Scott Dolan made me think of this. He noted that the Village Vanguard was a venue where everyone played their best stuff. But for me, the exception is David Newman's "Fire".
Sometimes, a record looks great on form, but doesn't live up to your expectations. A live David Newman album, with Hank Crawford and Stanley Turrentine sitting in on some tracks, looks too good to be true, at least in my book. Trouble is, it WAS too good to be true. Everyone plays fine but, for an album called "Fire", the spark wasn't there.
MG