Passenger (jazz-fusion band) - Live Performance (1981).

Here is a song from a jazz-fusion band known as "Passenger". This was recorded off the telly in 1981. Posted this before but had to remove it when I was under suspension. We'll see if it stays around for a while. Enjoy.

[@swstrat]

One of the best groups of musicians in Austin...Paul Ostermayer on sax, Billy Ginn on keys, Roscoe Beck on bass, Mitch Watkins guitar, and Steve Meador on drums. All went on to make great music with artists such as Carole King, Leonard Cohen, Jennifer Warnes...proud to have been a part of this show.

[@namahecc]

did they ever release an album?

[@Zpycer]

Not really. They recorded one but it got hung up and wasn’t released. There are many tapes of performances that individuals have. Together as Passenger they were a world class fusion band that should have gone astronomical. But they started backing Leonard Cohen on tours, then they moved out to L.A., but only Roscoe and Bill Ginn stayed out there. The others came back. After that, the band as prime focus dissipated. Makes me a little sad, even tho they’ve played together many times since then, and all of them played on and off with Leonard until he died. Tragically, Bill Ginn died in 2005. Everyone else is still playing. Paul, the sax player and I were together for several years. I just saw him the other day in Massachusetts. I’m still in Austin, Mitch and Roscoe are here, and Steve Meador is nearby. Interesting tidbit: Paul joined a band in NYC that had a gig every Tuesday night at Windows on the World in No. 2 World Trade Center. They were supposed to play the night of September 11, 2001. He ended up watching the disaster from a hill near where he was living at the time in Montclair NJ.