art blakey and tony williams!!!

[Guest akanalog]

just got a live recordng of art blakey and the jazz messengers from 1972 live in munich with tony williams sitting in on a second kit!!!!!!!!!

weird band-seems like the only frontline guy is jeremy steig and george cables is heavy on the wah. at least on the version of "swamp carol", also found on one of those steig blue notes. only a few minutes in but this is awesome. ray mantilla and buck clarke are also here playing some percussions.

was this a jazz messenger lineup at one point sans williams? was steig part of the group ever? the other guys seem consistent from blakey's stanley clarke era stuff (he's on this set too).

this is pretty cool.

[Michael Fitzgerald]

I have seen this listed as Chateauvallon Jazz Festival, Toulon, France, August 20, 1972. Something on this in Jazz Forum 12/72 p.22

Steig was just sitting in.

Mike

[Guest akanalog]

so hmmm i guess the frontliners were not around that evening? or was this a purely rhythmic jazz messengers lineup? i thought maybe ramon morris? was around this time.

[Michael Fitzgerald]

Well, that particular thing isn't Messengers at all.

I haven't been able to determine whether this was a tour by the Messengers or if it was some kind of all-star package that happened to include Blakey. Stanley Clarke may well have been present because of Return To Forever (who was playing in Norway in August 1972 and Germany in September 1972 before recording Light As A Feather in London in October 1972).

Early 1970s are tough for documenting specifics on the Messengers.

Mike

[Michael Fitzgerald]

Here's what db says:

Joachim E. Berendt will produce a jazz festival during the Olympic Games in Munich, Jazz Now, from Aug. 17-20. Featured will be Jimmy Witherspoon, John Lee Hooker, Joe Turner, T-Bone Walker, Africa Now (with Ginger Baker and Art Blakey), Charles Mingus, Freddy Hubbard, Albert Mangelsdorff, Stanley Turrentine, and others.

db 9/14/72 p.50

Mike

[Michael Fitzgerald]

OK. I dug up the Jazz Forum issue.

Jazz A Chateauvallon

The third International Jazz Festival in Toulon (August 19-27) assembled around 20 bands with some 150 musicians. Among them was the CTI package with George Benson, Freddie Hubbard, Ron Carter, Stanley Turrentine, Esther Philips, Hubert Laws, Johnny "Hammond" Smith, Joe Farrell, Grover Washington Jr., Hank Crawford, Airto Moreira, Bob James and Jack DeJohnette. There were also Chick Corea, Flora Purim, Stan Clarke, Art Farmer, Slide Hampton, Hal Singer, Kenny Drew, Jimmy Woode, Clark Terry, the Marion Brown-Steve McCall Duo, Zoot Sims, Barney Kessel, Joe Turner, John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Band, Art Blakey's Orgy in Rhythm, Paul Bley's Synthesizer Show, and Don Cherry's New Researches. European performers included the Terje Rypdal Quartet, Dharma Quintet, Martial Solal, Pedro Itturalde Quintet, Georges Arvanitas, Jean-Luc Ponty's Experience with Joachim Kuhn, Matchi-Oul Big Band, Michel Portal Unit, Les Luteciens de Daniel Barda, and Michel Terrioux et le Swing Limited Corporation.

There were also the finals of the "Jazz Fans Berlin" band contest, a musical conference, jazz films and jam sessions.

===============

So definitely not Messengers, possibly the recording is the "Art Blakey's Orgy in Rhythm" type of thing. Still not confirmed on location/date.

Mike

[mikeweil]

Here's what db says:

Joachim E. Berendt will produce a jazz festival during the Olympic Games in Munich, Jazz Now, from Aug. 17-20. Featured will be Jimmy Witherspoon, John Lee Hooker, Joe Turner, T-Bone Walker, Africa Now (with Ginger Baker and Art Blakey), Charles Mingus, Freddy Hubbard, Albert Mangelsdorff, Stanley Turrentine, and others.

db 9/14/72 p.50

Mike

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Some of this was broadcast on German TV at the time - I remember seeing the drum battle with just Blakey and Baker, and a larger group with Blakey, Stanley Clarke, Steig, Cables and Tony Williams. Would like to hear that again.