If Trees Could Fly is a studio album by the jazz acoustic bassist Marc Johnson and the electric cellist Eric Longsworth.[1] The record was released via the Intuition Music label in 1998.[2] It contains eleven compositions arranged and performed only on bass viol and cello.

If Trees Could Fly
Studio album by
Marc Johnson, Eric Longsworth
Released1998
RecordedNovember 26, 1996 and June 12, 1997
StudioCurrent Sounds Studio, NYC
GenrePost-bop, jazz
Length53:33
LabelIntuition Music INT 3228 2
ProducerMarc Johnson, Eric Longsworth
Marc Johnson chronology
Magic Labyrinth
(1995)
If Trees Could Fly
(1998)
Bass and Cello
(2004)

Reception edit

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [3]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz    [4]
PopMatters          [5]

Chris Massey of PopMatters stated: "There are only two instruments present on If Trees Could Fly: bass and electric cello. This is all: Mr. Johnson on the bass, Mr. Longsworth on the electric cello. The beauty of the music upon this album is the interaction between these two unadorned sounds. The bass typically paints a rolling background, when not off on a rhythmic tangent, and Mr. Johnson is always on top of his craft. So is Mr. Longsworth. The cello is sometimes staccato, sometimes swelling, always precise. The music, of course, is more than the unadorned voices of two men and their instruments. The instrumental record finds a third voice in the mixture and interaction of both the bass and the cello... This album is aptly named—if trees could fly, it would hardly match the musical accomplishment of these two musicians".[5]

Track listing edit

All tracks are written by Marc Johnson and Eric Longsworth

No.TitleLength
1."Rève-À-Ça"5:37
2."A Blues"6:53
3."Ton Sur Ton"6:44
4."Dancin' to the Coffee Machine"5:05
5."Lullaby"5:01
6."Longworld"2:33
7."Au Clair De La Femme"4:07
8."Spanish Fly"6:13
9."Her Majesty (The Turtle)"4:00
10."Seulement"4:31
11."Ton Sur Ton – Reprise"2:15
Total length:53:33

Personnel edit

Band

  • Marc Johnson – bass
  • Eric Longsworth – electric cello

Production

  • Pierre Arpin – photography
  • Bruce Rosen – cover painting

References edit

  1. ^ "If Trees Could Fly". Jazz Journal International. Billboard Limited: 29. 2000. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  2. ^ "Marc Johnson / Eric Longsworth - If Trees Could Fly". intuition-music.com. Retrieved 2015-08-03.
  3. ^ "Marc Johnson and Eric Longsworth – If Trees Could Fly". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2015-08-02.
  4. ^ Hull, Tom. "The Penguin Guide to Jazz Diffs: 4th vs. 5th Editions". Tom Hull. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  5. ^ a b Massey, Chris. "Marc Johnson and Eric Longsworth -- If Trees Could Fly". popmatters.com. Retrieved 2015-08-02.

External links edit