Live On Wax: Les McCann, 1972

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May 162011
 
 

Cochise
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North Carolina
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Get Yourself Together
(w/Rahsaan Roland Kirk)
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Album: Live At Montreux
Released in 1973

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I’ve always dug Les McCann, and when I found this Live At Montreux double LP in a local record store ($5, near mint), I knew it would be quality.

The Montreux Jazz Festival is Switzerland’s prestigious annual event on stunning Lake Geneva. In recent years, Montreux has drifted a bit off brand; for its 44th season, jazz greats such as Coolio, Arcade Fire, and Ricky Martin are on the programme. (To be fair, actual jazz greats such as George Benson, Diana Krall, and Herbie Hancock are also on the bill.)

Les McCann’s Live At Montreux was recorded during an earlier, purer incarnation of the festival, in 1972. Les was already a legend at Montreux — and Switzerland in general — because he had released a hit live album from the festival, 1969′s Swiss Movement.

For his second recording from Montreux, Les brought along bassist Jimmy Rowser, drummer Donald Dean, and percussionist Buck Clarke. Like many jazz artists of the time, Les experimented with electric, amplified instruments and Live At Montreux is a showcase for the many colors and textures of the recently-invented clavinet keyboard.

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Live On Wax: Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson, 1976

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Feb 182010
 
 

17th Street
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Must Be Something
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The Bottle
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Album: It’s Your World (1976)

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The year was 1976. America was reveling in its bicentennial celebration. I was five, and don’t remember a thing. But my pop culture-filtered nostalgia imagines 1976 as the precipice between free love optimism and cocaine-fueled excess.

It’s Your World — a (mostly) live double-LP credited to Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson — was recorded just a couple of days before the July 4th holiday. While America at large was patting itself on the back, Gil was giving voice to those Americans who felt the country wasn’t living up to the Declaration of Independence’s key phrase, “All men are created equal.”

Gil Scott-Heron is so closely associated with his politics that it’s easy to forget the musicality apparent in his songs. Though Gil penned many of his own tunes, Brian Jackson contributed many of the duo’s finest compositions, and was the primary keys player.

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Live On Wax: Frank Sinatra, 1966

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Apr 132009
 
sinatra-at-the-sands  

You Make Me Feel So Young
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All Of Me (Instrumental)
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Angel Eyes
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Album: Sinatra At The Sands (1966)

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It’s been awhile since I’ve spotlighted my collection of recorded live albums, so I’ve dug up a killer LP from the legendary Frank Sinatra. As if that wasn’t enough of a draw, he’s accompanied by Count Basie and his orchestra, with songs arranged and conducted by Quincy Jones. Wow, that’s a lot of talent in one room.

Recorded in early 1966 at Las Vegas’s Sands Hotel (Sinatra had an ownership stake in the Sands until Howard Hughes bought it a year later), this was Sinatra’s first live album. Sinatra, Basie, and Jones had previously collaborated on the studio album, It Might As Well Be Swing, which produced the huge hit, “Fly Me To The Moon.

As you can imagine, Sinatra in Vegas was a huge event, and the packed crowd is ecstatic. As expressed by Stan Cornyn in the liner notes for Sinatra At The Sands, “Two thousand knees with nowhere to go.”

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Live On Wax: Bill Withers, 1972

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Feb 102009
 
billwitherslive  

Use Me
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For My Friend
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Let Us Love
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Album: Live At Carnegie Hall (1973)

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In the latest offering from my collection of “live” albums, I selected a double LP from the great Bill Withers. Everyone seems to have a soft spot for Bill. He’s indefatigably earnest, yet I believe if “Lean On Me” was released in 2009, it would be as big of a hit as it was in 1972.

Live At Carnegie Hall was recorded in the fall of that year, and Bill was at the height of his talents. You can feel the love from the crowd, and I couldn’t think of a classier venue for Bill’s honeyed voice, unabashed positivity, and laid-back groove. True heads will be pleased to hear that Bill’s touring band was The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band who, a few years prior, had a big hit of their own, “Express Yourself” (sampled in a huge N.W.A. song of the same title).

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Live On Wax: Talking Heads, 1977-1981

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Jan 172009
 
 

New Feeling/A Clean Break (recorded in 1977)
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Air (recorded in 1979)
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The Great Curve
(recorded in 1980 or 1981)
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Album: The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads (1982)

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Though many are familiar with Stop Making Sense, the seminal 1984 concert film directed by Jonathan Demme, it only came a couple of years after Talking Heads released the concert diary The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads. This record chronicled 6 performances over a 5 year span over the course of 4 sides. Listening to the album from start to finish reveals the breathtaking evolution in Talking Heads’ songwriting and musicianship, as well as the explosion in the number of fans in the audience and musicians on stage.

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