Live at Newport'77 (Remastered) (Live) Toshiko Akiyoshi-Lew Tabackin Big Band

• 1 Strive for Jive (Live) 09:20
• 2 A-10-205932 (Live) 13:30
• 3 Hangin' Loose (Live) 12:14
• 4 Since Perry / Yet Another Tear (Live) 13:47
• Total Runtime 48:51

Info for Live at Newport'77 (Remastered) (Live)

Live at Newport '77 war die zweite Live-Aufnahme der Toshiko Akiyoshi - Lew Tabackin Big Band und wurde von einer weiteren Veröffentlichung, Live at Newport II, gefolgt, die am selben Tag aufgenommen wurde. Beide Alben wurden auf dem Newport Jazz Festival 1977 aufgenommen.

Als sich die japanische Pianistin und Komponistin Toshiko Akiyoshi und der US-amerikanische Saxofonist und Flötist Lew Tabackin 1967 kennenlernen, ist damit der Grundstein für eine wichtige musikalische Partner:innenschaft des Jazz gelegt.

Die beiden heiraten 1969 und gründen 1973 die Toshiko Akiyoshi/Lew Tabackin Big Band. Sie rekrutieren einige der angesagtesten Sessionmusiker der US-Westküste, um Akiyoshis Kompositionen und Arrangements umzusetzen. Im Laufe der Jahre entwickelt sich dieser Klangkörper zu einem gefeierten Live-Act und spielt von Kritik und Publikum hochgelobte Alben ein. Die Bigband gastiert regelmäßig in den USA (vor allem im New Yorker Jazzclub Birdland), in Europa und in Asien, bevor sie 2003 aufgelöst wird.

Einen der musikalischen Höhepunkte ihrer 30-jährigen Arbeitsphase erreicht die Toshiko Akiyoshi/Lew Tabackin Big Band am 29. Juni 1977 bei einem Konzert am Newport Jazz Festival, mit Solisten wie Gary Foster (Altsaxofon) und Bobby Shew (Trompete). Der Untertitel der LP – „The Big Apple“ – entstammt der Tatsache, dass das Newport Jazz Festival zu jener Zeit für einige Jahre in New York stattfand. 45 Jahre nach diesem Auftritt sei die Aufnahme im Rahmen der Milestones wieder aus dem Regal geholt.

Toshiko Akiyoshi, Klavier
Lew Tabackin, Tenorsaxophon und Flöte
Gary Herbig, Tenorsaxophon
Gary Foster, Altsaxophon
Dick Spencer, Altsaxophon
Beverly Darke, Baritonsaxophon
Steven Huffsteter, Trompete
Bobby Shew, Trompete
Mike Price, Trompete
Richard Cooper, Trompete
Bill Reichenbach Jr., Posaune
Charlie Loper, Posaune
Rick Culver, Posaune
Phil Teele, Bassposaune
Don Baldwin, Bass
Peter Donald, Schlagzeug

Digital remastered

Toshiko Akiyoshi
Over the course of a seven-decade career, NEA Jazz Master Toshiko Akiyoshi has made a unique and vital contribution to the art of jazz. In 1929, at the time of her birth, Akiyoshi’s Japanese family resided in Manchuria, China where she studied piano from a young age. At the end of World War II in 1945, Akiyoshi’s family endured hardship and moved back to Japan. To get access to a piano, she took her first job as a musician, playing in a dance-hall band. She was discovered by pianist Oscar Peterson while he was on a Jazz at the Philharmonic tour of Japan. In 1953, Peterson encouraged producer Norman Granz to record her. While still in Japan, she made her recording debut with Peterson’s rhythm section (Herbie Ellis, Ray Brown and J.C. Heard) which was released in 1954 in both Japan and the U.S. This album led to a full scholarship (including a plane ticket) to the Berklee School of Music in Boston. Akiyoshi moved to New York in 1959, playing at Birdland, the Village Gate, the Five Spot, and the Half Note. In 1972 she then moved to Los Angeles with her second husband, saxophonist/flutist Lew Tabackin. The following year, the couple formed the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra Featuring Lew Tabackin. According to Akiyoshi’s biography on Mezzrow’s site, their big band was considered one of the most important in the nation/world during the 1970s and 1980s). In 1976, the band placed first in the DownBeat Critics’ Poll, and Akiyoshi’s album Long Yellow Road was named best jazz album of the year by Stereo Review. In 1982, (comma added) Akiyoshi moved to New York and re-formed her band with New York-based musicians; they debuted to critical acclaim at Carnegie Hall as part of the 1983 Kool Jazz Festival.

Akiyoshi has recorded over 60 albums as a leader, three as a solo pianist and over 20 with full jazz orchestra. In 2007, she received the nation’s highest jazz honor (National Endowment of the Arts Jazz Master), 14 Grammy Award nominations 16 DownBeat Readers’ Poll Awards, and 13 DownBeat Critics’ Poll Awards. In Japan, Akiyoshi has received numerous awards, and has been honored twice by the Emperor of Japan. She has written an autobiography and is the subject of the documentary, Jazz is My Native Language.

This album contains no booklet.