Bob <3 un fuoco dentro al suono. E le citazioni... in quel periodo citava spesso frammenti di temi da "Native Dancer" di Wayne e Milton, come qui a 4:36 con "The Beauty and the Beast". Love forever.
Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for posting this! I heard this take of “April Mist” many years ago on RU-vid and was never able to find it again…until today. Another great meeting of the minds that will never happen again.
Track list: Blue's (Blue Mitchell) 0:00-7:47 Laverne Walk (Oscar Pettiford) 7:47-13:03 Miss Morgan (Sam Jones) 13:03-20:52 Sam's Things (Sam Jones) 20:57-26:45 Stablemates (Benny Golson) 26:45-33:38 Trane Changes (Slide Hampton) 33:43-40:04 Blue Mitchell - Trumpet Bob Berg - Tenor Sax Slide Hampton - Trombone Barry Harris - Piano Sam Jones - Double Bass Louis Hayes - Drums
The drummer is Jo Jones, Jr., son of "Papa" Jo Jones of early Basie band note. This is an outstanding example of Jo Jr's extraordinary talents. He was completely unknown outside NYC musician circles, and highly underrated. For a period of the 70's and 80's he ran the best jam sessions in NYC, mostly at Barbara's and the Jazz Forum in Greenwich Village. He died in 1989 or thereabouts. Thank you for posting this!
Amazes me people just have no concept of artists and think they have to put their two silly cents out there for the world to read. Dig who you dig and shut up. Over or underrated. Who cares. Appreciate the art itself. You know who they are. They have no clue who you are. Let that sink in.
US sax players: who's overrated/underrated Overrated David Murray: howl without any rhythm, it's pretty much heard what he can do. Charles Lloyd: out of tune boring minor pentatonic scales all around Archie Shepp: he could not play in 1964 and has never been able since Kamasi Washington: high school level with horrible sound Shabaka Hutchings: it feels like 100 years of jazz never happened. Here we are back in 1899 in Jamaica Sonny Rollins: his ego destroyed his playing at 36, sorry for him Lee Konitz: has never been able to play with the minimum energy for his sax to sound good John Coltrane after ALS: belief does not justify this self-indulgence Wayne Shorter: record some beautiful compositions wasted by a sloppy game should have been sanctioned Ornette Coleman: as he said himself before a concert in Paris in 1988, he is especially known 'for playing the saxophone badly' James Brandon Lewis: like almost all US tenor saxophones, he wants to be Trane in 1966. But he can't. Next one. Joshua Redman: mannered, mechanical with a repulsive sound. Composition without interest. Matana Roberts: the title of one of his albums is 'coin-coin', everything explains itself. Mark Turner: even if everyone repeats that it's good, my opinion will not change: it's boring Tony Malaby: 25 albums of 'Squeak squeak'...Ok man.. Joe Lovano: the first time I heard it on a disc with Motian and Frissel I stopped the CD. The other times too. John Zorn: I'm told he's a genius...Ok then I'm a sardine. Underrated Rahsaan Roland Kirk: these albums are remembered as unforgettable festive moments. Gato Barbieri: opened the mind to the dimension, capacity and beauty of the instrument. James Carter: exuberant and spectacular technique bearing the heritage of its predecessors. Albert Ayler: a lit spirit that pierces through a sound and unique compositions from the depths of the ages Sidney Bechet: who had this technique and this power before him? Earl Bostic: an alien player who chose popular music but educated many sax stars Michael Brecker: He enhanced the basic technique of the tenor sax based on the Afro-American tradition. Which earned him a lot of jealousy among his peers. Guys, you had to do it yourself! Gary Thomas: crushing sound and sci fi compositions, the complete package Pharoah Sanders after Coltrane: left to himself, Sanders was capable of some of the most satisfying music ever to come out of a saxophone. Maceo Parker: powerful sound and flawless sense of rhythm, a model of joy and cheerfulness that has shaped RnB since the 70's David Sanborn: who can boast of having created the sound of modern pop alto sax with such magnificent highs? Steve Coleman: magnificent player who knows his BIRD from top to toe, coupled with a very powerful conceptualist Arthur Blythe: a sound that attracts the listener like a magnet Eric Dolphy: so individualistic and personal that no one has ever been able to imitate his tone and playing Bob Berg: beast mode non stop! Jim Pepper: should be canonized just for his album Comin' and Goin'
People that hate on this list would be the same people, that kneel before Miles as the best trumpet player of all time. At 24:56 as it cuts to that iconic doodling out of time in C ionic, while being completely out of tune its impossible not to laugh, especially in contrast after Berg absolutely nails all types of changes with his ever unshakeable time feel. Miles surely was great at providing a canvas for struggling virtuosos to do their thing - first with coke, then with cash. Also, i respect him for helping young cats like Berg or Jarrett jumpstart their music careers, yeah. Also the right kind of guy to bring in some big bucks into jazz, kinda like what Bobby Fischer did with chess in the 60/70s. Anyway, anyone that has played the trumpet before will know exactly how badly Miles sucked as a solist, even before his throat problems.
Wow!! Your assessment is very interesting to say the lest. Some of it feels objective and based in truth. Even some of my favorites are on the overrated list. Very interesting.
Thanks so much for this wonderful and historical music. Bob Berg really was one of a kind, I sure miss him and I'm not the only one. These are the titles: 0:00:00 Surfacing (J. Locke) 0:13:20 Prayer (J. Locke) 0:17:42 I Could Write A Book (Richard Rogers) 0:33:13 Searching (J. Locke) 0:41:52 Crescent Street (J. Locke) 0:54:42 Ballet of the Storni (J. Locke) 1:05:26 Helping Hands (J. Locke) 1:16:18 band introduction by Bob Berg 1:18:08 Vierd Blues (M. Davis) 1:32:22 Soul Eyes (M. Waldron) 1:43:04 Look To This Day (J. Locke) The compositions by J. Locke are part of his "Four Walls Of Freedom" suite, released in 2001, recorded with Bob Berg, James Genus and Gary Novak.
Fantastic documentary. Bob Berg is really great, fabulous player and musician. Time Warp with Chick Corea is magnificent and Bob Berg playing incredible music and solos. This should be seen by all sax players and jazz fans!
I agree complete. He may not have been as "pyroteknik" as some other contemporary tenor men (tho it wouldn't be fair to say he didn't swing HARDER than most), like Brecker for example, but his sound and phrasing had so much more raw soul and lyricism in it. I love Bob Berg and tho I never met him, his loss is something I feel much sad about at times. When I listen to Brecker, I find he's marvelously talented in terms of facility, swing, tone, he had it all really, but sometimes I'm just like "wtf was that?" A massive wall of notes that have no meaning, really. Flashy, cute even, but not what we need. Bob had that Soul and Presence in his sound that's really individually his. His loss is indescribable.
Bought this LP as soon it came out on Xanadu. I don't think this album was ever released on cd, haven't seen it even in Japan. I lost my copy so thank you!
I think it was Joe Jones Jr. date. I may be wrong but I think when I played with Bob first in 1983 he played the tape of this session already. Thank you, anything with Cedar and Bob together is worth hearing!
