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Horace Tapscott Quintet: Legacies for Our Grandchildren: Live in Hollywood 1995

By Karl Ackermann
July 19, 2022
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Horace Tapscott Quintet: Legacies for Our Grandchildren: Live in Hollywood 1995

Since its founding in 2011, the French record label Dark Tree has been issuing a "Roots Series" documenting previously unreleased performances of the Los Angeles jazz avant-garde from the 1970s through the '90s. Among the best of those releases have been several from Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra led by pianist/composer/conductor

Horace Tapscott

piano
1934 - 1999

" data-original-title="" title="">Horace Tapscott. Legacies for Our Grandchildren: Live in Hollywood 1995 is one of only two quintet albums led by the pianist. A community activist in South Central LA, Tapscott often worked with a rotation of musicians; some well-established, others local talent. In his larger ensemble recordings, there are frequently unknown players who have gone uncredited. Legacies... includes reed player

Michael Session

saxophone, alto

" data-original-title="" title="">Michael Session from the larger ensemble, bassist

Roberto Miranda

bass, acoustic

" data-original-title="" title="">Roberto Miranda of Tapscott's sextet, and trombonist

Thurman Green

trombone
1940 - 1997

" data-original-title="" title="">Thurman Green, who worked extensively with

Gerald Wilson

composer / conductor
1918 - 2014

" data-original-title="" title="">Gerald Wilson's Orchestra.

The tighter, more focused quintet format is a setting in which Tapscott and his band can be more individually appreciated. But the theatrical feel of his live work with the Arkestra comes through in "Motherless Child" with a dramatic vocal contribution from

Dwight Trible

vocals

" data-original-title="" title="">Dwight Trible. Tapscott's original "Breakfast at Bongo's" is seventeen-plus minutes of blistering swing with tenor saxophonist Session tearing up the stage. Impressive solos from the leader and drummer

Fritz Wise

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Fritz Wise direct the piece back to a full unit closing. Trible returns on "Close to Freedom," a piece saved from gaudiness by Tapscott's intervention. "The Theme" is an enthusiastically free improvisation dominated by a piano and drums duo. The album closes with "Little Africa," penned by occasional Arkestra pianist

Linda Hill

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Linda Hill and previously recorded by that group, and by Trible.

Tapscott began amassing what would become a large collective in 1961, and from that community, he assembled distinct groups for projects. Because he elected to play within confined geography, he never achieved his deserved level of fame. Tapscott experimented and though it did not always work, it was fire when it did. "Ballad for Deadwood Dick" and "Breakfast at Bongo's" account for more than a half-hour of explosively good jazz. Legacies for Our Grandchildren: Live in Hollywood 1995 was culled from several performances at Catalina Bar & Grill on Sunset Boulevard. Kudos to Dark Tree for giving Tapscott a second life.

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Track Listing

Ballad for Deadwood Dick; Motherless Child; Breakfast at Bongo's; Close to Freedom; The Theme; Little Africa.

Personnel

Horace Tapscott

piano

Michael Session

saxophone, alto

Fritz Wise

drums

Roberto Miranda

bass, acoustic

Thurman Green

trombone

Dwight Trible

vocals

Additional Instrumentation

Michael Session: tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone.

Album information

Title: Legacies for Our Grandchildren: Live in Hollywood 1995 | Year Released: 2022 | Record Label: Dark Tree Records

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