Chicago Vibe Alive

Posts Tagged ‘Jesse Jackson’

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…