Search - Miles Davis :: At Last: Miles Davis and the Lighthouse All Stars

Miles, Max Roach, Chet Baker-all in one day!

Phasedin | New Jersey | 01/06/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"All of the music on this CD comes from a single night (Sept 13, 1953) at the Lighthouse Jazz club in Hermosa beach Ca. Oh, to have been there that day!

Without the Cd in front of me, I can't recall exactly who was in this edition of the basic band of this version of Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars, but to West Coast jazz fans probably all of the names will be familiar.

During this period, Max Roach was actually the bands house drummer, which was a bit of a shock to me. He only stayed for a couple of months before moving back to New York, but his inclusion here is a real plus for me-since i'm a fan of his solo percussion pieces, and one of them "Drum Conversation" is here (it was the last song played at the set that featured Miles).

Had I known their was a solo drum vehicle for Max Roach on this CD I would have purchased it even sooner.

Miles only performed 3 tracks that were taped that day (the first 3 tunes on the CD)-but it equals 30 minutes of music and is certainly worth owning.

The forth track is Roach's solo drum outing and the last track on this CD comes from the set that Chet Baker played earlier in the day.

This CD runs 39:39. This was originally released on vinyl back in 1985. This may account for the reason why more of Chet Bakers songs weren't included-since they were recorded, but the record label should have considered adding more of these tracks in on the CD reissue.

All the same it's incredible how good the recorded sound is, since, according to the liner notes, this was recorded not by professionals, but by a jazz fan(in mono)just by placing a microphone near the bandstand. I have to applaud the guy who designed the room then because the sound in there must really be something great.

Their is another import release of this music under Chet Bakers name-called something like "The Complete Lighthouse Session" available. This release (from Dec 2003)features all 3 of the Miles Davis tracks here, the one Chet Baker track that is here, along with another 5 tracks of music from Chet Bakers set. Sadly, for some reason (perhaps the time restrictions on CD's?) the Max Roach drum solo isn't included on that disc-too bad otherwise I would say go for that disc instead.

So of the 2 releases of this music on that day, this one gets my vote simply for the inclusion of Roach's solo drum piece as well as the excellent liner notes (reporoduced from the original vinyl 1985 issue). However, if you're not a fan of Max Roach's solo drums (and you should be!), then you may want to pick up the "Complete" version of this CD under Chet Bakers name.

"

Good Disc

mistermaxxx@yahoo.com | usa | 06/30/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"While Miles had Stronger Material during this Era this is a Good Solid Disc.Round Midnight Sounds Good Here.Night in Tunisia Sounds Good but I Still Prefer Dizzy's Version Better.Good Musicianship here."