The Band The Band

The Last Waltz was a concert by the Canadian-American rock group The Band, held on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. The Last Waltz was advertised as The Band's "farewell concert appearance", and the concert saw The Band joined by more than a dozen special guests, including their previous employers Ronnie Hawkins and Bob Dylan as well as Paul Butterfield, Bobby Charles, Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, Dr. John, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Ringo Starr, Muddy Waters, Ronnie Wood, and Neil Young…

The fourth of the European Classics label's five CDs containing the complete output of the Mills Blue Rhythm Band captures the underrated orchestra at the peak of their powers. Formerly a no-name outfit, trumpeter Henry "Red" Allen, trombonist J.C. Higginbotham, clarinetist Buster Bailey, and tenor saxophonist Joe Garland were the group's star soloists by this time. In addition, by the last eight numbers on this highly recommended program, altoist Tab Smith was also part of the band. The CD starts off with three numbers on which singer Chuck Richards is backed by a sextet including Allen, Bailey, and trombonist Benny Morton. Otherwise the program features the full orchestra (directed by Lucky Millinder by this time)…

More than 20 years after Captain Beefheart's last musical outing, the Magic Band (sans the Captain) reconvened for the 2003 All Tomorrow's Parties festival. Actually, it's a Magic Band that never was, consisting of Drumbo (John French) on drums, vocals, and harmonica; Rockette Morton (Mark Boston) on bass; and guitarists Mantis and Feelers Reebo (Gary Lucas and Denny Walley, respectively). (For the live shows, Robert Williams – another Magic Band alumnus – took over the drum chair when Drumbo had to sing and play harp.) Of course, these guys knew the material, but they don't just play the tunes, they attack them, summoning up the controlled chaos that made the original Captain Beefheart recordings such singular achievements.

The 11 performances that make up this collection were culled from The Band's Rock Of Ages (The Band In Concert) double-LP concert album, released in 1972.

This performance was broadcast live on local radio station, allowing everyone in the vicinity to hear this dynamic gig. It may have been one of The Band's last live performances, but the passion in their music showed no sign of wavering. Line-Up: Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, Robbie Robertson, Allen Toussaint, Howard Johnson, Snooky Young, Joe Farrell.

The official release of The Basement Tapes – which were first heard on a 1968 bootleg called The Great White Wonder – plays with history somewhat, as Robbie Robertson overemphasizes the Band's status in the sessions, making them out to be equally active to Dylan, adding in demos not cut at the sessions and overdubbing their recordings to flesh them out…