Watch Lee Morgan & John Gilmore with Art Blakey on Jazz 625

Here's Lee Morgan & John Gilmore throwing down with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers on BBC's Jazz 625 program in 1965.

Remembering saxophone great John Gilmore on his birthday

Thinking of Sun Ra's longtime sideman John Gilmore with a 1980 interview and a couple of performances worth checking. 

Previously unissued Sun Ra Arkestra Live in Chicago 1976-77 due for RSD

Zev Feldman's Jazz Detective label is releasing the limited-run Sun Ra At The Showcase 2LP set on April 20th. 

Here's the scoop...

Sun Ra At The Showcase: Live In Chicago 1976-1977 contains previously unreleased live recordings of the legendary intergalactic composer/pianist Sun Ra captured live at Joe Segal's Jazz Showcase in Chicago. This is an official release on producer Zev Feldman's Jazz Detective record label, in partnership with Elemental Music, and in cooperation with the Sun Ra Trust. Researched and compiled by longtime Sun Ra archivist Michael D. Anderson, and transferred from the original tape reels, this limited-edition 180-gram 2-LP set includes an extensive insert with rare photographs; liner notes by GRAMMY-winning author and historian Ashley Kahn; and interviews and statements from a who's who of music icons. Vinyl pressing of 3,000 copies available on Record Store Day, April 20, 2024. Check out the Jazz Detective site for the 2CD version and more info. 

Sun Ra At The Showcase: Live in Chicago 1976-77

SIDE A:

1. A NEW BEGINNING

2. VIEW FROM THE OTHER DIMENSION

3. VISITOR'S APPROACH

4. ANHK NATION (aka ANHKNATON)

SIDE B:

5. MOONSHIP JOURNEY

6. CALLING PLANET EARTH

7. VELVET

SIDE C:

8. HALLOWEEN IN HARLEM

9. KING PORTER STOMP

10. COCKTAILS FOR TWO

11. TAKE THE "A" TRAIN

SIDE D:

12. STOMPIN' AT THE SAVOY

SIDE E:

13. OUTER SPACEWAYS INCORPORATED

14. ENLIGHTENMENT

SIDE F:

15. MEDLEY: A MEMBER OF THE ANGEL RACE (aka SOMEWHERE THERE)

16. END OF CONCERT / JOE SEGAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Happy Birthday John Gilmore!

Remembering saxophone great John Gilmore on his birthday with a couple of his performances with Sun Ra's Arkestra.

Happy Birthday Dizzy Reece!

Raising a glass to trumpet titan Dizzy Reece on his 92nd birthday with a couple of typically stellar performances. 

R.I.P. Danny Kalb of The Blues Project, 1942-2022

Remembering guitarist Danny Kalb who joined Sun Ra's Arkestra members for Tifton's crazy cool Batman cash-in from 1966.

Here's the scoop on The Sensational Guitars of Dan & Dale LP:

This is not a Sun Ra album, nor does it sound like a Sun Ra album—but Sun Ra and various members of his Arkestra are on it. This 1966 budget-label project was an attempt by producer Tom Wilson (1931–1978) to cash in on the Batman craze launched by the popular superhero comic book-turned-campy TV series. 

"The Sensational Guitars of Dan and Dale" were not a real group—it was a marquee name for a rotating cast of session pros earning rent money by playing on hastily recorded albums intended to turn quick bucks on various musical and cultural fashions. There are at least 20 "Dan & Dale" albums listed at Discogs, most issued on the Diplomat label. To the best of anyone's knowledge, there were no musicians named Dan or Dale involved. In fact, few, if any, musicians have been identified from any D&D projects—"Batman" being a notable exception, and for good reason. 

Wilson had produced Sun Ra's first LP, Jazz by Sun Ra, in 1957 for Wilson's short-lived (but legendary) Cambridge-based Transition label. After Ra relocated from Chicago to New York in 1961, Wilson contacted Sunny, booked him in a Newark NJ studio, and produced The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra, issued in 1962 on Savoy. 

The Batman project occurred after Wilson's resignation from a staff producer position at Columbia Records, where he helmed albums by Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, Eddie Harris, Herbie Mann, and others. By 1966, Wilson had begun selling his services to the highest bidder as a freelancer, and produced many historic projects for MGM-Verve, including the first two albums by the Mothers of Invention, the first two Velvet Underground releases, and albums by Nico, Hugh Masekela, Eric Burdon and the Animals, and others. (More info: www.ProducerTomWilson.com) 

Despite the Batman album's notoriety among Ra collectors and cognoscenti, Sun Ra was not originally slated to play on it. His involvement was purely circumstantial. 

Wilson had invited members of The Blues Project to play on the session. According to the band's keyboardist, Al Kooper, the group wasn't told in advance about the "Batman" theme—they were just hired to show up, play, and get paid. Blues Project guitarists Danny Kalb and Steve Katz, bassist Andy Kulberg, and drummer Roy Blumenfeld turned up. But Kooper declined. The gig coincided with his father's 50th birthday party, which Kooper didn't want to miss. So Wilson had to find an organist to replace Kooper. 

Sun Ra was Al Kooper's replacement. Sunny brought along Arkestra saxophonists John Gilmore and Pat Patrick, and several other session pros also appeared on the date. 

Kooper has long been listed as having performed on this album. But he ain't on it. I interviewed him several times in 2017 and he was insistent about this. Furthermore, Kooper says he never met Sun Ra. 

As for the music, it's fun, but hardly groundbreaking. The Earthly Recordings of Sun Ra, by Robert L. Campbell and Christopher Trent, offers this critical assessment: "Except for the Batman theme, nearly all of the music on this album was plundered from various sources. 'Batman’s Batmorang' uses the slow movement of Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony; 'Penguin’s Umbrella' takes over Chopin’s A-flat Polonaise; 'Batman and Robin Swing' is based on the love theme from Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet; and 'Batmobile Wheels' makes do with Bach’s Minuet in G, already recycled as ['A Lover's Concerto'] by the Toys. 'The Riddler’s Retreat' lifts its guitar licks from 'She Loves You' by the Beatles." 

This album has been bootlegged countless times over the decades. As long as we're cataloging Sun Ra's discography on Bandcamp, we figured we'd offer a Batman bootleg too. We claim no rights in the recordings or the compositions. In Sun Ra's monumental catalog, the Batman album is a mere footnote. 

— Irwin Chusid 

Get a digital copy of the album via Bandcamp right here. Listen to a few tracks following the album credits below. 

Credits:

Jimmy Owens: trumpet 

Tom McIntosh: trombone 

John Gilmore: tenor sax 

Pat Patrick: baritone sax 

Sun Ra: Hammond B-3 organ 

Danny Kalb: lead guitar, harmonica 

Steve Katz: rhythm guitar 

Andy Kulberg: bass 

Roy Blumenfeld: drums 

unidentified female vocalists and possibly other musicians as well. 

Produced by Tom Wilson 

 

Happy Birthday John Gilmore!

Here's saxophone great John Gilmore with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in 1965. 

Watch John Gilmore with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in 1965

Here's saxophone great John Gilmore with Art Blakey's crew feat. Lee Morgan tearing through "Bu's Delight" on the BBC on March 7, 1965. 

Happy Birthday John Gilmore

Remembering legendary Arkestra saxophonist John Gilmore on his day with a couple of stellar performances. 

Happy Birthday John Gilmore!

Remembering saxophone great John Gilmore on his day with a rare 1965 clip with the Jazz Messengers.

Happy Birthday Lee Morgan

Remembering trumpet great Lee Morgan with a 1965 BBC set featuring Art Blakey & John Gilmore.

Happy Birthday Lee Morgan

Historic Heat: John Gilmore & Lee Morgan

The Egyptian by Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers (1966)