Brother Jack McDuff - organ; Red Holloway - tenor sax; George Benson - guitar; Joe Dukes - drums. Festival gig in France


Courtesy of Nigel

Good piece to analyze from a jazz prospective. McDuff was a master of three chord, walking left hand jazz/blues pieces....lots of "tradin fours" and whatnot. Lots of chops, respect from peers...not many dollars.

George was recording an album a year for Verve, I think, selling under 500,000 on each, until he recorded Masquerade as a vocalist. That 1975 album (Breezing) sold 13 million copies and he took a lot of crap for not staying a jazz purest.

He position was, "it's still jazz oriented, I'm reaching a lot more people, and I'm making a lot more money".


Good for him.


Nice find, guys!


Russ

Even after all these years I can find only one word for that. A big, grinning "Jeeeeeeeeeeeze!"

(How can I depict the awe, respect, and the joy in that one expression for a performance like that.)

Yea, that unspoken interaction between two equal players "playin" off each others ideas is a real high. If you haven't been there, you won't understand.

If you have, you'll NEVER be happy with plying with tracks of ANY kind.


Russ

Russ that's all well and good... I Know the feeling well....
BUT when your alone you gotta do what you gotta do.....
"Have Tracks Will Travel"


just sayin'

Donny, you're not wrong...I do singles all the time, too.


I HATE IT! And, I will not UNDER ANY circumstances, use tracks of ANY kind.

Russ

You, of course should do what floats your boat.

A single with 300,400,dancers aint gonna cut it without help, ... Just sayin...

You're right, Donny. I don't play for 300-400 dancers. If I'm lucky, I have 100 listeners (notice, I said LISTENERS, not DRINKERS). That's why you make the big bucks!


Be well,


Russ

Russ we all do it different there's talent in all music production be it on stage live or creating songs in a studio, etc, there are no rules,....in the end we have music as a result which people can listen to and enjoy.the audience can be one or a Thousand & One no difference as long as it's enjoyable to the ears & the senses. I never wanted to be a pigeon holed musician instead I was always open to new ways of creation and tried many things in my career and still do to this day. There's always a new chapter on the horizon, all you have to do is turn the pages.

Have a great day.

Donny, the reference to "no drinkers" was a good-natured slap at me and my audience. It certainly wasn't at you or yours. Jazz audiences don't drink....thus the low pay, harassment from management, etc.

We are at opposite ends of the spectrum, for sure.

I wish each of us continued success, however we define it.

Be well,

Russ