BFrank

SFJAZZ We are truly heartbroken to learn of the passing of saxophone great and Bay Area treasure Mel Martin. A Sacramento native and San Francisco State alum, Mel led a charmed musical life, heading his longstanding band Bebop & Beyond as well as the Mel Martin Band, Benny Carter Tribute Band, Tenor Conclave, and Big Band. He collaborated with artists ranging from jazz masters John Handy, McCoy Tyner, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, and Dizzy Gillespie, to rock artists including Boz Scaggs, Carlos Santana, and Tom Waits. Mel’s relationship with SFJAZZ goes back to the very beginning, with Bebop & Beyond performing at the first Jazz in the City event in 1983. We have presented Mel innumerable times over the years, including the dedication of our Joe Henderson Lab in 2014 and a 2016 Hotplate performance celebrating Joe Henderson. Mel's contributions to music and culture will live on through all we do at SFJAZZ. photo of Mel Martin and his quartet at the Joe Henderson Lab dedication, 8/14. ?: Ross Eustis

WBGO: Ben Riley, a Jazz Drummer Who Made Accompaniment His Art, Has Died at 84

I still have about 3 1/2 weeks until my show.

14.11.2017 PRESS RELEASE: ECM AND STREAMING Over the past week we have begun the process of entering the world of streaming, and from November 17th, the full ECM catalogue will be available to subscribers to services including Apple Music, Amazon, Spotify, Deezer, Tidal and Qobuz. This simultaneous launch across the platforms – facilitated by a new digital distribution agreement with Universal Music – invites listeners to explore the wide range of music recorded by our artists in the course of nearly five decades of independent production. Although ECM’s preferred mediums remain the CD and LP, the first priority is that the music should be heard. The physical catalogue and the original authorship are the crucial references for us: the complete ECM album with its artistic signature, best possible sound quality, sequence and dramaturgy intact, telling its story from beginning to end. In recent years, ECM and the musicians have had to face unauthorized streaming of recordings via video sharing websites, plus piracy, bootlegs, and a proliferation of illegal download sites. It was important to make the catalogue accessible within a framework where copyrights are respected. ECM Press Office Munich, November 14, 2017

I DVR'd it on PBS last week.

Wow - practically doubled in price! Must have been a pre-order special.

Looking forward to it!

My birthday is coming up!

Great review - thanks! I'm seeing them here in SF in December.

Big Ears Festival Announces Jazz-Heavy 2018 Line-Up - Rolling Stone

I'm definitely going. Should be great!

I belong in that group, too. I'll take pre-Jaco any day. His contribution to the band wore out quickly for me.

Hmmm. I saw Dexter there again on 12/2/77, but w/George Cables, Rufus Reid, Eddie Gladden. The show in May was with the Woody Shaw, Louis Hayes band. He must have come back (AGAIN!) for the holiday shows.

Interesting. My log says that I saw Dexter, Bobby H. & Billy Harper at KK on 5/30/77 (but not Max). My recollection was that I saw Billy for the first time with Max on 11/3/77. Your 'triple bill' note sounds more realistic. *Edit: I found this poster(s) online. It was the Billy Harper Quintet.

It was! Very intimate and a cool vibe. I saw over 50 shows there from 74-82: Blakey, Dexter, Freddie, Max, McCoy, Rahsaan, Charles Lloyd ... even Capt Beefheart! (to name a few)

Yes, it looks like the entire 4/10/70 Fillmore West show is available on Wolfgang's (which is what Gleason would have been referring to). 1 Directions 10:46 2 Miles Runs the Voodoo Down 12:22 3 Willie Nelson 06:22 4 I Fall in Love Too Easily 01:34 5 Sanctuary 04:00 6 It's About That Time 09:59 7 Bitches Brew 12:53 8 Masqualero 09:07 9 Spanish Key / The Theme 12:14

Great! "Free For All"! I saw him there that same week - Jan 13. Interesting seeing all those kids there and the seating lined up in rows. Obviously a special matinee. The typical setup at KK was configured with long tables set up perpendicular to the stage.

The SF Chronicle has a weekly piece called "Chronicle Classic" where they re-print a column from the past. This one, in last Sunday's paper, is particularly appropriate for this topic! Trumpet sorcery by Miles Davis, Ralph J. Gleason, 1970 These two paragraphs from the end are especially interesting: In the dressing room, I asked, “You gonna play another set?” He looked at me. “After THAT?” he said. Bill Graham said, “That one set was better than all four at the Fillmore East.” Miles smiled. “I know it,” he said. The Prince of Darkness had taken the Fillmore in his silent way on his own trip to his own special land. It was a remarkable achievement and it was remarkable music. “Columbia should have taped it,” Miles said. “I taped it,” Bill Graham said. “I tape everything.” So maybe it won’t be lost.

Smoke Sessions has some VERY heavy hitters between these guys and the Cookers!

It's terrible that he's having trouble getting into the U.S. because of a LONG AGO minor brush with the law. American-born jazz artist denied entry for brush with law 50 years ago

Ditto what everyone else said. I think I have everything I "need" at this point.

Always a big fan of his 70s Ntu Troop albums, especially "Harlem Bush Music - Uhuru," "Harlem Bush Music - Taifa" (both with Andy Bey vocals) and the live "I've Known Rivers"

RIP Gord. He did a nice album with alt-country-surf-rock kings, the Sadies, a few years ago.