For anyone wondering about about the significance of the title, "Del Sasser," here's the answer. First of all, it's a tune written by bassist Sam Jones and recorded by him when he was a member of the Cannonball Adderley Quintet. In 2008, bassist John Wiitala posted this on the TalkBass website: "Back in the mid-eighties, when I was in my mid-twenties, I was working a steady five night a week gig (what ever happened to those?!) at the Jazz Workshop, on Broadway, in San Francisco. The actual Jazz Workshop, same room, piano, decor as back in the day. Different management, of course--it had languished as God-knows-what for 15-18 years or so, but some enterpreneurs had the idea of reviving it as a jazz club again. The great Donald Duck Bailey started the gig out on drums, but by the time of this story, he was very ably replaced by Carl Burnett, who came up from LA to do the gig. I guess the "new" Jazz Workshop lasted about 2-3 years or so, and this was at the end of the run--managment was feeling the pinch of bad business and we musicians now had to pay for our drinks. And they also started playing some jive s*** on the sound system on breaks--the handwriting was on the wall. All of which caused me to take my breaks elsewhere--I'd walk down to Columbus Ave, hang a left, and then another into the little dead-end alley just before Tosca and get my taste(s) at Specs Bar, a venerable little watering-hole that dated back to the Beats, Ferlinghetti and all that stuff. They played my kinda music there, so it was a better hang.So this one night I walk in, get a seat at the bar, get my drink and just dig the scene--about halfway through my 20 minute break, what comes on but Cannonball's recording of "Del Sasser". Jazz geek I, I softly sing along, drumming along with with the little hits that answer the melody. At that moment, this beautiful older (again, to me) woman walks in, right by me, and notices my involvment in this tune. Says she; "Excuse me, you know this tune?" I said, "yes, "Del Sasser", by one of my bass heroes, Sam Jones." She replied, "Well, you know, Sam used to play around the corner at the Jazz Workshop quite often back in the sixties. He was a dear friend of mine--my name's Irene Del Sasser." We had a nice little chat--I got back a bit late for the next set, but it was worth it. And since then, I've played hundreds of gigs in that neighborhood--ten years of 3 nights a week right around the corner from Spec's, at Jazz at Pearl's with Vince Lateano and Bruce Forman, yet I never saw Ms. Del Sasser again."
I've been following and listening to Jazz for over 50 years and this rhythm section is about as tight as I've ever heard and that includes all of the greats. You guys are simply awesome!!!!!
She has that old school Ella Fitz and Sara Von sound that my mom would listen to back in the day. I saw her on the J Hud show and fell in love with the voice, I have been listening to her music back to back. It make me think of my mom and my childhood. I always loved this genre of music.
This is so amazing! My only request is that I'd love to hear more of the bass player. His playing is somehow lost, even when it's just him playing. Any chance he could be louder in the recordings? Thank you SO much!
