Montreux

This choice chapter in the Memphis Slim story delivers an exciting taste of what a modern electric blues band sounded like in live performance during the early '70s. This reissue includes a bonus track featuring Hammond B-3 organist Deacon Jones and formidable electric guitar wizard Freddie King. The year 1973 was particularly exciting as blues, soul, funk, and rock & roll began to blend in ways that had only been hinted at during the 1960s. This cultural explosion was inevitable as music festivals were expanded to include a wide range of styles and genres. The 1973 Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival, for example, featured One String Sam, Victoria Spivey, Roosevelt Sykes, John Lee Hooker, and Ray Charles on the same weekend as Yusef Lateef, Charles Mingus, Ornette Coleman, and the Sun Ra Arkestra…

On July 14th, 2008, a very special event took place at the Stravinsky Auditorium in Montreux, Switzerland. A number of musicians who have had the opportunity to work with Jones during the years gathered to celebrate his 75th birthday. For well over two hours, they sang, played, joked and thanked a living legend.
The actual concert is truly impossible to describe with simple words. Even a quick glance at the names of the musicians who took the stage should immediately reveal to you how incredibly influential Jones has been. In fact, one could argue that many of them have been just as influential as Jones – years from now, people will still talk about Chaka Khan, Herbie Hanckok, Al Jarreau, James Moody and Toots Thielemans.

Norman Granz is one of the most important non-musicians in the history of jazz and no one has made a greater contribution to the staging, recording and filming of jazz concerts. This series of performances from the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival now makes a part of this legacy available on DVD for the first time. Norman Granz initiated the concept of Jazz at the Philharmonic in the forties. The idea was to gather band leaders and soloists in one large venue who would otherwise only be seen individually in small clubs

This LP, recorded at the 1975 Montreux Jazz Festival, is a festive jam session that features pianist Oscar Peterson, vibraphonist Milt Jackson, guitarist Joe Pass, Toots Thielemans on harmonica, bassist Niels Pedersen and drummer Louie Bellson. The principles have plenty of solo space on two blues, the ballad "Here's That Rainy Day," and the standard "Poor Butterfly." Since these players are competitive in addition to being complementary, some sparks fly as the musicians challenge each other.