The great Daniel Carter on tenor and alto, and Patrick Holmes on clarinet are the standouts on this extremely creative yet very listenable album from the consistently good 577 label.
Today, I arranged some of my newest CD's and came to a conclusion that I have no more space in my CD cabinet. A trip to IKEA is imminent.
Lee Morgan Quintet: Live At The Lighthouse Lee Morgan: Trumpet, Flugelhorn Bennie Maupin: Fluet, Bass Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone Harold Mabern: Piano Jymie Merritt: Bass Mickey Roker: Drums Jack DeJohnette: Drums on “Speedball” Recorded at The Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach on July 10-12, 1970 by a white-hot band stretching their proverbial legs on 12 extended tunes of modal-jam goodness that expands the original release by almost 3x and would be Morgan’s last during his life time. (The Last Session was released posthumously in ‘72.) While this is certainly a Lee Morgan date and he’s the obvious draw my listening deems this a quintet of equals with the standout and key to this music Bennie Maupin. Of the 12 tunes here’s the composition breakdown: Morgan: 2 Merritt: 2 Mabern: 3 Maupin: 5 In addition, Maupin’s solos are just constantly pushing at the margins, the most adventurous and emotional and assured. No offense to Morgan (or the others) who play superbly but Maupin is the standout here for me. (Bass clarinet doesn't hurt in that assessment.) Interesting to consider what else Bennie was doing around this time. He’d been a major contributor to "Bitches Brew" the year before and the album had just been released and he had just wrapped up "Jack Johnson" sessions. In about a month he’d be recording Marion Brown’s beautiful ECM (!) release "Afternoon Of A Georgia Fawn" as well as appearing on Woody Shaw’s outstanding spiritual/modal classic "Blackstone Legacy" in a few months and his work with Herbie’s Mwandishi ensemble was just around the corner in January of the coming year, kicking off an incredibly fruitful relationship. He’s obviously got a lot of ideas in his head and breath and it’s quite obvious here. Ultimately the entire band is killing it with creativity in their playing and compositions and while I love the playing of Roker here it’s also interesting to hear how DeJohnette kicks things up just that extra little bit to send his turn during “Speedball” (an ironic Morgan title eh?) into something fitting to its name. Jack brings along that ferocious amphetamized avant-funk that he was creating to elevate the music of Miles at this point and he’d just played the Fillmore a few weeks earlier with Miles, an album that would be released as "At Fillmore". I guess you can tell I dig this music. Not to bem issed. We started with the first two sets last night and were so caught up in it there was not time to post. Finishing this morning with the third “set”. After I’d snapped this pic we noticed that there were 6 shafts of light (rising up to paradise) caught on the image: one each for the players (note the little partial shaft for Jack’s sit-in) with the center shaft of the main quintet Morgan’s Blue Light. Too perfect. 1970, what a year for music, as I wait with bated breath for my Dave's Picks Volume 30 from the same year to arrive.
I saw the second night (Friday night - the night they are releasing) if my memory serves me correctly. Fantastic shows with nowhere near the crowd the music/musicians deserved or deserve. I hope/expect the sound quality to be much better than the 2012 show from Vision Fest that is on the Wood Flute Songs Box (I was also at that concert which was spectacular in person - not captured that well on record - especially Cooper-Moore’s piano). The quartet shows on that box as well as the other bands sound great on that box but the IOTS show doesn’t sound nearly as good as one expects from AUM Fidelity. I’m looking forward to this release. Good to see AUM soldiering on.
Very cool! Sad that these gigs never seem to get the attendance they deserve. I mentioned a gig at the Knit Old Office yesterday with the MOB Trio at which my wife and I constituted half the audience. That set in the Wood Flute box is an oddity in that those were all mutli-track recordings, offering plenty of opportunity for "fixing it in the mix". Different engineer though, so maybe the source was poor to begin with. Could it have ben the venue?
In te 70s? Hell, my Neurologist has a ponytail! I've found that as a 'longhair' showering and dressing nicely helps mitigate any negative connotations.
I recently dealt with this problem and would not recommend Boltz racks. My beloved Billy Bags racks are OOP and it seemed like a good alternative but alas, I was very disappointed, especially for the money. Unfortunately my calculated fix is once again nearing capacity. Must. Stop. Buying. What specifically does IKEA have for CD's? I use the Expedit system for vinyl(s).
I've always regretted not getting the Wood Flute Songs box. Impossible to find anymore at a reasonably affordable price. Happy to have this which I think sounds great, especially turned up loud.
Damn, didn't know there was a full box of these performances out there. Just watched I Called Him Morgan the other night and it gave me a new perspective on these dates. Need to check them out.
In this box all 9 Norman Granz Jam Sessions with complete data can upload the single covers if interested or send a PM
I bought the Wood Flute box during the week William Parker was at The Stone in October 2013 with the quartet and the quartet plus or minus others. I saw the 10/11/2013 show with Cooper-Moore augmenting the quartet (IOTS) and a set with Leena Conquest. HOWEVER the next night that the quartet alone played 2 long sets was one of those priceless experiences. I loved that they billed it as the “O’Neal’s Porch” Quartet. There was massive traffic getting into NYC and this was slightly before WAZE and related traffic assistance tools and for a moment my wife and I almost turned around. Alas the traffic broke and we got our second row seats to the left side. What we witnessed was among the best 2-3 Hamid Drake experiences. In that small room it seemed like the building was going to levitate. The reality is the 4 long sets on the first 4 discs of the quartet from the Wood Flute Box are somewhat similar in scope. Those shows were from 2006 & 2007 so I’d venture to say the band 6-7 years later was even better. Mostly continuous performances as the quartet segues from theme to theme and alternate grooves and improvisations. It’s an incredibly exciting thing to experience as the energy level (driven by Parker and especially Drake) keeps rising. Plus I think think they went about 75 minutes for each set. On a related note, please all those near NYC be aware William & Hamid will be playing with the great Assif Tsahar on Friday October 25th & Saturday 26th at The Stone (Glass Box Theatre at New School). Of course only 1 set per night but I be there for one of them and maybe both. As an aside the previous 3 days has Assif with two other amazing trios plus a larger band. I’ll hopefully be there on Wednesday 10/23 with the great tenor saxophonist is joined by Mat Maneri on viola & Ches Smith on drums. Tuesday is a trio with Cooper-Moore & Chad Taylor. These sets are going to be over the top burning hot.
Cool, thanks! Is that the 5 CD set? I do have that. I just happened to run into #1 and #2 as the Charlie Parker Sides at my favorite record store, in minty condition for $13, and had to get it as well. This is exactly the kind of music I enjoy having that tactile "record" experience with as I sit down with a glass of Lagavulin late at night. Regards, Jeff
No its a 9 CD-set packed in 4 a 2 CD's and one with 1 CD. The total of the "Jam Sessions" is 9 LPs. Have some of these a sjapanese peressings before I discovered that CD box. Most interesting for me beside the excellent music are also the covers with art by David Stone Martin. Beeing a fan as well for his graphic art and collected some cover art books. W.
NP CD 9 from "The Complete Bill Evans On Verve" box. I Should Care (Live At Town Hall, New York City/1966) Spring Is Here (Live At Town Hall, New York City/1966) Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me) (Live At Town Hall, New York City/1966) Make Someone Happy (Live At Town Hall, New York City/1966) Medley "Solo - In Memory Of His Father" (Live At Town Hall, New York City/1966) Beautiful Love (Live At Town Hall, New York City/1966) My Foolish Heart (Live At Town Hall, New York City, 1966) One For Helen (Live At Town Hall, New York City/1966)
Here are some CD storage ideas that you don't even have to tell your wife about In this setting below, noting the water just outside, the bed is placed just above the typical high water flooding level. So I would keep low priority discs in these storage drawers. The wood slats are open to allow any floodwaters to drain. Or, you can store your vinyl collection under a guest bed. But, for the very ultimate, a top-secret vault for your most special records. Two seven foot long walls of records with a 4 foot wide corridor between them. You can easily put a chair under there and enjoy music while your wife sleeps overhead. Tip-toe down below.... The door seals so that no one knows the vault is there. Lighting and ventilation is included. Clean air smoke filtration system is optional. The mattress provides excellent sound insulation. Bed safety rails not shown.
Oh, interesting! My 5 CD set does have all 9 sessions, and a 72 page booklet with a bunch of info. They just squeezed in 2 sessions per CD on the first 4 discs. Great stuff, in any format!
Is the complete package in a silver metal box as mine ? The description of the 9 CD's is correct. Are the covers of these cardbord CD covers the originals?
