“ For ‘Song of Our Country,’ Gil’s arrangement is based only on the slow section of the second movement [of Bachianas Brasileiras #2], and there is no ambiguity about Gil’s faithfulness to Villa-Lobos’s work. Evans wrote a sketch for ‘Song of Our Country’ in 1957, showing that yet again, his interests were way ahead of the pack. It is possible that he was inspired by the first recording of the entire Bachianas Brasileiras, released in 1957 and conducted by the composer - years before Villa-Lobos’s Bachianas Brasileiras series, particularly No. 5, became better known.
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Stephanie Stein Crease talks about the Villa-Lobos piece arranged by Gil Evans for the 1959 Miles Davis album Sketches of Spain, in her book Gil Evans: Out of the Cool, His Life and Music, p. 213. The track never made it to the original LP, but three (amazing) takes are included in the 50th Anniversary Enhanced 2 CD Legacy Edition.
