Recorded from a European tour in late 1969: Thad Jones, Mel Lewis (ldr), Jerry Dodgion (f, as), Jerome Richardson (as), Eddie Daniels, Joe Henderson (ts), Pepper Adams (bar), Danny Moore, Al Porcino, Marvin Stamm, Snooky Young (t), Thad Jones (fh), Jimmy Knepper, Benny Powell, Julian Priester (tb), Bob Burgess (btb), Roland Hanna (p), Richard Davis (b), Mel Lewis (d)
I used to sit in the Vanguard in the late sixties , early seventies and listen to this band. So many great musicians! Sheer joy! And it's 2020 and I'm still listening!
I stumbled upon the Vanguard while visiting NYC in 2019 after my freshman year in music college. I saw the line and asked the doorman who's playing. He said "the house band", which of course means what used to be Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra. I lined up, bought a ticket at the door and went in for the most mindblowing 1.5 hours of live jazz I've ever heard. On the drums, carrying on Mel Lewis' legacy, was Mr. John Riley, whose drum books I have studied well. Cheers!
What a reed section: Henderson, Dodgion, Richardson, Daniels, Adams. Almost unbelievable that these great cats all played in this band at one time. Fantastic.
@@rhythmfield I'm planning to apply for master's at the Sibelius Academy here in my native Finland. Mr. Riley sometimes comes in to give masterclasses there. The up-tempo exercises in "Beyond Bop Drumming" really give your coordination a boost :)
@@mikkovaltonen3564 good luck with your educational pursuits - and thank you, I will look for that up-tempo section and John’s “Beyond Bop” book, thank you!
Having the reed section stand twice for applause shows how much Thad Jones appreciated their clean crisp performance on one of the best written and hippest solis in large ensemble arranging. Considering the soprano player wrote the tune and Thad arranged it what else would you expect! Smooth and swingin all the way. One of the best recordings of it I have heard too.
2:44 GAWD!!! That left hand ascending chromatic scale Roland does right there! AND DOES IT IN OCTAVE!! Good Lord, that's a lightning fast wrist! . I'm a lifelong professional pianist - have been doing lots of jazz and classical - I've NEVER executed a riff like that! Not sure I ever could!
We had to learn this song when I was in college. I played the 1st tenor chair. It was brutal. However, the good part is I met Jerome Richardson in Berkeley (his Mother use to live a few blocks from where I was staying). He even came over to where I had my quartet (in Oakland), and 'sat in'. Monster musician and nice guy!
5 years later and I’m in your exact same spot except that I’m on 1st alto. This is such a huge jump up in a difficulty for us as we were just playing the Kansa City Suite. I hope that I can make it through this. 🙏
I was lucky to be living in New York City in late 60s and early 70s and go to the Village Vanguard on Monday nights and listen to this fantastic band...God bless them RIP Thad,Mel....
Frank, that's what playing in any large ensemble should be like!!! One of the best big bands ever! Many of the players directly from the Basie school, with a bit of harmonic updating, was a very fresh new sound in it's day! Example when the brass come in after the sax soli and then the shout soli with the whole band, that just wasn't ever done previously to my knowledge.
One of the greatest, most musical drummers who ever lived. Mel not only knew every nook and cranny of the charts he was playing (which he had memorized), he knew exactly what to play to complement the music in just the right way, phrasing with the band, finding the right colors and picking the right cymbal every step of the way. And MAAAANNN, what a shuffle! I never realized until recently how studying Mel has paid so many dividends in all of my playing, even in music that isn't jazz or big band related! I would say every young jazz drummer should check him out, but every drummer in general should, too!
Richard Davis proving his endless versatility again, I came to this from Eric Dolphy and the Five Spot. He's so at home in such radically different sounds.
After years of being alone and not feeling like finding someone worthy… yesterday I had my first kiss with her and this was playing on my phone… Couldn’t be better. If you only knew how better things can be.
I've heard many different "Jazz" groups and big bands and the Thad Jones Mel Lewis big band in 1976 and i must say it was one of the most profound musical experiences of my life especially the ensemble written parts left me nailed to the floor.
Trente ans après, je pense encore que c'est le plus beau big Band et le plus grand arrangeur depuis l'avènement du jazz. Je ne me lasse jamais de réécouter tous les disques que je collectionne comme des bijoux. Merci Thad, Mel et le M.L.T.J. Big Band
Mel is is the best drummer of his generation. I was a proffessional musician classical. But also played in jazz bands. In a league of his own. I appreciated his range, subtlty, dynamism.
Big band swinging jazz is one of the few kinds of music that I just want to get up and dance to. These guys are a new discovery for me, and I’m so glad I got to hear this! I wish I could’ve lived in the time where I could go see them in person.
Played this in HS jazz band, great tune. One of the best big bands ever, here. Incidentally, that's Bill Berry on 2nd trumpet. He later went on to lead the Monterey Jazz a Festival HS All Star bands throughout the 70s and 80s. I had the fortune of playing lead trumpet in the 1986 band. Great and hilarious guy.
Listening to this group as a teenager was truly a spiritual experience for me. I was in a trance one time after practicing my alto when I heard the sax soli (4:02)Thank God for Thad Jones - Mel Lewis et al. Truly All-Star all Hall of Famer Band! Tony B.
This song brings back memories of my drum lesson's with RI's great jazz drummer Artie Cabral who turn all us on to great music. This was in his charts that we we learned. The best part of the lessons were when Artie would take out his vinyl and tell us to take it home and listen to it. This was song was one of my favorites.
Good memories of the Great Thad Jones. A very inspiring man. I had the luck to play in a big band workshop under his direction, Denmark, 1979. A top experience.
The opportunity to have been able to actually see this band playing live every time they were in Stockholm was great. They are simply the best. They are. And the arrangements and compositions is outstanding. I am so glad that youtube is here to bring them on again.
Village Vanguard, the 1970s... the HOUSE band... saw these cats so many times I can't remember! KILLER KILLER KILLER! YA YA YA! Max Gordon, the proprietor- fellow Reed College Alum! THANKS!
Lars Olof Sjöström Thank you, Lars! Hello to you- one of my favorite people on the planet, Caroline Wingolf, lives in Göteborg, and works for Documix... she was my girlfriend in NYC in the 1970s- she's now a Grandmother- I'm still trying to come to terms with that! Happy New Year to You and Yours, Luke Sacher Praeses & Soapbox Productions Inc. VIVA BASIE... PS- are you also a Bebop lover? Here is my mother's first documentary film, about Joe Albany. Hope that you enjoy it: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fnufLQMb6To.html&google_comment_id=z12yjjnjdln2vlavd23ue5yirqecdfcyv04&google_view_type#gpluscomments
Mar.28th: Happy birthday Jazz trumpeter-Composer-Bandleader Thaddeus Joseph "Thad" Jones (1923-1986) The Count Basie Orchestra, The Jazz Messengers. Thank you and God bless. RIP. Thanks for the upload, Bob Hardy. Blessings
I never did numbers or lists, just levels or standards, or champions in their time, field, against others.., so this is such a great band, so happy, thrilling, quality, precision, that it is one of the greats, absolutely...
My jazz education was Thad, Billy Byers, Sammy Nestico etc thanks to a hip band prof! This band was "epitome" on so many levels, from the status of each performer in his own right to Thad's unsurpassed writing, Mel's groove and taste, etc. I was too young to see the band in its time, but I'm so lucky I got a chance to meet and talk with Thad after a Basie concert in 1985 after he returned to the US. Class gentleman and one of the top of the top composers in jazz. Thanks so much for posting this!
Man this song is sick!!!! We're currently playing it in our high school jazz band and I'm 2nd alto saxophone and that soli is driving me crazy but I'm sure we're gonna nail it in April for competition.
Jazz, a black find, soothes every race on earth and that says a lot about black peole. Jazz adds and enhance my healthy pride in being black, however not belittling others because they are moved by Jazz too.
Never heard this before! OMG - this IS what I'm talkin' about - good gawd, I'm just blown away by the arrangement and the musicianship - what a treat. goes to the head of the fav's chart.
Just saw the Village Vanguard Jazz Orchestra (used to be the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra) play this song a couple weeks ago. I was in heaven, this is one of my favorites of theirs! :)
That would be amazing! Eddie Bert is my father and he is still working and his chops are in great shape. I am sure he would be thrilled. He loved being in this band!
Thad looks like he was born to be a leader-tall, good looking. Great writer/musician. In its heyday only Don Ellis and Toshiko could compete with Thad and Mel.
