Most definitely one of the best! His technique is so fluid, you hardly realize when he's playing something that's difficult. Beautiful sound through the whole range. Tasteful, classy and entertaining.
Brian Clancy on the Tenor sax. I met him at the Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach and eventually hired him and Ausin Byrd to come to my house and play a concert. They were augmented by Curtis Parry on guitar and they were beautiful. Brian is a major jazz talent.
I went to NTSU in the later 50's early 60's seeking a degree in Journalism. However I kept cutting my classes in order to catch the Lab Band under the direction of Leon Breeden. At the time many of the participants went on to Stan Kenton's orchestra and other great bands.... what a thrill to hear the present band... they haven't lost a thing. I went on to get into Broadcasting and this last year was voted into the Radio Broadcasting Hall of fame... so as it turns out I didn't waste my time at North Texas.
If you play drums in the 1 o'clock lab band at NTU, it means you are the top banana of the drummer guys there....so, in this sense, the banana is symbolic.
I have listened to this video of Brian's gorgeous interpretation of this sentimental and seductive ballad a hundred times, and I can't get away from it's haunting allure. This is timeless...I don't know how it could ever be better than this !
I've been listening to this recording since I was in high school over 6 years ago now lol- Brian is such an absolute monster, and if I'm not mistaken, that's Adam H on alto, another massive influence on me!
Really, there are incredible performances of this standard, but no other take of Yesterdays is so good as this one! The magnificent solo of Bryan Clancy sets this standard as the standard! Seen this video for years now, keep revisiting it and simply adore it.
I attended NTSU in early 70's as a music composition major. I can't fathom how many lunch breaks I took at the practice hall listening to the 1 O'clock rehearse. It would send chills up you spine to hear the level of talent these guys have. Hell, even the 3 or 4 O'clock players are better than almost any of the top studio players.
My introduction to live jazz was as a 15 year old 9th grader attending the Saturday night stage shows in the North Texas State College ad building in the spring of 1953. Best 25 cents you could spend on Saturday night..
the brecker influence!!! still such a unique sound though. a lot of people try to imitate brecker nowadays and it just doesn't work, but THIS is a perfect example of truly digging deep into that sound.
Many years ago I was at the Nice Jazz Festival and heard that the Freddy Hubbard Quintet were playing down the road at Antibes. I went there and the opening act was the North Texas Lab Band. They were excellent. I have an LP recorded during their European Tour that year which is pretty good with some great solos.
Beautiful! I attended a rehersal of this band 50 years ago when my friend Marv Stamm trumpet was one of the soloists. In those days I think a college Jazz band was unusual. Musicians for the most part got their education on the band stand. Today the trend seems very much to be the young guys studying Jazz in schools.
