GIJF Day Three - The Cookers!

Billy Harper (ten); Eddie Henderson, David Weiss (tpt); Jaleel Shaw (alt); George Cables (pno); Cecil McBee (bs); Billy Hart (dms).
(Review by Lance).
Even before Saturday's Living Legacy talk with the musicians I knew this would be something special but after hearing the guys talking about the music, my anticipation was even higher. I wasn't disappointed!
This was something else!
The ensemble sound a joy to behold and the solos wild and wonderful. These guys are competitive - The OK Coral with a jazz score!
Billy Harper comes out punching from the bell - taking no prisoners. Shaw is more subtle, l;ow key, floating like a butterfly then stinging like a swarm of bees. Weiss and Henderson - playing Morgan and Hubbard - bring back memories of that memorable night in Brooklyn, the Night of the Cookers, that inspired the band's name.
George Cables, last in the North East with Art Pepper back in about 1980, the perfect pianoman rich chords and inspirational solos. McBee, like Harper, contributed several of the compositions and indicated why he's been a first call bassman for many famous names such as Charles Lloyd, Keith Jarrett and Wayne Shorter.
Billy Hart waited until the final number before exploding but explode he did indeed! Prior to that, he drove the soloists forward with the panache and tenacity we've come to expect from hearing him on record.

Incidentally, no predictable round of fours at the end of any of the numbers. Instead, we got endings that were nail-bitingly tense as we wondered who was going to foul-up.

Needless to say, nobody did!

This was cooking with gas and then some!

Nothing could match this...

Lance.