Hip Pocket at Gay 90’s Pizza
(now Jersey’s) in Redlands

Shades at Jazz n’ Java in Redlands, 1994. Trombonist Tim Hoff was absent this night, so we invited guitarist Jody Fisher to play. I wish I had a recording of this gig! See the “Links” page for a path to Jody’s site.

l-r: me, Joe, and Jeff on break at Jazz n’ Java, late 1990’s

Sounds

Here are live performances of some of the various jazz bands I’ve played in. Many of these were originally recorded as “practice tapes” on cassettes, which were subsequently stored in the backyard shed for years. For this reason, the sound is generally far from ideal, but every effort has been made to render them listenable—they’ve been variously digitized, re-recorded, edited, pitch and time-corrected, de-noised, normalized, compressed, dithered, professionally EQ’d, and subjected to many other processes I’ve forgotten about or never even heard of. But they are live, which I think conveys what these bands are about far more than any studio recording could ever do.

“Hip Pocket” Redlands resident Sandy Megas has led and composed/arranged for this nine-piece jazz band for about 15 years. The band is comprised of professional jazz musicians from the Inland Empire and in some cases far beyond. A special note for Redlands/Inland Empire residents: this group is still together and is ready to play great straightahead jazz of the kind you’ll hear below anywhere it’s appreciated. Contact me or Sandy via his site on the “Links” page!

“Bolivia” This one tune was actually recorded in a living room studio, but with good results. This is pianist Cedar Walton’s jazz standard, with Sandy’s arrangement incorporating a sax soli based on George Coleman’s original work and a brief funk section at the start of the tenor solo.

• The next three tunes were recorded live in 1995 at Gay 90’s pizza in Redlands (now Jersey’s, on Orange Street). Hip Pocket played there regularly for years thanks to the hospitality and backing of owner and ardent jazz fan, the late Gus DeRoos. He arranged for a number of guest artists to come in and play with the band, and these were always great gigs.
  

“Move” This is a bebop tune, unfortunately on this night taken too fast for me! I hesitated to include this here due to some scuffling on my part, but then again, I think this recording effectively captures my sound, which jazz tenor legend Bill Perkins was very kind in describing as “great.” This brings up the only other shameless self-promotional anecdote I will allow to pollute this site, which is when Bob Mintzer cut off a big band I was playing in specifically to ask about the setup I was using, and said I “get a great sound out of it.” I usually felt pretty comfortable in thinking that I got a decent sound, but after that, I flat out decided not to mess with it! Trumpeter Don Clarke and trombonist Tim Hoff, great players both, are also heard here.

“Ojos de Rojo” This is Sandy’s arrangement of another Cedar Walton tune. It fades out after my solo because this was one of the aforementioned “guest artist” nights, and we don’t want any “royalty problems.” I can tell you this—he burned! Sorry!

“Jack Be Quick” I’m including this original tune of Sandy’s because I’ve always liked it, and I also wanted to prove to the world that I actually made the finger-bustin’ opening line at least once in my life (with the muted trumpet). This features Tim Hoff on trombone (see the “Shades” section below), and he always sounded great on it.

“Shades” I was extremely fortunate to have been in this working jazz quartet for over five years. The instrumentation was purposely somewhat unusual—trombone, tenor, bass, and drums—so that we could experiment within the changes sans the typical chordal accompaniment. Tim Hoff was absolutely the smoothest trombonist I’ve ever played with, possessing a great sound, technique, and creativity. Many times, we sounded like one horn when playing unison, and reached the point where we could frequently anticipate each other’s ideas. Bassist Bill Casale is a phenomenal player and soloist; the group simply would not have worked without him. Listen carefully to his formidable solos—audiences always did, and responded to him whether they actually knew what was happening or not. It sounds like a cliché, but Jeff Olson truly is a musical drummer who listens and interacts when he plays. The performances below are full of examples in which Jeff picked up on a soloist’s idea, answered, and then perhaps led him into an entirely new direction. Shortly after these tapes were made, Jeff joined the touring band of very successful, well-known pianist, and it’s not difficult to hear why.

• These were recorded at Jazz n’ Java in Redlands, a great coffeehouse/café to hang out and play in (at times the coffeemaker expands our group to a quintet, but so it is with live sessions!) We had many memorable gigs here, playing to receptive, packed houses for several years.

“It’s You Or No One” This arrangement was taken from one of my favorite Dexter Gordon albums, “Homecoming”, with Woody Shaw. Although obviously not approaching the artistry of those two giants, I think our group performed this well, especially at this tempo.

“Milestones” Here’s our skeletal version of Miles Davis’ modal classic. Bill plays a hip figure at the end of his solo, which he repeats behind Tim and I the last time through the head, tying up a solid performance by all.

“Beatrice” A composition by the great saxophonist Sam Rivers from his Blue Note classic, “Fuchsia Swing Song.” I have several of our performances of this tune on tape, and was surprised to hear how different each one really is. There’s definitely something to be said for playing as a group for an extended period, and becoming intimately familiar with the material. Much true improvisation can be heard here, as on all of these tunes.

“Up Jumped Spring” We played this Freddie Hubbard tune occasionally, and this particular version came out admirably. I’ve never felt entirely comfortable playing in three (perhaps because I’ve rarely practiced it), but this tune was always a nice change of pace.

“Organ Trio” These tunes were recorded one night in November 1998, again at Jazz n’ Java in Redlands. Joe Bagg joined Jeff Olson and me on the Hammond B3 organ, and altoist Matt Zebley joined in the second set (see “Links” for more info on these artists). To my ears, this was a “good night” for all concerned, and there’s a working group feel, even though we played together in this instrumentation only occasionally.

“Straight Street” John Coltrane’s composition from the ‘50’s—I recall consciously deciding to “practice on the stand” on this tune because I liked the changes; hence the six-minute tenor solo. Check out Joe and Jeff’s support throughout.

“You Leave Me Breathless” I think Joe brought this tune in for the gig; it has that kind of relaxed swing that’s always great to play on. Unfortunately, the performance is marred by the “dreaded coffee maker” for the first minute or so, but art and commerce are seldom far apart…..

“Certain Circles” I THINK this is my tune! It SOUNDS like something I’d write, and on a part of the tape that’s been removed, I can be heard suggesting how Jeff could “float” during the first part of the tune, among other things. My solo is kind of a complete synthesis of how I was trying to play—some bebop, some “out,” but definitely with energy. Matt is heard on this tune, playing increasingly intricate and impressive lines and ultimately culminating in raw emotion, after which Joe comes back sounding great “in the pocket,” and we all finally converse with Jeff. It’s very possible that this angular blues in “F” is someone else’s tune, but until I stand corrected, I’ll take full responsibility for it and call it “Certain Circles”…….

“We’re Not” Well, I KNOW this one’s mine! Due to technical issues with the source tape, it fades in midway through the melody, which is supposed to be melancholy with a hopeful section in the middle. It’s exactly what I wanted and heard, and to my ear the changes flow logically, although others have sometimes disagreed. Comments have ranged from “quit trying to be different” to “sounds like a Wayne Shorter tune”—I prefer the latter. Take a listen, and if you feel so inclined, let me know what your impressions are!