Robben Ford is one of the few players from that era who you can tell within a note or two that it couldn't possibly be anyone else. There were so many generic rock/jazz/fusion players from then, and he was a complete original. What a sound. This really holds up.
This concert was at the John Anson Ford Theater in LA near the Hollywood bowl. I was at the concert. There was an all jazz radio station (KABC ?) that put on these concerts (for FREE!) at various venues around the city. The famous jazz DJ Chuck Niles was the man behind them. The radio station would broadcast them live. I believe at this particular concert KCET (the local PBS station) did a live television broadcast as well. That's probably the only reason this video tape exists. This was way before everyone had their own portable video recorder! What a great time for jazz and at a great venue. It only sat about 1500 people. It was outdoors in the great LA weather. Everyone was high. I remember it like it was yesterday. Just the best music in the best place in a great era in jazz fusion....
@@nylonsteel Since this was broadcast on network tv I imagine this video was made by someone at home on what would have been a really early VCR. But I've always wondered if the TV station that broadcast it still has the original tape. There were lots of free concerts here at that time and I know they broadcast at least one other concert that I was at. It was Tashiko Akiyoshi's big band around the time they released the album Road Time. It was an incredible show and there were so so many local greats who sat in on every number. Her band arrangements used so many unusual horn and woodwind combinations that there were players literally lined up on the stage and after every tune practically half the people would get up and be replaced by another group of musicians. It was difficult and expensive to tour with a big band and so I'm sure she knew if she played LA she would have access to a wealth of local talent anxious to sit in and who had the chops necessary to play her complex charts. What a legendary show it was and it's intriguing to think that somewhere there might be a tape of it.
TheManFender I had a LP by a band called Kittyhawk and Robben wasn't in it. The thing I remember about that band was that the guitarist played a fretless guitar.
I was at that concert at the John Anson Ford Theater in LA and as I recall the show was billed as Robben Ford and Kittyhawk. And it was definitely around 1979. And it was a free concert (yes free) put on by a local LA jazz station. They put on many other free jazz concerts at the same venue. I know I saw a bunch of big bands. Super Sax was one and the Capp Pierce Juggernaut and one that was an all female big band (Anne Magnuson?) Plus there were other groups that I can't recall the names of.
I remember seeing a performance at this venue with group that had a guy who played the Chapman stick and as guitar player myself it blew me away. I don't recall who the player was but since I've never seen anyone before or since who played that instrument and it was so early on I'm guessing that he must have been someone special in the birth of that instrument. There was an explosion of great and innovative musicians coming up in LA at the time and it was hard to keep up with all the players or remember their names all these years later.
The tone that the hands of Robben Ford squeezed out of this ES-335 and whatever pedals/amps he was using during this period...moving my emotions. Wonder what year was this particular 335 built?
funkyjones You’re right! I used to live across the street from his brother Mark and I went with him to see the YJ play in SF, I picked up RF’s dotneck (which I think is a ‘58), Mark said: ‘You better put that down’... and I did... but it was tough :) That guitar was setup beautifully!
What year, what model, what Amp, etc. The man is one of the best no matter the equipment. His guitar work in 84' at Montreux with the Yellowjackets...unbelievable.
It's hard to tell but I saw a concert with Robben Ford and Kittyhawk at a place called the John Anson Ford Theater in LA and I believe that is were this performance was filmed. It was like a miniature Hollywood Bowl. It was in a natural bowl, outdoors and seated about 1k. Maybe more maybe less but I saw many great jazz shows there when I lived in LA and I believe the venue is still there. With the great summer weather it was a wonderful place to see and hear great music and at this time LA was kind of the center of the fusion universe IMHO.
