Thad Jones Mel Lewis Big Band In Norway 1974

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  • Опубліковано 21 лют 2017

КОМЕНТАРІ • 108

  • @billkirchner6738
    @billkirchner6738 7 років тому +110

    Personnel: Thad Jones, flugelhorn; Jon Faddis, Steve Furtado, Jim Bossy, Cecil Bridgewater, trumpets; Jimmy Knepper, Billy Campbell, Quentin "Butter" Jackson, Dave Taylor, trombones; Jerry Dodgion, Ed Xiques, Billy Harper, Ron Bridgewater, Pepper Adams, reeds; Walter Norris, piano; George Mraz, bass; Mel Lewis, drums.

  • @diment0857
    @diment0857 Рік тому +5

    Happy Birthday to the great Thad Jones born on this day 100 years ago, his legacy will live forever.

  • @harrypetersen9831
    @harrypetersen9831 7 років тому +112

    We who love this music can be very thankful for the efforts of all the European TV stations which captured this and other great concerts of the great American art form.

    • @WyattLite-n-inn
      @WyattLite-n-inn 7 років тому +12

      One time I was playing "Green Dolphin Street " with the late, great Arthur Rhames at 72 and Broadway. Some pharmacist looking guy comes and starts yelling in my ear "Play your bass drum!".. I said "Get the F**k outta here". He said "I know what I'm talkin' about , I'm Mel Lewis". I got to know Mel and we would talk. I know he liked my playing a lot and thought I should have been doing studio work but that's another story.
      Mel plays some out of this world solos on here and he could really feel that boogaloo funk beat.. I can relate to the Jewish thing he's got on the drums..
      I don't think Thad was reading these parts here. He seemed to have to whole book memorized.. Every hit.

    • @bholaoates1542
      @bholaoates1542 6 років тому +4

      +Harry Peterson Yep. 'Cause sadly, America sure ain't gonna do it.

    • @jimflys2
      @jimflys2 5 років тому +1

      I was going to say before I got to it - must have been Mel Lewis! LOL!

    • @rhythmfield
      @rhythmfield 5 років тому +1

      Charles Telerant great story Charles. What was there at 72nd & Broadway at the time? A jazz club?

    • @geulabroiman1590
      @geulabroiman1590 3 роки тому

      ף

  • @elvinz2
    @elvinz2 3 роки тому +57

    Thank you for keeping the legacy of our Jones family alive! Long live King Thaddeus!

    • @fideliusconcrete4871
      @fideliusconcrete4871 3 роки тому +9

      I have seen many of the famous conductors (Karajan, Bernstein, Abbado, Harnoncourt etc), but Thad Jones was the greatest of them all: He conducted with his elbows and even his legs. And the band reacted immediately. And they sounded damn tight too. So he's gotta be a really special leader.
      Your uncle or whatever was a very, very important musician!

    • @NavyLeaguer
      @NavyLeaguer 2 роки тому +4

      Fortunate to have heard all the Jones Family play, sometimes together. All were under-appreciated. Thanks to Max and the Vanguard for all this great music. I had many a bad workday closing the Vanguard, getting a falafel and coffee at Mamoun's, and then heading back home to Central Jersey.

    • @fideliusconcrete4871
      @fideliusconcrete4871 2 роки тому +4

      I was friends with Elvin, we met many times and we talked about everything openly. One day I said to him that he looks a lot like Thad, he said "I don't look like my brother at all ..."
      But he was very happy when I said that Thad is the coolest conductor ever (Elvin knew that I knew Bernstein, Karajan and some others well).

    • @WyattLite-n-inn
      @WyattLite-n-inn Рік тому +1

      @@fideliusconcrete4871I’m w Elvin here . I see zero resemblance

    • @mangalarobertwatling9168
      @mangalarobertwatling9168 Рік тому +2

      @@WyattLite-n-inn I can hear it in his voice, though, during his introduction of the first tune.

  • @phyllispetras3821
    @phyllispetras3821 6 років тому +24

    Take your children or grandchildren to hear jazz....Support jazz in the schools. Donate unused instruments in good condition to your favorite jazz band. Middle school is not too soon OR elementary! We miss you, Mr Orrin Keepnews. Bon Voyage.

    • @dahliafully
      @dahliafully 4 роки тому +6

      AND Keep clubs open. It's the best way to learn.
      Music in public schools!!!

  • @dipsyfriday
    @dipsyfriday 6 років тому +25

    A young 21-year-old Jon Faddis on lead trumpet! Marvelous band!

  • @sonja9001
    @sonja9001 Рік тому +3

    I love Thad Jones! I met him when I was about 18 years old….I waited for the band bus to pull into the stage entrance of the Kranert Center at the the U of I Champaign Urban campus. I had transcribed a blues he played and wanted Thad to sign it….which he did. No class work just loved that tone and solo. I wanted to play in his band! He said maybe finish school first. He was a gracious and inspirational man!

  • @vargaso
    @vargaso 4 роки тому +28

    Probably my favorite big band. Thanks to my jazz band directors for being hip to this back in the 80s and having us play some of their arrangements. Also, Toshiko Akioshi big band.

    • @brianhammer5107
      @brianhammer5107 Рік тому

      Toshiko Akiyoshi-Lew Tabackin Big Band was also superb - great writing from her.

  • @philpryor7524
    @philpryor7524 4 роки тому +11

    Such sweet, superb band playing, musicianship, contributions, friendly free fellowship, all such quality playing stylists to make us feel happy, glad, grateful, wondering at the whys of this great art and its constant threat of dying, or simply fading. This is a path, a monument, an aim, a great performing art.

  • @martinmartin8871
    @martinmartin8871 2 роки тому +3

    I saw this tour El Camino Jr College. The Best of all time!

  • @moussetache1815
    @moussetache1815 2 роки тому +6

    I love how Mel Lewis looks like your laid back uncle who has what it takes to be Santa for the family but is one of the funkiest drummers you'll ever hear.

  • @patrickyoung3503
    @patrickyoung3503 Рік тому +1

    Mel Lewis is the busines not to say anybody else is behind , it just a great pleasure to listen to him play .

  • @polara01
    @polara01 4 роки тому +13

    I'll tell you one thing...aside from Mel's obvious great chops on the kit I think he has just about the best sounding cymbals I have ever heard in my life and he really knew how to bring out every nuance from every cymbal on his kit he was a true master!

    • @rhythmfield
      @rhythmfield 2 роки тому +2

      Agree 100%

    • @alexeisavrasov888
      @alexeisavrasov888 2 роки тому +3

      same here...he was a "musicians' drummer"...he was in it for the music, not the drumming...every solo is like what a non-drummer would play, in a way. "tasteful" does not even begin to tell his story.
      when these two came together it was musical history indeed

  • @ignaciomoran6706
    @ignaciomoran6706 6 років тому +15

    Such a great orchestra. Thad’s solo in Willow Weep For Me is tremendous! George Mraz is special

  • @jamespjohnson
    @jamespjohnson 3 роки тому +12

    Now, this was a band! A lovely brooding Bob Brookmeyer arrangement too.
    Ah, Jimmy Knepper! Such an underrated trombonist. Paid his dues with Mingus and also paid the price. Check out his spotlight feature “ Where Flamingoes Fly’” with Gil Evans.
    Thanks for posting!

    • @moussetache1815
      @moussetache1815 2 роки тому +1

      I was in a school once where I didn't gain much more than solid musical references and a taste for playing music, instead of being a sound technician. Among them, I discovered this tune. Our teacher liked to bring his LPs and listen to a selection of tunes with us. "Where flamingos fly" was one of them." I don't know exactly why but we listened to a good number of songs but this one and Blood Sweat and Tears' "Lonesome Suzie" still stand out vividly today in my mind. Merci Mr Lotito.

    • @cterbush
      @cterbush Рік тому

      Knepper was an amazing “story-teller” kind of soloist. The technique was more than all there, but always in service of the musical story. Almost conversational.

  • @patrickashby15
    @patrickashby15 2 місяці тому +2

    Thad Jones was so underrated bothas a trumpet player and composer the man was a genius or as Mingus put it he was Bartok with valves instead of a piano

  • @yourfamilydocter
    @yourfamilydocter 4 роки тому +4

    Who, in their right mind, could ever dislike this!!!???

    • @bconroy2
      @bconroy2 11 місяців тому

      To listen to and enjoy/appreciate this music takes work! Of course, Thad and co make the work worth it. If you don't want to work, go listen to some pop candy music! This is the adult music listening room.

  • @marcellomentasimonsennico5670
    @marcellomentasimonsennico5670 3 роки тому +3

    What a chance to watch such a rare vintage by the great Quentin "Butter"Jackson!

  • @ibleebinU
    @ibleebinU 5 років тому +7

    I love Mel's understated style. I try to play along with him but he owns it!

  • @henridelagardere4584
    @henridelagardere4584 7 років тому +37

    0:23 - "Willow Weep for Me" (Ann Ronell) - Thad jones - flh, Jimmy Knepper - tb
    9:14 - "Central Park North" (Thad Jones) - Jon Faddis - tp, Jerry Dodgion - ss, Mel Lewis - dr
    24:51 - " Jerry Dodgion - fl, Quentin Jackson - tb, Thad Jones - flh
    32:27 - "Don't Get Sassy" (Thad Jones) - Walter Norris - p, Cecil Bridgewater - tp, Billy Harper - ts

    • @LuckyChops
      @LuckyChops 6 років тому +10

      The song at 24:51 is "Only For Now" from the fantastic "Suite for Pops" record.

  • @stpd1957
    @stpd1957 5 років тому +5

    Oh what a beautiful band, wonderful music beautifully played.

  • @davidspeake2179
    @davidspeake2179 4 роки тому +15

    The Jones Lewis Big Band I remember was always considered a cut above the rest musically by the jazz musicians I worked with and this demonstrates why. Superb arrangements and playing. Wow some of those harmonies. Also big band drummers don't always have to hammer out phrases, Mel demonstrated the right way to play you can hear the subtle inflections in the other instruments because you can 'feel' him rather than 'hear' him stand out all the time. They are playing for the music as a whole and nothing else, not show boating etc. If the music is worth it give it the respect it deserves like Thad, Mel and all did. Thank you so much for posting this.

  • @vvangeus
    @vvangeus 3 роки тому +2

    The Best Big Band Ever....I have seen them twice in the 70th (Laren Jazz Festival 1972 and Roermond Oranjerie 1974)... And what I had missed was their spontaneous mid day performance on a platform of the railway station in Haarlem Holland (not Harlem NY)....('72 or '74)...

  • @ghairraigh
    @ghairraigh 7 років тому +7

    - Featuring Jimmy Knepper, trombone, on the opener 'Willow Weep for Me', with Jiri "George" Mraz on bass and Thad on flugelhorn.

  • @hoganbentle3582
    @hoganbentle3582 7 років тому +22

    13:10, one of the sexiest grooves in jazz history.

  • @LarryDahle
    @LarryDahle 3 роки тому +3

    As usual a beautiful place and great music... 😊🎶🎼

  • @user-yi4es6rx9f
    @user-yi4es6rx9f 2 роки тому +3

    Получил несказанное удовольствие от увиденного и тем более от прослушанного . Это прямо сказка поиграть в таком оркестре.

  • @phyllispetras3369
    @phyllispetras3369 Місяць тому +1

    Featuring Jimmy Knepper, trombone, on the opener 'Willow Weep for Me', with Jiri "George" Mraz on bass and Thad on flugelhorn.

  • @yvanbelmondo5973
    @yvanbelmondo5973 5 років тому +4

    c'est un immense plaisir que de renouveler cette écoute !

  • @jackkinney5422
    @jackkinney5422 5 років тому +3

    Magical... The time is unbelievable, the harmony transported me to another dimension, and Mel is now my favorite rock drummer. So much to say about this video. VonOhlen always said, "Mel was the best, when he played he didn't look like a drummer --he looked like a banker." I always feel like I was born too late to experience ensembles like this. Many thanks to the Norwegians that preserved this performance.

    • @FordGreeneLawyer
      @FordGreeneLawyer 7 місяців тому

      Like a banker! Keeping track of every fraction of (time) value. No kidding!

  • @dallmat44
    @dallmat44 5 років тому +3

    Love Jerry Dodgion’s melodic solo. Beautiful mellow sound on what can be piercing and thin.

  • @13THEMAS
    @13THEMAS 6 років тому +3

    Thad looks so much like Elvin, and sweats as much too. He's so great!!

  • @rhythmfield
    @rhythmfield 2 роки тому +2

    The solos are really conversations between band mates and audience is allowed in-this is so good

  • @frannyfrench452
    @frannyfrench452 Рік тому +2

    Fantastic!! thanks for posting.

  • @peterglynn4981
    @peterglynn4981 7 років тому +12

    Thank you for posting this!

  • @JollyRoger150
    @JollyRoger150 5 років тому +6

    How am I just finding this?! What happened!? We have to go back! -

  • @rosies3622
    @rosies3622 6 років тому +1

    Thank you SO MUCH for uploading! Great! :)

  • @jazzsalsadrummer9113
    @jazzsalsadrummer9113 7 років тому +3

    Simply phenomenal!

  • @morganlee2089
    @morganlee2089 5 років тому +1

    Wow! Thanks for uploading

  • @dandiacal
    @dandiacal 7 років тому +6

    Brand new archival footage of Thad/Mel band (now Vanguard Orchestra, going on their 51st year)!! Bless you for preserving and posting!

  • @jaimejimmycongarodriguez2619
    @jaimejimmycongarodriguez2619 6 років тому +1

    Absolueltely Lovely Rendition Of "Willow Weep For Me"!

  • @robertcarli1969
    @robertcarli1969 9 місяців тому

    Amazing videotape quality for 1974 ! ❤

  • @billganon3357
    @billganon3357 Рік тому

    I wore this record out in my high school and college days (played Alto 1 in my HS jazz band). The title track is beautifully performed here, and there are so many other excellent cuts on it as well. Thank you Thad and Mel. One of the finest jazz orchestras not only for the performing but the amazing arrangements.

  • @billthejazzfan6225
    @billthejazzfan6225 Рік тому

    what an incredible collection of cats in this band!each a jazz master in his own right.

  • @russellesimonetta9071
    @russellesimonetta9071 Рік тому

    Magical arrangements!!! The down beat of one gets completely lost!!

  • @LarryDahle
    @LarryDahle 3 роки тому +2

    Great stuff from a Jazz Giant!

  • @arame29
    @arame29 5 років тому +3

    what a great band. Permanence is the key. most bands go out on the road for 14 weeks, and theres changes in personnel

  • @NTJazzOrchestra
    @NTJazzOrchestra 6 років тому +2

    One the best jazz orchestra!

  • @erdwest
    @erdwest 4 роки тому

    Superb!

  • @gunnarkarlsson3391
    @gunnarkarlsson3391 7 років тому +2

    Super!

  • @alfredoremus4409
    @alfredoremus4409 7 років тому +3

    La big band que marcó un camino! Maravillosos arreglos tocados por maravillosos musicos!

  • @user-hm1ew6ir3w
    @user-hm1ew6ir3w 2 роки тому

    Fantastic jazz! For Ever!

  • @MichaelVLang
    @MichaelVLang 7 років тому +3

    Dig Mel's heavy sound and tightness. Wow!!

  • @JC-et6wm
    @JC-et6wm 6 років тому +1

    Gamin, une trentaine d'années, je vis débuter avec ces voyous de Thad Jones et Mel Lewis, Dee Dee Bridgwater, jeunette, chez Max Gordon à NYC.... instants inoubliables.

  • @palhusebyberntsen2701
    @palhusebyberntsen2701 4 роки тому +2

    Hello - greatest band, is IT from club7 in Oslo, If IT is i was there and have a tape recording of the fantastisk concert😊

  • @intuneorange
    @intuneorange 2 роки тому

    A long haired Mraz
    He studied With
    "Long haired European
    classical masters"
    and he was in style in
    70's with Thad and mel's big band . Jiri recently deceased
    Sept 16th 2021.

  • @lucasgabriel-if3yp
    @lucasgabriel-if3yp 3 роки тому

    Magic!!!!!.

  • @Egbert1957
    @Egbert1957 6 років тому +3

    Quentin "Butter" Jackson, sein Posaunenspiel war wundervoll.Leider starb er bereits 1976.

    • @agamemnonpadar5706
      @agamemnonpadar5706 6 років тому

      Da kann ich nur zustimmen. Was für ein Musiker, schließlich spielte mit allen Großen wie u.a. Basie, Ellington, Calloway, Mingus, Don Redman, Lucky Millinder und hier Thad Jones/Mel Lewis. Und immer als der wundervolle Solist und zuverlässiger Musiker im Satz. Ein Beispiel dafür dass man niemals aufhören sollte zu lernen.

  • @udomatthiasdrums5322
    @udomatthiasdrums5322 5 років тому +1

    mel lewis start of broken time!!

  • @wolfypapadukes9688
    @wolfypapadukes9688 2 роки тому

    That's how it's done boys and girls

  • @martinhale6916
    @martinhale6916 4 роки тому +1

    Saw this great band at Blighties near Manchester (UK) in 1971. They were amazing and blew the audience away. I was 15, got Dad to drive us there (40 miles), found it was sold out but they let us stand at the bar (from 7.30 - midnight). Dad did not complain, he was as hooked as me on the great musicians and arrangements. They had a 21 year old singer, Dee Dee Bridgewater (married then to Cecil), starting her career. What a start! Has anyone any footage of Dee Dee with this great Thad Jones Big Band?

    • @geoffnelson4777
      @geoffnelson4777 2 роки тому

      I saw the band in 1973 at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco and Dee Dee was singing with it.

  • @udomatthiasdrums5322
    @udomatthiasdrums5322 5 років тому +1

    still love it!!

  • @11hoosier11
    @11hoosier11 6 років тому +1

    1974?? it looks like HD. Beautiful colors. Music ain't bad either. Great all-around production.

  • @joksal9108
    @joksal9108 7 місяців тому

    After we lost Don Ellis, either this band or Toshiko’s was THE big band. Hard to pick.
    The opening chart here has a lot of the Gil Evans sound.
    Arrangers in jazz never get enough credit. People like Thad, Slide Hampton, Mike Abene, Gil, Quincy Jones, Benny Carter, Neal Hefti and so many more don’t get the props soloists do. It’s a shame.

  • @Drumminman4U
    @Drumminman4U 4 роки тому +3

    Check out Mel swingin' and groovin' there happy as he can be with those punchy calf skin drum heads and that dark, riveted ride cymbal. He knew how to lay it down with a big band. His drumming on the album "Art Pepper +11" is some of the best you'll ever hear in the bebop genre (along with Philly Jo Jones on "Art Pepper meets the Rhythm section"). All you drummers out there listen and learn! Nice post here. :-)

  • @Sooxkox
    @Sooxkox 4 роки тому +2

    8:29
    10:24
    12:19
    13:06 change to the blues form in 13:10

  • @jerrybauer8108
    @jerrybauer8108 4 роки тому +1

    Didi Bridgewater was the band singer - unfortunately not featured here

  • @antoniomelillo6274
    @antoniomelillo6274 6 років тому +1

    good

  • @andyweis5194
    @andyweis5194 Рік тому

    Looks like George Mraz on bass.

  • @jimbrown1559
    @jimbrown1559 7 років тому +4

    Wonderful band with lots of great players. Co-leaders, a wonderful arranger and one of the finest of all big band drummers. I see Pepper Adams, without question of the three finest baritone saxophonists of all time, in the section, but no solo space. Huh? Great to see and hear Butter Jackson and Jimmy Knepper, neither of whom I got to hear live.
    Sadly, almost a textbook example for sound engineers about how to screw up the sound of a big band. WAY too many mics. Yes, I know some are for PA, but the PA should have had splits from the recording mics. This is a band best recorded with a spaced stereo pair down front, mics in the piano and on the bass, and a few solo mics. I've done it that way, far superior to this muddy mess.

    • @lovelymo_
      @lovelymo_ 4 роки тому

      Sounds like too much bass drum on Central Park North, but otherwise I can live with the mix

    • @ertatta
      @ertatta 2 місяці тому

      Yeah I agree especially in the last tune Sassy. I’ve recently recorded with a pair Schoeps MK2 omnis on a 18” stereo bar with solo mics for trpt & sax( shure ksm32) and the results were quite transparent and balanced. An amazing band like this would’ve benefited from that approach in this setting.

    • @jimbrown1559
      @jimbrown1559 2 місяці тому

      @@ertatta I'm very much a fan of a widely spaced pair for the ensemble, with spot mics for quieter instruments as noted. Look for "Stan Kenton in True '52 Stereo," which sounds like a spaced pair of very good mics. Dynaflow 2007-1. Bert Whyte did the recording with a specially built staggered head Magnecorder.

    • @ertatta
      @ertatta 2 місяці тому

      I’ll be sure to check these out. Jon Faddis here led a group called the Carnegie Hall Jazz band back in the mid 90’s. They did only one recording that I know of that was recorded with a stereo pair of omnis by the legendary audiophile entrepreneur Mark Levinson. It was recorded in a fairly dry studio, so IMO it doesn’t quite work as well as it might’ve if they had recorded in a performance space like an auditorium or recital hall. Still definitely worth owning as the group is fantastic and performs some wonderful classics.

    • @jimbrown1559
      @jimbrown1559 2 місяці тому

      @@ertatta Concert halls designed for European classical music don't work well for big bands or other jazz forms. The reverberation which they provide is critically important for classical forms, but destroys rhythmic music like jazz, pop, and rock. A widely spaced pair close to the band can work for recording, but sound for the audience is generally poor. Classical performance is always unamplified, and sound systems for concert halls are designed only for speech. Rental systems brought in for jazz performances make the sound louder, but the acoustics still destroys it. I designed sound systems for halls like this, working with the acoustic consultants who designed the halls, and I've heard music in some of the world's greatest halls.

  • @Ramshackled17
    @Ramshackled17 6 років тому +1

    20:24

  • @ZionGuySupreme
    @ZionGuySupreme 4 роки тому +1

    @23:05

  • @danschlieben8221
    @danschlieben8221 2 роки тому

    George Mraz's obit is in today's NYTimes and probably elsewhere . . . . 09/29/2021 , , , , ds

  • @roberte.tewksbury7601
    @roberte.tewksbury7601 5 років тому +1

    MAKING KENTON'S BAND SOUND COMMERCIAL IS NOT THAT ALL PLEASING.

  • @MichaelBB
    @MichaelBB 4 роки тому +1

    TJ ML Orch played this kinda off-sounding chart WAY too often. Ah, well...

  • @waku201
    @waku201 2 роки тому

    やはりジャズは白人バンドはさらっとし過ぎて楽しく無い、特にタイコ存在感が全く無い。