Allan Songer

I've spent the whole weekend in a Sun Ra groove. Everything from the first Transition LP through The ESP LPs and "Atlantis" and "Languidity" to a live set from Atlanta in the late 80's. John Gilmore was truly a tenor god. Anyone here attend any live Sun Ra shows? I saw a few in the Bay Area in 70's and early 80's and another in L.A. in the late 80's.

How about a trip out to the Valley to Charlie O's--THE best jazz club in L.A.!! On Friday and Saturday night John Heard and Roy McCurdy are joined by various piano and horn players--John is my favorite living bass player and Roy McCurdy's work speaks for itself (to stay with Cannonball for 9 years means A LOT!!). Anyway, lets all meet up there one night . . .

The Lee Morgan truibute is at Claremont College and features Clay Jenkins, Tim Hagins and Joe La Barbera.

If you're here on the 27th you should check out Danny Grissett, John Heard and Lorca Hart out at Charlie O's--Danny is back in town only for a week, but the synergy among these three GREAT players is really something to hear!! If you need more information, let me know . . .

Last Friday night, the day after Thanksgiving I headed up to a tiny little club near downtown L.A. because I saw in the L.A. Weekly that the Freddie Redd trio was playing there. The club is called Cafe Metropol on Third Street about 1/2 mile east of downtown in the Industrial Wasteland that is now known as "the Artist's Disctrict" Anyway, the place had good food and an interesting wine selection and was very inexpensive. There was a $5 cover and Freddie did three sets starting at 8 PM. He's 77 years old but still plays with the combonation of fire and lyricism that is the hallmark of his (all too few) recordings. He did a "Laura" that seemed to stop time--really, REALLY something. I hadn't heard Freddie live since the mid-1990's--he really has been pretty quiet lately and it's nice to see and hear him playing again! Anyway, between sets Freddie told me that he will be appearing once a month "as long as they'll have me" at the Metropol. The website isn't updated through December yet, but this is where you'll find our when Freddie is playing next Metropol Listings