinet, and double bass...
, Ric MarlowRic MarlowRic Marlow is an American songwriter and actor, best known for co-writing with Bobby Scott the song "A Taste of Honey" which won a Grammy in 1962. The song has been recorded by many artists including Barbra Streisand, Tony Bennett, Herb Alpert, and The Beatles...
) - 6:00 - "Theme from Anthony & Cleopatra" (Alex NorthAlex NorthAlex North was an American composer who wrote the first jazz-based film score and one of the first modernist scores written in Hollywood ....
) - 4:52 - "Got A Feelin'" (Denny DohertyDenny DohertyDennis Gerrard Stephen Doherty was a Canadian singer and songwriter. He was most widely known as a founding member of the 1960s musical group The Mamas & the Papas.-Early career:...
, John PhillipsJohn Phillips (musician)John Edmund Andrew Phillips , was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter and promoter . Known as Papa John, Phillips was a member and leader of the singing group The Mamas & the Papas...
) - 4:30 - "Theme from Samson & Delilah" (Victor YoungVictor YoungVictor Young was an American composer, arranger, violinist and conductor. He was born in Chicago.-Biography:...
) - 5:15 - "Greek Cooking" - 5:00
- "Nica" - 5:39
- Recorded in New York City on January 31 (tracks 2, 4 & 5), and February 1 (tracks 1, 3, 6 & 8), 1967
- "Zorba the Greek
Personnel
- Phil WoodsPhil WoodsPhilip Wells Woods is an American jazz bebop alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader and composer.-Biography:...
- alto saxophoneAlto saxophoneThe alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions... - William Costa - accordionAccordionThe accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
, marimbaMarimbaThe marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It consists of a set of wooden keys or bars with resonators. The bars are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The keys are arranged as those of a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys ... - George Mgrdichian - oudOudThe oud is a pear-shaped stringed instrument commonly used in North African and Middle Eastern music. The modern oud and the European lute both descend from a common ancestor via diverging paths...
- Stuart ScharfStuart ScharfStuart Scharf was an American composer, guitarist, and philosopher.Scharf grew up in Crown Heights and attended Winthrop Junior High School. He was good friends with guitarist Jay Berliner who was a serious influence on his musical career. In the early 1960s, Scharf was lead guitarist for...
- guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Chet Amsterdam - electric bassElectric BassElectric bass can mean:*Electric upright bass, the electric version of a double bass*Electric bass guitar*Bass synthesizer*Big Mouth Billy Bass, a battery-powered singing fish...
- Bill LaVorgna - drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
- Souren Baronian - drums, cymbals
- Seymour Salzberg - percussion
- Iordanis Tsomidis - bouzoukiBouzoukiThe bouzouki , is a musical instrument with Greek origin in the lute family. A mainstay of modern Greek music, the front of the body is flat and is usually heavily inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The instrument is played with a plectrum and has a sharp metallic sound, reminiscent of a mandolin but...
- John Yalenezian - dumbeg
- Norman Gold - arrangerArrangementThe American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...