The Paris Reunion Band in Burghausen (1986)

In late 1984 tenor and soprano saxophonist Nathan Davis (born 1937) formed the Paris Reunion Band to pay tribute to drummer Kenny Clarke (who passed in January 1985) and to evoke the spirit of Paris in the late fifties and early sixties when it was home to many american jazz musicians.

For four or five years the Paris Reunion Band was making the European festival circuit each year. Of course the logistics to gather musicians which have their home in different parts of the planet were enormous and so besides core members Nathan Davis and Woody Shaw the members of the band kept changing.

On March 16, 1986 the Paris Reunion Band played in the Stadtsaal in Burghausen, a small town in the Bavarian part of Germany, during the Jazzwoche Burghausen. At that concert the band consisted of Woody Shaw and Benny Bailey(tp), Glenn Ferris (tb), Nathan Davis (ss, ts), Johnny Griffin (ts), Kenny Drew sr. (p), Jimmy Woode (p) and Alvin Queen (dr).  Bavarian TV station BR3 was filming the festival, and I found four tracks on one of Otto Flückiger’s old VHS cassettes – which I am offering you here. I have decided to present the footage in two parts.

Part one consists of the band playing Woody Shaw’s Sweet Love of Mine (solos by Shaw, Griffin, Bailey, Drew) and Slide Hampton’s The Waltz (solos by Davis, Ferris, Davis, Drew).

Part two opens with Johnny Griffin’s feature on Sophisticated Lady, which is followed by the Griffin composition Callitwhachawanna (solos by Drew, Davis, Bailey, Griffin, Ferris, Woode).

Enjoy!

Woody Shaw: more from Juan Les Pins 1979

Continuing to digitize my friend Otto Flückiger’s old VHS cassettes, I found some more footage of Woody and his quintet playing the Jazz à Juan festival in Juan Les Pins, Antibes at the Côte d’Azur on July 24, 1979. They are playing But Not For Me and Woody’s composition Stepping Stone:

The personnel: Woody Shaw (tp), Carter Jefferson (ss), Onoje Allan Gumbs (p), Stafford James (b) and Victor Lewis (dr).

Since this is – according to the opening credits – part 3, and only one other track, “Seventh Avenue”, is up on youtube already, I guess there must be even more footage from this concert. I hope it will turn up on one of the many tapes I have not yet digitized. Until then: Enjoy!

Woody Shaw feat. Wynton Marsalis: Now’s The Time

Ever since I wrote this post, a lot of people – among them Woody Shaw’s son, Woody III – asked me if could possibly put up one of the tracks with 18 year old Wynton Marsalis featured with the Woody Shaw Quintet at Fat Tuesday’s. So here for your pleasure are Woody Shaw (tp), Wynton Marsalis (tp), Carter  Jefferson (ts), Larry Willis (p), Stafford James (b) and Victor Lewis (d) playing Charlie Parker’s “Now’s The Time”, a tune requested by Marsalis. Recorded on April 10, 1980 at Fat Tuesday’s in New York City.

Enjoy!

P.S.: If you are interested in the music of Woody Shaw, you may want to check out the Official Woody Shaw Website, kept up by his son, Woody III, who also maintains the Woody Shaw Legacy pages on Facebook.

Woody Shaw at Fat Tuesday’s, April 10, 1980

When he was in new York in 1980 my friend Otto Flückiger went to see the Woody Shaw Quintet again (as he had already done in 1978). This time Woody was playing at Fat Tuesday’s.

The other band members during this engagement were Carter Jefferson (as), Larry Willis (p), Stafford James (b) and Victor Lewis (d). Unfortunately this time around Otto did not make any photos at the concert (or maybe they were not good enough to keep?). But of course he had his small tape recorder with him.

Woody Shaw Quintet Live, May 1978

In 1978, 1979 and 1980 my friend Otto Flückiger (we did not know each other until 1992) went to the USA for some weeks. In 1978 he chose New York City as his destination. Of course he tried to see as many jazz bands as possible. So on May 18 1978 he took his camera and his cassette recorder to the Village Vanguard, where Woody Shaw (December 24, 1944 – May 10, 1989) was playing with his quintet from May 16 to May 22 (Shaw’s Columbia live album “Stepping Stone” was recorded there in August of same year).

Carter Jefferson and Woody Shaw at the Village Vanguard, May 18, 1978.
Photo: Otto Flückiger (click to enlarge)

Although Otto took several photos of each band he saw, for some reason only two photos from this concert survive. But Shaw is announcing the personal at one time. Carter Jefferson is playing soprano and tenor sax, Onaje Allan Gumbs is the pianist, Victor Lewis is playing drums. A problem is the identification of the bassist. Shaw’s regular bass player at that time was Clint Houston. But what Woody Shaw seems to say is Ted Easton. Meanwhile Otto noted down Frank Houston.  But of course this may well be Clint Houston after all.

So here is the other photo:

Carter Jefferson, Woody Shaw and Onje Allan Gumbs at the
Village Vanguard May 18, 1978. Photo: Otto Flückiger (click to enlarge)

Although the cover of the cassette on which Otto recorded this concert says “C-60″, it contains a C-90 Cassette, so a full 1 1/2 hours survive from this concert:

Unfortunately sound quality is not too good. Some parts are rather muffled, others are very distorted. One of the better tracks on the tape is Woody Shaw’s composition Rahsaan’s Run dedicated to Roland Kirk, which I am presenting you here:

Enjoy!

Woody Shaw Quintet, Juan Les Pins 1979

Trumpeter and composer Woody Shaw (December 24, 1944 – May 10, 1989) was technically as well as musically one of the most influential trumpet players of the late twentieth century – and his influence is still large today. There are quite a few clips on youtube showing Woody at his best, but on one of the old VHS tapes I found one of Woody’s 1979 working quintet, that no-one has put on youtube yet. It was filmed for a french TV station at the Jazz à Juan festival in Juan Les Pins, Antibes at the Côte d’Azur on July 24, 1979. Voilà:

The personnel: Woody Shaw (tp), Carter Jefferson (ss), Onoje Allan Gumbs (p), Stafford James (b) and Victor Lewis (dr). It says they are playing “But Not For Me”, but is that true? It looks like I am not able to hear the Gershwin tune here, but maybe that’s because I am not a musician. Or is there a different tune with the same title by someone else? Any help on this point is very much welcome.