Super bands

[Steve Reynolds]

Tons of actual current ones

last weekend live / 2 amazing sets 

Mary Halvorson 

Michael Formanek

Tomas Fujiwara 

They call themselves Thumbscrew

best superband i ever saw was Peter Brotzmann’s Chicago Tentet

Herr Brötzmann plus

Mats Gustafsson

Ken Vandermark

Mars Williams

Joe McPhee

Fred Lonberg-Holm

Jeb Bishop

Kent Kessler

Michael Zerang

Hamid Drake 

live 2000 & 2002 @ Tonic on Norfolk Street in NYC 

 

 

Edited November 19, 2022 by Steve Reynolds

[soulpope]

As a matter of fact newly assembled "Supergroups" often didn`t live up to the (sky high) expectations and resulted in less than the sum of it`s parts .... but that`s another story ....

[Stevie Mclean]

14 hours ago, Rabshakeh said:

Nice idea for a thread.

Interesting to consider two eras when it was quite common for record companies to try to engineer all star groups. 

In the 1970s there were a number of all star records, often under a title that referenced the label (CBS All Stars, etc) and often live. A mixed batch of jams for stadium audiences. @CJ ShearnI think wrote a nice blog post about the era recently. That record, with an eye catching turn from Mark Shim on tenor, is one of the few straight ahead records from the era that I really enjoy.

There were also a number of all star groups during the Young Lions era. OTB probably the most famous. Those also tend to underperform, although I think the New Directions group with the slightly younger Young Lions did better.

Just to confirm, is the point that the groups have to be made up of existing A listers, rather than star making groups like the First Quintet or AEC? So Old and New Dreams and VSOP but not Ornette's Atlantic Quartet or Davis' Second Quintet?

My initial thinking was any group, as long as all the members are your personal favourites. They do not necessarily need to be A-listers or even future A-listers. Could be a group of nobodies but as long as you like all of them then it's your dream lineup.

but there are no rules. As long as we're talking jazz we can't go wrong.

11 hours ago, Gheorghe said:

The best super band I ever saw was:

Jackie McLean
Bobby Hutcherson
Herbie Lewis
Billy Higgins. 

That´s something where you say that dreams came true. 

Yeah that group is really up there for me as well. It's almost unfair how stacked some of Jackie's groups have been.

7 hours ago, soulpope said:

Regarding newly formed "Supergroups" the first incarnation of Steps  consisting of Michael Brecker, Steve Gadd, Mike Mainieri, Eddie Gomez and Don Grolnick should fit .... also Sphere with Charlie Rouse (ts) + Kenny Barron (p) + Buster Williams (b) + Ben Riley likely would qualify ....

Yeah I need to listen to some more sphere, that is a lineup very deserving of some listening.

[soulpope]

What about Charlie Rouse + Woody Shaw + Mal Waldron + Reggie Workman + Ed Blackwell .... well this happened in 1986 and definitely fulfilled all (or at least my) expectations ....

[JSngry]

The vocal trio of:

Superman 

Supergirl 

Superdog

 

 

 

[Stevie Mclean]

2 minutes ago, soulpope said:

What about Charlie Rouse + Woody Shaw + Mal Waldron + Reggie Workman + Ed Blackwell .... well this happened in 1986 and definitely fulfilled all (or at least my) expectations ....

I personally am a sucker for many of Mal's prestige all-star dates but I agree that he really kept the tradition going with his latter groups. He really knew how to put a band together. I think his play-style, especially after his recovery, really lends itself to bringing the best out of soloists and providing a steady platform for them to build their solos off of. 

[soulpope]

2 minutes ago, Stevie Mclean said:

I personally am a sucker for many of Mal's prestige all-star dates but I agree that he really kept the tradition going with his latter groups. He really knew how to put a band together. I think his play-style, especially after his recovery, really lends itself to bringing the best out of soloists and providing a steady platform for them to build their solos off of. 

I believe Mal Waldron really brought the best out of other musicians  making these recordings their finest hours recurringly .... just listen for instance to Isla Eckinger on "Free At Last" (ECM) ....

[Gheorghe]

Maybe also "The Milestone Allstars"  Rollins-Tyner-Carter-Foster. I have only the record, but they toured the States in the late 70´s.

And again Rollins with George Duke, Stanley Clark and Al Foster live in Japan, and there is also a live album and a studio album. 

[unitstructures]

The Sun Ra All Stars

[jazzcorner]

There exist a bunch of records with "Superband" in the title:

Harris,Gene    Philip Morris Superband live /Town Hall)    1989    Concord Jazz    4397
Longo,Pat    Chain Reaction - Pat Longo Superband    1979    Town Hall    25
Longo,Pat    Crocodile Tears - Pat Longo Superband    1981    Town Hall    30
Persip,Charlie    Charlie Persip and Superband    1989    Soulnote    121 179-1
Persip,Charlie    In case you missed it (Superband II)    1985    Soulnote    1079
Persip/LaFurn    The Charlie Persip-Gary LaFurn Superband    1981    Stash    209

[John L]

I just saw a Super Band last night - The Cookers: Billy Harper, Eddie Henderson, David Weiss, Donald Harrison, George Cables, Cecil McBee, Billy Hart. 

Edited December 12, 2022 by John L