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Bennie Maupin


Noj

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Sure, Maupin's great on Lee Morgan's "Live At The Lighthouse", and (IMHO) also very good on Morgan's other BN studio dates.

But, for me anyway, *THE* most exciting Maupin I've ever heard, to date, is on...

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Chick Corea: The Complete "Is" Sessions

:excited: Damn :excited: -- I never knew Maupin had so much of what I love about Wayne Shorter's playing in him!!!

I realize that the kind of 'Maupin' on the Morgan "Lighthouse" recordings probably isn't all that far removed from the "IS" sessions. But (and I probably can't quite put my finger on it, or not enough to explain this clearly) - I think Maupin's playing on "IS" (disc #1, particularly), is nearly every bit as exciting for me as any of Wayne Shorter's work on any/all of the live recordings by Miles Davis, from 1965 through 1969. (And, that's about the highest praise I can give, for that kind of tenor work.)

Anybody else crazy about Maupin on the "IS" discs?? --- or at least on disc #1 of the "IS" set (I know, I know, I know, disc #2 is a bitch to get into (at least for me) --- and I think I've listened to disc #1 about 20 times as often as disc #2, which just isn't my bag. Not enough structure for me, though someday it may 'click' for me yet.)

I think the week I got the Complete "IS" Sessions, I musta listened to it (meaning disc #1) at least 10 or 15 times, just that first week!!!

Edited by Rooster_Ties
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I was really happy with the "IS" cd also. I did the same thing and listened to the first disc a bunch and haven't really been able to give disc 2 much time.

As far as Bennie Maupin is concerned, I was just checking the allmusic.com site for the albums he's appeared on. I've never heard his Jewel in the Lotus, but I'd like to.

I know his work from the Herbie Hancock albums and I dig those. I didn't realize he was on Woody Shaw's Blackstone Legacy and Song of Songs. Those have been favorites for a long time. I'm also a big fan of Andrew Hill's One For One album. I see that he appears on that also.

I think I need to spend some time listening to Bennie Maupin.

:rsmile:

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Blackstone Legacy for sure, the second session on the Andrew Hill 'Lift Every Voice' has some good Maupin too. Also very honourable mention for the triumvirate of 'Mwandishi band' classics by Herbie Hancock ('Mwandishi', 'Crossings' and 'Sextant'). Excellent Maupin on these. Not to forget either the two Eddie Hendersons on Capricorn ('Realization' and 'Inside Out'). Both of these gems have recently been reissued here in the UK on Soul Brother Records..

:rsmile:

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Guest youmustbe

Also played his ass off on Hip Bop's 'Essence Of Funk' w/Lenny White, Ron Carter, Billy Childs, Tom Browne and Donald Harrison. 1995 if I remember.

Toured with Lenny for a number of years after that and appeared on several of Lenny's Hip Bop releases.

Loved him with Herbie, of course, and heard him many times with Lee, and McCoy, w/Tolliver, Herbie Lewis and Freddie Waits.

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Seriously, is there any other Maupin on record where he plays like he does on Corea's "IS" sessions?? (Meaning Disc #1 of the "IS" material.)

I'd buy more Maupin like that in a heartbeat!!

(The closest thing I can think of is the Lee Morgan "Lighthouse" set.)

Edited by Rooster_Ties
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Why don't people play the bass clarinet anymore, speaking of Maupin.  That is one of the coolest sounding instruments ever made.  Has anyone taken it up recently?

I agree! B) B) I think Chris Potter played a bit of it on Dave Douglas' Miles-esque The Infinite rel. 2002. Potter also played it on his Traveling Mercies. Don Byron has (naturally) played it. Maupin himself played a bit on his (most recent) release, the duo album with Pat Gleeson from 1998.

BTW, has anyone heard Maupin's funky 70's stuff on Mercury? Like Slow Traffic To The Right and Moonscapes - what are they like?

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Jack deJohnette's "The DeJohnette Complex" on OJC/Milestone has some nice Maupin, in a vein similar to the IS sessions.

There is a long bass clarinet solo on the next deJohnette Milestone LP "Have You Heard" and more Maupin on the Prestige "Sorcery" - don't know if they were on CD.

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Why don't people play the bass clarinet anymore, speaking of Maupin.  That is one of the coolest sounding instruments ever made.  Has anyone taken it up recently?

I agree! B) B) I think Chris Potter played a bit of it on Dave Douglas' Miles-esque The Infinite rel. 2002. Potter also played it on his Traveling Mercies. Don Byron has (naturally) played it. Maupin himself played a bit on his (most recent) release, the duo album with Pat Gleeson from 1998.

BTW, has anyone heard Maupin's funky 70's stuff on Mercury? Like Slow Traffic To The Right and Moonscapes - what are they like?

I have Slow Traffic To The Right and I really dig it. Similar to Herbie Hancock's electric/Headhunters-type stuff. I haven't heard Moonscapes.

:rsmile:

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The top man on bass clarinet has got to be David Murray.

But back to Maupin. I saw him with Jack Dejohnette a few years back and he didn't make much of an impression, maybe it was an off night. In the studio he's more disciplined and generally sounds fine.

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T_DETROIT.gif

Maupin appears (among other Detroit musicians) on a new album called Detroit Experiment, out on Ropeadope. It's kind of a "sequel" or a follow-up to the Philadelphia Experiment with Uri Caine / Christian McBride / ?uestlove Thompson, released a couple of years ago - which was quite good, I might add. This new one has a bigger line-up though, and the music is a blend of jazz and funk with some electronica. The line-up consist mainly of funk veterans etc. From a jazz perspective, in addition to Maupin there's also Marcus Belgrave, Regina Carter, Geri Allen and Karriem Riggins.

You can listen the whole record straight through (with RealPlayer) clicking this link. Don't be turned off by the first tune, Marcus Belgrave's (supposedly "classic") "Space Odyssey" and his shaky chops. The tune is quite an obvious rip-off of Freddie's "Red Clay", at least part A.

Edited by Kari S
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Thinking about it, Maupin remains my favourite bass clarinet player.

Besides David Murray, Chris Potter and the like, isn't there some nice b-c every now and then by Michael Moore, Marty Ehrlich and Bob Mintzer (the latter two on Don Grolnick's Blue Notes).

I have to admit my favourite straightahead b-c albums are Herbie Mann's "Great Ideas of Western Mann" on Riverside/OJC (with Jimmy Rowles and Mel Lewis) -

and Buddy DeFranco's (yes! his only bass - and alto - clarinet recordings) "Blues Bag" on VeeJay(1964). The latter practically has the Jazz Messengers - Lee Morgan, Curtis Fuller, Victor Sproles, Blakey - of the day plus DeFranco and Victor Feldman alternating on vibes and piano. A great selection of Blues tunes by Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Monk, Feldman, DeFranco, Leonard Feather and Dizzy Gillespie. Very nice selection of tunes, great concept, great playing. Does any of you b-c freaks cherish any of these two?

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