Chicago Vibe Alive

Posts Tagged ‘Jazz’

This record came into my posession through the mother of all used records scores by Whitmire. 5 rubbermaid tubs full of old jazz and blues records from the original owner on the south side of Chicago. Gold mine… It may be some time before we can beat that jackpot. It is taking weeks just to listen to them all. So not knowing what to expect and really not even noticing it was a live performance I threw it on the tables and what I heard blew my mind. First of all this album was recorded live in Chicago during an Operation Breadbasket meeting. Operation Breadbasket was an organization that was dedicated to improving the economic conditions in black neighborhoods accross the united states in the 60′s. The organization was founded by Martin Luther King Jr. but at this particular time the Chicago chapter was being run by Reverand Jesse Jackson. So as you probably guessed Jackson was present the night of the recording and gives a brief speach before kicking off the first tune “Walk Tall”. Talk about powerful, jesus, makes me wish I had charasmatic preachers warming up my dancefloors before my DJ sets.

The quintet is made up of Julian “Cannonball” Adderley on alto and soprano saxaphone, Nat Adderley on Cornet, Joe Zawinul on keys, Walter Booker on bass, and Roy McCurdy on drums. Thats right JOE ZAWINUL on keys… at an operation breadbasket meeting in Chicago. I’m pretty sure he was one of the only caucasian’s in the building that night which is also pretty cool if you think about it. Throughout the record are call and response chants in between tracks of “We Shall Overcome!!” , “I am Somebody!”, Sock it to me!”and “Soul Power!”

From wikipedia – “During his nine-year stint with Adderley, Zawinul wrote the hit song “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy.” He also composed “Walk Tall” and “Country Preacher,” the latter a tribute to U.S. Civil Rights Movement leader Jesse Jackson. In this title cut to the quintet’s popular 1969 album, Country Preacher, Austrian-born Zawinul demonstrated a sophisticated and intimate understanding of the African/Black concept of cool, of motion and interval. When “Country Preacher” debuted at a live recording session in Chicago at Jackson’s Operation Breadbasket, it elicited enthusiastic cheers of immediate recognition from the mostly Black audience.”

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All in all this is a must have record, I have listened to it all the way through front and back at least 5 times since I got my hands on it. Here is a clip of the first track kicking off with Jesse Jackson’s intro…

When I caught wind that jazz super legend of epic proportion Donald Byrd was going to be playing at the  27th Annual Heritage Music Weekend at the South Shore Cultural Center (Aug. ’08) I was going crazy. He was scheduled to play around 8 p.m. so I went record shopping at a Goodwill during the day. While i was there I met a girl who was also going through the records. I asked if she ever heard of Byrd and she said no. I quickly prepped and then began on a 10 – 15 minute pitch on why Donald Byrd is worth her driving from Lombard to 63rd and the lake to see. It seemed that I might have converted her so I grabbed some great picture sleeve 45′s and headed home to get ready.

No one would go with me so I went solo. I had no clue what the venue was like and driving down along the lake on the South Side reminded me of pictures I had seen of 1920′s resorts that used to line the lake with beaches and rock outcrops for tourist. The skeletons of these structures still exist creating a Chicago lakefront very different than the North Side.

The South Shore Cultural Center used to be the South Shore Country Club. According to the Chicago Parks web site: “In 1905, Lawrence Heyworth, president of the downtown Chicago Athletic Club, envisioned an exclusive club with a ‘country setting.’ They hired architects Marshall and Fox (who also designed the Drake Hotel)  and the whole establishment was almost lost to demolition in the 70′s after being purchased by the Chicago Park District. In the end several neighborhood figures came together and restored the property.  The Stage was set up outside along the lake so unfortunately I wasn’t able to look around inside.

Donald Byrd is in my favorite jazz musician for his span of creativity is so impressive and he can stay relevant as well as anyone. From his early modern jazz appearances (Byrd in Hand), to funkier 70′s works (Street Lady) and the mixing of early 90′s East Coast hip hop (Loungin – by Guru Feat. Donald Byrd). Thank you Mr. Byrd for still getting out and playing. He is very old and still got out there and blew for a good hour and a half. Same as Wayne Shorter when I saw him at the CSO same year – another aging jazz mega star

He played mostly his mid career work, which was my favorite era of his.  He had the whole crowd dancing and on their feet. If you are looking for more information on the band members he played with or want to know more about the 27th Heritage Music Weekend please visit this site: www.jazzchicago.net.

Below are two pictures that I asked a Swiss reporter for a French jazz magazine to email me. I was so thankful when I received these in my inbox. I could have literally kicked myself for not bring my own cameras. So a thanks goes out to the reporter who sent these to me. I will get your name up here soon…..the girl from the Goodwill – showed up to hear the last song and I saw her with a friend on my way out. Too bad.

D. Byrd