Happy Birthday James Booker!

Remembering the great New Orleans pianist/composer with his stellar 1978 performance at Montreux.

Nucleus meets Leon Thomas at Montreux '70

The previously unreleased live pairing of Nucleus and Leon Thomas is out now on Gearbox.

Gearbox recently announced the first official release of the Montreux Jazz Festival concert featuring trumpeter Ian Carr’s pioneering Nucleus performing with US vocalist Leon Thomas on a set of Thomas’ repertoire recorded in June 1970. According to Carr, the collaboration with Thomas is a combination of the “rock thing...with the roots of the music.” Check out the track "Echoes" below featuring an oboe solo from Karl Jenkins. The analog mastered double vinyl version of Nucleus with Leon Thomas: Live 1970 (with MP3 download) is available from Gearbox Records.

Track Listing: The Creator Has a Master Plan; Echoes; Damn ‘Nam (Ain’t Going to Viet Nam); One; Chains of Love; The Journey

Personnel: Leon Thomas - vocals, Ian Carr - trumpet & flugelhorn, Karl Jenkins - oboe & piano, Brian Smith - soprano & tenor sax, flute Chris Spedding - guitar, Jeff Clyne - bass, John Marshall - drums.