Gerry Mulligan Concert Jazz Band: Weep

After Gary McFarland arrived in New York City in the fall of 1960, he met Bob Brookmeyer, who invited him to a rehearsal of Gerry Mulligan's new Concert Jazz Band. "Weep" was McFarland's entrée into the CJB and, as it turned out, the New York recording scene. It has all of the elements of McFarland's best work: lyricism, harmonic sophistication, orchestral colors reflecting the influences of Ellington and Gil Evans, and a trace of melancholy. The ending is unforgettable.