what happend to...

[Guest akanalog]

what happened to the guys in jackie mcleans 70s steeplechase posse?

people like billy skinner and bill saxton and billy gault and james benjamin. are these dudes still around? i think benjamin might do some more commercial stuff. but someone like billy gault-he was a good pianist and composer and i actually like his steeplechase album as a leader even though some of the lyrics are creepy . listening to gault's album made me think of this specifically-it is weird these guys were just showing up on steeplechase for a second. i guess rene mclean and michael carvin have made decent careers for themselves but otherwise this is a weird and random mix of musicians. maybe they turned to islam and changed their names? gault seems like he was into the teachings of louis farakahn.

[clifford_thornton]

I thought Billy Gault had a number of records and some production credits as well. Creepy Farakahn lyrics? Interesting...

[Guest akanalog]

well even rene mclean's album from 75 on steeplechase has a tune called "jihad". and if la roca is stopping his album from getting reissued for "basra" imagine how people would feel about "jihad". but yeah on gault's leader session "when destiny calls", which i would recommend by the way if you dont mind vocals-one song has lyrics like "the holy war has just begun"...he might mean well though. he might be about unity and whatnot. i am not trying to say he has bad intentions-we just live in more PC times or something. actually he might just be down with elijah muhammed, who was a mellow fellow, was he not? gault wears the bow-tie and whatnot. i dunno. good album though. and i mean the album is on steeplechase of all places. but that is good to hear gault has some more credits. i like his style. his songs are fine on the j mac cosmic brotherhood album too though i don't like that album so much.

that's what this posse was called, right? the cosmic brotherhood?

[marcello]

Good Question.

I know that Billy Skinner was/is from Buffalo and maybe still lives there; I'l ask around.

Bill Saxon is in NYC I believe.

[Michael Fitzgerald]

Bill Saxton is standing in the front row with a hat.

http://www.nj.com/greatday/clickableimage.ssf

If you click on his face there is some additional info.

Mike

[Rooster_Ties]

Clicking on his face nets the following info...

Bill Saxton

An artist who plays saxophone, flute and clarinet, Saxton was born in Harlem and lives in Englewood. He's played with numerous notables, among them Roy Haynes, Clark Terry, Randy Weston, Mongo Santamaria and Frank Foster. He currently appears with his own quartet, with Foster's Loud Minority Big Band and with Roy Ayers. His CDs include "Beneath the Surface," "Atymony" and "Live at Hinkelmann's."

[clifford_thornton]

Don't get me wrong, I'm down with firey lyrics... I think people are too mellow about shit at this point anyway. But that's for another thread...

[marcello]

RE: BILLY SKINNER:

All I can find out is that he spent some time in Boston in the late 80's.

[Д.Д.]

Billy Skinner had an excellent advanced hardbop album released on Accurate records around 1990.

And here is a link: http://www.accuraterecords.com/skinner.html

Edited June 13, 2005 by Д.Д.

[sheldonm]

ts monk really looks like his pops in that photo!

[king ubu]

I wasn't aware James Dean was still with us

(go search yourself )

[marcello]

For those curious, this is from Buffalo trombonist and educator John Hasselback:

"I think the group you are talking about is the one known as "The Cosmic Brotherhood." Billy Gault (also from Buffalo) was also in that band. I played several gigs with Billy Skinner when he was visiting Buffalo about 10-15 years ago, but have not really heard much about him since then. I am not sure where he is living - I will ask around. I heard that Billy Gault lives in Florida, but I'm not sure. He now goes by a Muslim name that I can't remember."