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Jimmy McGriff: Live at Blues Alley, Washington DC


HWright

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im very suprised last time i saw mcgriff was probably 2, more like 3 yrs ago, on a trip. bill w/ joey and ruben wilson. mcgriff hardly soloed at all and he looked like he was at the end. that was 3 yrs ago. the 1st time i saw him was a real cool jazz club expierence it was at a place that hadn't had a jazz show since the 80s and it was w/ hank crawford and they were really tight!

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im very suprised last time i saw mcgriff was probably 2, more like 3 yrs ago, on a trip. bill w/ joey and ruben wilson. mcgriff hardly soloed at all and he looked like he was at the end. that was 3 yrs ago. the 1st time i saw him was a real cool jazz club expierence it was at a place that hadn't had a jazz show since the 80s and it was w/ hank crawford and they were really tight!

I heard him just a while back at the Lenox Lounge in NYC. He was in a wheelchair--looks like he has Parkinson's--cant work the pedals (they're weren't any on his organ), but he laid down a nice groove and the quintet was solid. Reuben Wilson sat in for one full set and he was ON FIRE.

Jimmy is indeed "at the end," but it's the end of a long beautiful road and I think it's great he still out there giving what he has left in the tank.

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Jimmy is indeed "at the end," but it's the end of a long beautiful road and I think it's great he still out there giving what he has left in the tank.

Yes maybe. But also maybe a guy should be able to retire if he wants to. The tragedy often is that a musician may have earned plenty in his working life (as I expect Jimmy has) but too often doesn't make provision for retirement and so many are therefore ground into the mill past the point of no return. You can't make people wise, however.

MG

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The line up was:

Jimmy on organ,

Jerry Weldon on tenor sax,

Chris (Barlow? Burell? Durell? couldn't catch the name) on guitar

and Don Williams on drums.

It's true that Jimmy doesn't play as much as he used to, but he did lay down a few grooves and interacted with the band at times. I don't know what tunes they played, but most of them were good. Great fun.

Edited by HWright
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The line up was:

Jimmy on organ,

Jerry Weldon on tenor sax,

Chris (Barlow? Burell? Durell? couldn't catch the name) on guitar

and Don Williams on drums.

It's true that Jimmy doesn't play as much as he used to, but he did lay down a few grooves and interacted with the band at times. I don't know what tunes they played, but most of them were good. Great fun.

Good

MG

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The line up was:

Jimmy on organ,

Jerry Weldon on tenor sax,

Chris (Barlow? Burell? Durell? couldn't catch the name) on guitar

and Don Williams on drums.

It's true that Jimmy doesn't play as much as he used to, but he did lay down a few grooves and interacted with the band at times. I don't know what tunes they played, but most of them were good. Great fun.

Did Jimmy play the basslines on the organ? I've understood he has to play with bass players or another organist these days due to his illness.

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Did Jimmy play the basslines on the organ? I've understood he has to play with bass players or another organist these days due to his illness.

I couldn't say for sure if Jimmy played the basslines on the organ, but there was no bass player or other organist in the group as far as I could tell sitting up front on the left side.

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Did Jimmy play the basslines on the organ? I've understood he has to play with bass players or another organist these days due to his illness.

I couldn't say for sure if Jimmy played the basslines on the organ, but there was no bass player or other organist in the group as far as I could tell sitting up front on the left side.

Sounds like he was kicking bass. Good news! A few years back I saw Jimmy Smith, Jack McDuff and Jimmy McGriff all play a show together. McGriff wasn't in great shape back then even....I never would have guessed he would have outlived the others at the time. Long live McGriff....

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