If one didn’t know better, one could think this was an ordinary lost-love song, and it functions perfectly well on that level as well. The original version of this utterly gorgeous song on “Hub-Tones” maintains a serious vibe throughout, thanks to sensitive playing from Herbie Hancock, James Spaulding’s flute on the melody, and of course Freddie’s own ability to deliver a heart-stopping ballad. Like Phineas Newborn, Jr., his fellow Memphis musician, he is one of the great underrated artists in the jazz lexicon, but the musicians knew.
#Roger daltrey under a raging moon rare series
Roger’s recording of it is perhaps best known for the series of guest drummers who take solos one after another as the song’s bridge (including Stewart Copeland, Carl Palmer, Roger Taylor, Zak Starkey, and others), but I have a particular soft spot for the song itself, which musically harkens back to the fire of classic early-70s Who.ĥ ) “Lament for Booker” by Freddie Hubbardīooker Little’s trumpet playing was truly remarkable and his voice as a composer was quite distinct (and, indeed, had a huge developmental impact on my writing). Elmo’s Fire” guy) for Roger as a several years after the fact tribute to the latter’s friend and longtime bandmate in The Who, Keith Moon. This song was actually written by Julia Downes and John Parr (yes, the “St. Donald recorded this on his gorgeous (and currently out of print) Sources of Inspiration album a few months after Phineas’ passing in 1989, revisiting it twice in 1997, on his great solo piano record The Classic Introvert and as a sideman on Larry McClellan’s Movin’ Up.Ĥ ) “Under A Raging Moon” by Roger Daltrey and the MGs on the track provides another layer of intensity both musically and emotionally.ĭonald Brown is a tremendous pianist and composer and stands now as the living keeper of the flame of the Memphis piano lineage, where he and his friends and peers James Williams and Mulgrew Miller and their elder Harold Mabern developed and disseminated the legacy of the great Phineas Newborn, Jr., one of my own most central influences. The presence of Redding’s friends from Booker T. As much as I dig Floyd’s other music (if you’re not hip to him, you’ve likely at least heard “Knock On Wood”), I honestly have no idea how it is that this song not only isn’t better-known now but wasn’t even a big hit at the time.
This hard-grooving and incredibly potent song was written soon after the tragic death of Floyd’s friend and Stax label-mate Otis Redding. Not surprisingly, it became a particularly fruitful vehicle for emotionally potent tributes from fellow trumpet players, beginning with its first recording, by Donald Byrd, with Lee Morgan, Dizzy Gillespie (my personal go-to, for no quantifiable reason, if I had to pick one), Kenny Dorham, and Art Farmer following suit within less than two years. Benny Golson’s tribute has become such a standard part of the repertoire that one could play this beautiful ballad without even thinking about its substance, but that substance adds even another vital layer. This particular confluence of elements is so embedded in my last few years’ work that I won’t expound on it here, but will simply invite you to check out some of this music if you find the notion to be potent and/or just want to hear ten great songs.ġ ) “I Remember Clifford” by Benny GolsonĪt least in the jazz world, few deaths have rocked the community as Clifford Brown’s did – he was so young, so brilliant, and so widely beloved. This rules out things like Jimmy Greene’s recent work (which isn’t a tribute to a musician but is a model for any artist looking to courageously use art to remember a lost loved one), “Free Bird” (which was repurposed as a Duane Allman tribute after it had already been written), Bill Evans’ rendition of Danny Boy (an incredibly emotional tribute to Scott LaFaro, but not his own composition), and the voluminous catalogue of tributes to musicians based on their inspiration and not close personal relationships (from Charles Mingus’ “Goodbye Porkpie Hat” for Lester Young to Don McLean’s “American Pie” to my own “Now!” for Max Roach).
This list centers on those in the middle of this Venn diagram – musicians paying tribute to fellow musicians who were also their friends, and doing so with music created for that purpose. The recent release of my Love Right project has made me reflect on the many others who have used music to paid tribute to those who have departed, whether loved ones or heroes and whether musicians or not.
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