Saw the Cookers tonight at SFJAZZ.
Great show! I've seen them a number of times before, but they seemed especially energized tonight. It's been a while since I last saw them and there have been changes in the sax section. New members: Azar Lawrence and Craig Handy (who really brought the energy tonight!). Also, Eddie Henderson was not available tonight because of illness, and Mike Rodriguez (of the SFJAZZ Collective) filled in nicely.
Can believe the Octogenarian rhythm section just keeps on playing like there's no tomorrow.
A lot of those Black Jazz albums are great. I first discovered that label because of the Doug Carn albums. I was very happy when they were reissued a few years ago and grabbed quite a few, including that one.
This week at SFJAZZ
Thursday: Clone Row w/Ches Smith, Mary Halvorson, Liberty Ellman, Nick Dunston
Friday: The Cookers - current lineup w/Eddie Henderson, David Weiss, Craig Handy, Azar Lawrence, George Cables, Cecil McBee, Billy Hart
Maybe it's my system. Miles and Wayne sound fine, Herbie a little less so, and Ron/Tony difficult to hear. But I don't have an SACD set, so it might be different.
I've gone back to the set this week in order to figure out why I rarely listen to it. What I've really noticed (and maybe I just have an inferior audio system) is that the bass and drums are deeply buried in the mix. So all the energy is sucked out of the performance and as a result it does sound like a lot of noodling between Miles and Wayne. Since Miles' trumpet is way up front, you can tell by the rough performance that he had been out of commission for a while with medical problems.
That's just my latest take. Others might disagree.😎
Tomorrow at SFJAZZ, Joe Henderson Lab. Should be great in that intimate space!
Mike Clark Quintet w/Eddie Henderson, Craig Handy, Patrice Rushen, Essiet Essiet