GA Russell Posted October 16, 2006 Report Posted October 16, 2006 (edited) I've already told the Mort Weiss story here: http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php...96&hl=Weiss In 2003 Weiss recorded two sessions with Joey DeFrancesco. Weiss says that these were the first ever recordings of an organ with clarinet. I recall that Buddy DeFranco did a little with Sonny Clark on the organ, but Weiss makes his point. The first session he released on his own label as Mort Weiss Meets Joey DeFrancesco. Concord put a stop to that, and required that he pull off the market all of the copies already distributed to the stores. Concord agreed to allow for the album to be released as The Mort Weiss Quartet . This second album was to have been called The Joey DeFrancesco Trio featuring Mort Weiss. I can imagine that Concord blew a gasket when they found that out. Concord refused permission for this second album to be released. Three years later they relented, provided that neither DeFrancesco's name nor image be used to promote the CD. So DeFrancesco's name is not to be found on the front cover or the tray card. Instead, the front cover reads: FEATURING A VERY SPECIAL GUEST: The Finest Jazz Organist In The World Concord Recording Artist...You Guessed It. It's Him on Hammond B3 However, once you open up the wrapper, Joey D's name is everywhere. The liner notes are all about Weiss's dealings with Concord. DeFrancesco's name is not only listed among the personnel in the liner notes, but is also imprinted on the CD itself. Now let's get to the music. The B3 and Me is a Joey D album. Weiss takes a solo on every song, as DeFrancesco does, but it is the organ which dominates the proceedings. Absolutely nothing revolutionary here. Just a good cooking session. There are 9 songs, 2 jazz standards and 7 popular standards (one of which called Love Letters I am unfamiliar with), totalling 67:33. The guitarist Craig Ebner and the drummer Byron Landham are both from Philly. I gather that they were members of DeFrancesco's group at the time. I think Weiss's playing is better here than on the Meets Sam Most album. But let's be candid - Weiss is good, with a good sound; but he is not a five star musician, and he is never going to win the Down Beat poll for best clarinetist. I think that Soul Stream, The Magnificent Goldberg, soulstation1 and all of the others here who enjoy soul jazz and organ combos would enjoy this disc. For Joey D fanatics it's essential. On the other hand, those who are lukewarm toward organ combos other than Organissimo and those who don't enjoy the clarinet could live without this. Edited October 16, 2006 by GA Russell Quote
Soul Stream Posted October 16, 2006 Report Posted October 16, 2006 Thanks for hipping us to this. I would have never have found out. I really dig Joey as a sideman on other's albums. Especially when a lot of standards are served up. Thanks again, looking forward to hearing them. Quote
Jim Alfredson Posted October 17, 2006 Report Posted October 17, 2006 I wouldn't even call it essential Joey D. You can hear him do this kind of stuff on any of the recordings he's released in the last decade. Quote
Joe G Posted October 17, 2006 Report Posted October 17, 2006 Nice to see Craig Ebner's name show up on a recording, though. Haven't seen anything on him since hearing him with Joey about 5 or 6 years ago. Quote
Soul Stream Posted October 17, 2006 Report Posted October 17, 2006 Nice to see Craig Ebner's name show up on a recording, though. Haven't seen anything on him since hearing him with Joey about 5 or 6 years ago. I saw him with Joey on BET Jazz' "Jam Sessions" and they sounded great together. Craig seemed to be a real laid back and humble dude to... Quote
Joe G Posted October 17, 2006 Report Posted October 17, 2006 Result of promos? Try as I might, I still can't make sense of this post. Quote
Jim Alfredson Posted October 17, 2006 Report Posted October 17, 2006 Chuck is referring to the fact that GA Russell gets a lot of promo (ie, free) copies of discs from various labels because he used to write for AAJ. Why this is a point of contention, I don't know. Quote
Guest akanalog Posted October 17, 2006 Report Posted October 17, 2006 i think chuck wonders where the line is between conversation and promotion. Quote
Joe G Posted October 17, 2006 Report Posted October 17, 2006 I just thought it was rather bizarre to suggest that Craig Ebner's musical abilities and personality traits were the "result of promos". Quote
GA Russell Posted October 17, 2006 Author Report Posted October 17, 2006 I wouldn't even call it essential Joey D. You can hear him do this kind of stuff on any of the recordings he's released in the last decade. Jim, I suspect our disagreement lies not in the music, but in what/who is considered a Joey D fanatic! Quote
Jim Alfredson Posted October 18, 2006 Report Posted October 18, 2006 Yeah, I missed the "fanatic" part in my first read. I got this CD from a DJ friend and could only listen to about four tracks. The trio sounds good (if predictable), but Weiss' playing was definitely not my cup of tea. Quote
Soul Stream Posted October 19, 2006 Report Posted October 19, 2006 I got this CD today an am REALLY enjoying it. Swinging hard on some good ol' reliable standards. Nothing wrong with that! Love the way Joey and Mort open up Ornithology as just a duo. Thanks for the recommendation. Never would have found this on my own. Quote
GA Russell Posted October 19, 2006 Author Report Posted October 19, 2006 ...am REALLY enjoying it...Thanks for the recommendation. Never would have found this on my own. Soul Stream, glad to have helped! I'll tell Chuck and akanalog what you said! Quote
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