Out of The Blue

[Late]

There's probably a thread on this band here, but a search didn't yield it ...

Anyone here remember this band? I just listened to Spiral Staircase today (either the second or third edition, personnel-wise, of this band) and it was actually much better than I'd remembered. Michael Philip Mossman is a fine composer. What happened to him?

Remember when this band came on the scene back in the late 80's? Wasn't it by audition only? I had a cassette of their first album, but it's been gone for years now. I can't even remember the tunes, and now the CD is fairly hard to come by.

For all the shortcomings of the so-called neo-bop movement, this seems like one of the better bands to have emerged during the time, especially given the concurrent renaissance of Blue Note in those years.

[sidewinder]

I had a cassette of their first album, but it's been gone for years now.

So did I - haven't seen it for years ! I have several of the later albums on vinyl though, including that 'Live at Mount Fuji'. I agree - they were under-rated at the time. Kenny Garrett stood out in the early lineup.

First time I came across them was when the rejuvinated Blue Note was getting some publicity and those French Pathe Marconi reissues came out (1983-85). Stanley Jordan and Bennie Wallace got a lot of profile back then too.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

I thought I read somewhere that this band was formed for the Mt Fuji Blue Note tribute. Wasn't that the one that Alfred Lion went to just before he died?

[Late]

I thought I read somewhere that this band was formed for the Mt Fuji Blue Note tribute. Wasn't that the one that Alfred Lion went to just before he died?

I think that's correct. I remember there being some hubbub in DownBeat at the time about how Blue Note was putting together a group (somewhat in the image The Jazz Messengers) that had to pass audition in order to make the band. I wonder who conducted the auditions, or if there really were auditions. Would it have been Bruce Lundvall? Cuscuna? (Marketing gimmick?)

Who made up the original line-up? From memory, I can recall the horns, but not the rhythm section. Kenny Garrett (as), Ralph Bowen (ts), Michael Philip Mossman (t), and ... ? (Was Robert Hurst on bass?)

[Chuck Nessa]

I think Don Sickler was one of the organizers.

[Free For All]

I thought I read somewhere that this band was formed for the Mt Fuji Blue Note tribute. Wasn't that the one that Alfred Lion went to just before he died?

I think that's correct. I remember there being some hubbub in DownBeat at the time about how Blue Note was putting together a group (somewhat in the image The Jazz Messengers) that had to pass audition in order to make the band. I wonder who conducted the auditions, or if there really were auditions. Would it have been Bruce Lundvall? Cuscuna? (Marketing gimmick?)

Who made up the original line-up? From memory, I can recall the horns, but not the rhythm section. Kenny Garrett (as), Ralph Bowen (ts), Michael Philip Mossman (t), and ... ? (Was Robert Hurst on bass?)

I remember Harry Pickens, piano, Robert Hurst, bass and Ralph Peterson, drums (there were also others in the group later on, like Renee Rosnes and Billy Drummond).

[JohnS]

I used to have two or three of their albums. For some reason they never quite did it for me.

[Ted O'Reilly]

I used to have two or three of their albums. For some reason they never quite did it for me.

Perhaps it's because it was sorta 'artificially', and not 'organically' created? OTB was made-with-a-purpose, and that seems a different process than a musician deciding to put together his own band, starting with a couple of copasetic players, and growing from there.

Not that the players were in any way deficient, it's just that they didn't have much personal involvement in it...

[Kevin Bresnahan]

I used to have two or three of their albums. For some reason they never quite did it for me.

Perhaps it's because it was sorta 'artificially', and not 'organically' created? OTB was made-with-a-purpose, and that seems a different process than a musician deciding to put together his own band, starting with a couple of copasetic players, and growing from there.

Not that the players were in any way deficient, it's just that they didn't have much personal involvement in it...

Kinda like The Monkees or The Partridge Family?

[Ed S]

I saw this thread and descended into my basement and retrieved....... all four OTB releases. Spent some of the weekend listening to most of the discs. Pretty solid, not bad, listenable, enjoyable are some of the descriptions that come to mind. Overall, I'd say I they are good to very good, but I'm pretty easy to please. I've definitely heard worse, and also better. I suppose that perceiving the band as some sort of marketing ploy sort of taints the perception. I read in one of the liner notes how Blue Note was sort of trying to put out a modern Jazz Messengers vibe on the whole thing. I'm not sure if that held up at all - but like I said - pretty decent stuff.

[The Rep]

Has any of there recordings gone to CD, I have Mt Fuji on vinyl but did not know there were others.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

Has any of there recordings gone to CD, I have Mt Fuji on vinyl but did not know there were others.

I'm pretty sure all of them have been on CD. "Live At Mt Fuji" used to be very hard to find.

[Peter Friedman]

Yes, all of them were on CD. I have these 3 on cd :

Out Of The Blue

Out Of The Blue - live At Mt. Fuji

Out Of The Blue - Spiral Staircase

Another somewhat similar group was also formed to record on Blue Note. It was called Superblue.

I have these two cds by that group:

Superblue

Superblue 2

[Late]

Here's video from the Mt. Fuji recording. Kenny Garrett gets to take a longer solo than the other horn players. What's up with that?