Dick Morrissey's Jazz-Rock band IF, was the band that got me into jazz. We went to the Fillmore East to see Black Sabbath, and they were horrible. Then IF came on and blew my mind with Terry Smith's great guitar playing, and Dick Morrissey's fantastic tenor solos and Roland Kirk-style flute solos. Every tune they played was in a complex time signature (e.g. not 4/4) and yet they grooved on every solo like they were in 'four'. I've written big band arrangements of two songs from their first album (my fave) and the music still holds up like it was written yesterday. Both Smith and Morrissey were Melody Maker Poll Winners in '68, with Smith beating out John Mclaughlin! Morrissey, of course, went on to be the next Tubby Hayes.
A shame that Nick Drake never caught on back then; he was talente beyond belief.
Great boxes 👍. Thanks Marc for these recommendations. One of my favorite british rock/jazz musician is Brian Auger. About 10 years ago I saw him live in concert. I never forget this performance. And my all time british hero is Tubby Hayes. Because he died with such a young age (38) in 1973, I never saw him live. At that time I was 5 years old. But here's one of my favorite clip with his Big Band in 1970.
I picked up the British jazz set as soon as it came out. Well worth the price, and great stylistic variety.
Dick Morrissey's Jazz-Rock band IF, was the band that got me into jazz. We went to the Fillmore East to see Black Sabbath, and they were horrible. Then IF came on and blew my mind with Terry Smith's great guitar playing, and Dick Morrissey's fantastic tenor solos and Roland Kirk-style flute solos. Every tune they played was in a complex time signature (e.g. not 4/4) and yet they grooved on every solo like they were in 'four'. I've written big band arrangements of two songs from their first album (my fave) and the music still holds up like it was written yesterday. Both Smith and Morrissey were Melody Maker Poll Winners in '68, with Smith beating out John Mclaughlin! Morrissey, of course, went on to be the next Tubby Hayes.
A shame that Nick Drake never caught on back then; he was talente beyond belief.
Great boxes 👍. Thanks Marc for these recommendations. One of my favorite british rock/jazz musician is Brian Auger. About 10 years ago I saw him live in concert. I never forget this performance. And my all time british hero is Tubby Hayes. Because he died with such a young age (38) in 1973, I never saw him live. At that time I was 5 years old. But here's one of my favorite clip with his Big Band in 1970.
https://youtu.be/knybg2tJXI8?si=NJjXplYpcJvpBzwV
Glad you enjoyed Christian. Thanks for the link. You might enjoy this as well: https://www.jazzwax.com/p/brian-auger-complete-oblivion-expresshtml