sidewinder

Somewhere in my racks I have that one ! Have most of those Atlas West Coast sessions I think.

Up for this very, very old thread but I saw the Octet with much of this lineup in London in 1980 I think - certainly Strozier and Idris Muhammad were present, also Mario Rivera on baritone and Sal Nistico I think on tenor, Danny Moore on flugel. Just been watching a UK Channel 4 TV broadcast recording from 1983, with the group recorded either 1981 or 1982 at The Roundhouse as part of the Camden Jazz Festival (those were the days). By then the alto chair had been taken by a young Bobby Watson. It's a nice broadcast, culminating with Coleman's tune 'Simone', also featured on Elvin Jones 'Coalition' album. George mentions in the broadcast the difficulty of finding time for rehearsals of the Octet in NYC with this busy group of musicians.

This is sad news. My only exposure to him was the RSD reissue of his that was put out a couple of years ago. I will give it a spin later today - RIP and particularly sad considering he was still musically very active.

My reaction too.

Makes a change from the usual moggy (aka breakfast for this guy !)

Indeed ! As an aside, I believe that this particular group of exiles and their offspring have a decent claim to be the only 'real' Germans. The ones who were left were thoroughly latinized by Charlemagne et al.. Food for thought !

Followed by this latest one from Jazz In Britain - Bobby Wellins Quartet (2CDs) of Bobby's two obscure LPs done for Vortex with a fine group including pianist Pete Jacobsen.

The two excellent CDs which came with the book.

This lot were bad enough..😂😂

Moe Koffman was (on flute) a already a Toronto jazz institution - his appearance at that Festival was at George's Spaghetti House, almost his second home. Loose Tubes were a young UK big band of that era, appearing in Toronto as part of a North American tour. Key artists were Django Bates, Ian Ballamy, drummer Martin France and guitarist John Paricelli. I'd already seen them a year or two before at the Bath Festival. The John Lewis recital on solo piano was amazing - at Cafe Des Copains. Due to lack of seating I ended up standing right next to John at his keyboard for a close-up view. He was enjoying every minute of it. Joe Henderson performed with a Canadian trio at 'Top O' The Senator'. Such a distinctive sound, like no-one else. 'Hollow-bored' is how I would describe it. Didn't see the Herbie Mann with Jackie and Roy but I could hear it from outside the club when I walked past. Wish I'd seen it now ! Tony Williams Quintet (Wallace Roney, Charnett Moffett, Mulgrew Miller, Bill Pierce) were amazing - and loud. Tried to have a brief chat with Tony after the performance side-stage when he was sat having a cigarette and looking knackered but he was distinctly unfriendly ! Most unusual in my experience with talking to jazz musicians - caught him at the wrong time I guess. Sun Ra in his performance at Roy Thompson Hall played an astonishing 4 or 5 sets - started around 8 with the procession onto the stage with June Tyson and holding some sort of 'holy orb' and went on until way after midnight with breaks for the band to sell LPs ! Separate sets of Walt Disney and Fletcher Henderson tributes. I was left gobsmacked and very impressed after this one.

Tootie's playing on those two Herbie albums sprung to mind for me too - outstanding and a highlight in both cases.

Back in 1989 they had free concerts by Tony Williams Quintet, Loose Tubes in Nathan Philips Square and concert/club performances by Sun Ra, Herbie Mann, Jackie and Roy, Mo Kofmann, Phil Woods Quintet, Red Rodney, John Lewis plus many others that I have now forgotten. Might have included Joe Henderson too but maybe that was 1990 (unforgettable, nevertheless). Those were the days! Feels like a very different world now. It's a fair while since I have seen Herbie but he usually plays his electronic keyboards I think. I would put money on it that he slips in a performance of 'Butterfly'.

Horace Silver 'Retrospective' CDs 3 and 4.

Have been spinning that set myself over the last week or so. Great set ! Currently spinning Jimmy Heath Orchestra 'Really Big !' (OJC CD). BillF's old disk lives on, lovely stuff. On drums - Albert Heath (RIP).

I saw him with McCoy Tyner back in the 80s, excellent drummer. RIP. Got the feeling I might also have seen him with Jimmy Heath in the 90s but not totally sure.