In the Beginning (Hubert Laws album)


In the Beginning is a double album by flutist Hubert Laws released on the CTI and recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in 1974. The album was later reissued on CTI as two separate volumes entitled Then There Was Light.

Reception

Viewed, at the time of its release, as a "Recording of Special Merit" in the estimation of Stereo Review, In the Beginning would provoke a similarly enthusiastic response decades later from Allmusic's Scott Yanow, who awarded the album 5 stars, stating "This double album features flutist Hubert Laws at his finest. The music ranges from classical-oriented pieces to straight-ahead jazz with touches of '70s funk included in the mix... this recording is one of the most rewarding of Hubert Laws' career". The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings describes it as Laws’s “best album and a good, expansive representation of his flute playing.”

Track listing

  1. "In the Beginning" - 6:53
  2. "Restoration" - 8:59
  3. "Gymnopédie No. 1" - 3:55
  4. "Come Ye Disconsolate" - 5:21
  5. "Airegin" - 5:32
  6. "Moment's Notice" - 6:56
  7. "Reconciliation" - 10:08
  8. "Mean Lene" - 15:28

Personnel