Great and not so great, moments in Live recordings

[P.D.]

In my post on the Les Paul thread, I referred to the interplay between Nat King Cole and Les Paul during the jam on a 12 bar blues from the 1944 JATP set. I made a statement that it had to be right up there in memorable occurrences during the recording of concert or club sessions. Got me to thinking about other “ Live” recordings where something “special” happens. Not necessarily always great music, but events where something happens that causes the recording to perhaps gain some semi – mythical status in the Jazz world. Certainly Miles at the Plugged Nickel is a terrific set of music, but it doesn’t quite fit the category that I have in mind.

Perhaps the classic example would be Duke’s rebirth at Newport 56. The story is now well known by just about anyone interested in Jazz . I doubt that there are many here who haven’t heard Diminuendo / Crescendo and the audience participation. Since the reissue of the recordings, using the VOA tapes, we can finally hear the music over the audience participation.

Audience participation is a key element in another live recording, though the music created is not quite so stellar. The 1947 JATP recording at Carnegie Hall is a great demonstration of an audience manipulating a band, and the band in turn manipulating the audience. The up tempo tracks.. Perdido / Mordido and Endido..head for honking heaven… if honking is heaven to you.. it was to the audience

The first sign is during the bridge in the opening thematic statement. A slight honk brings immediate sounds of approval from the crowd. Flip Phillips sets out on the first solo.. swinging along for about two choruses.. deadly silence from the crowd… were they even tapping their feet? Whether Flip felt ignored or not is debatable, but towards the middle of his solo, he delivers a “ toe in the water” honk.. the audience reacts, so he gives them more.. more adulation and so the path is set for the rest of the Session… simply because the other tenor player is Illinois Jacquet. Who refuses to turn the audience over to Flip. Jacquet’s solo on Perdido starts off calmly.. relatively speaking, but by the end of it he is giving the ticket buyers what they want.

An interesting example of an artist putting the audience in it’s place can be found during the recorded concert by Ella Fitzgerald in Budapest from May 1970

Her 10th selection, if the CD follows the concert verbatim is a Medley of I concentrate on you and you go to my head. Any one who has doubts about Ella’s ability to interpret lyrics ( the comments have been made in many a Jazz rag) should listen to this. I think Ella herself is into it too, for towards the end of the end of the first song of the medeley she chides someone with a “ How can you hear me with your clicking” sung as part of the song.

Events like these lend something extra to these live recordings, there are other examples, and they show the highs and the lows that performers face in the open arena. I don’t know if they were deliberately meant to be etched in wax for eternity, but I’m sorta glad they were.

Edited June 11, 2004 by P.D.