Cheers? It's LondonTown - Soho

LIVE SONG FILE CLIP -

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The trip began on 9/8 when I flew in from NYC. Had the nerve to try to re-adjust my body to NY after being in South Africa for 10 days..yikes. After I finally figured out what time it was in NY, I was back on the a plane and jacked up all over again. I landed on Tuesday evening and we stayed at this cool place in Bayswater, which worked out great. The London hotels have a propensity of being extremely small and not too cozy, but we were pretty good at this spot. Thanks, JIMI!!

The music was shipped out days in advance and the boys scooped it up pretty quick. Frank Felix (Bass) and Mark Parnell (Drums) did a respectful job, considering they had to learn about 12 songs, they did a nice job.

(Michael Lington taking control, UK - shot by Jimi King)

Lington did music from some of his earlier works, including "You and I" and "Pacifica", the latter had a nice west coast vibe with a pop-cool jazz vibe and the former was a laid back sound that personally reminds me of Toto - with a nice french horn motif. He also did pieces from his latest disc "Heat", including a tune called "Memphis", which had this very southern-rock vibe. Lington was also featured on Sanborns' version of "Love & Happiness"-originally by Al Green. One of his strong influences as a young contemporary jazz guy growing up in Copenhagen was Dave Sanborn....this particular arrangment has my friend Buddy Williams on Drums and Marcus Miller on Bass. A great closing cut.

Steve Oliver is a multi-tasking maniac, and incredible talent - who has done most of his gigs doing the electronic sequenced formation duetted with a Percussionist. He found some exploring room on his tunes has he was not relegated to running sequences and drum programs. His performances soared on "Chips & Salsa", which was intro'd with a spanish guitar extravanganza with bursts of "Ole" from the audience. On the final night, there was a trade of 4th's between Lington, Oliver and myself. One of his other highlights was a tune called "Magic World", which was very new-agish, but had layers of strings and symphonic flavors and a great tune to perform. "Magic World" is a beautiful composition by Oliver.

Yours truly brought the NY Funk 'n' Jazz with tunes from my book including "The Way She Looked at Me", which is a driving Steely-Dan-ish groove with a bassline that doesn't go away. Oliver laid down a nice rhythm part and sang the hook, which was a special moment.

"Third Wind" was weaved into a couple of the shows and Michael Lington laid a nice chorus pairing with a hot solo on the end...Steve laid some nice guitar work as well.

"Summer Breeze" was a nice highlight for me. The great Seals & Crofts tune is known around the world, even in South Africa AND the United Kingdom. Singing the hook makes my life easier because that just confirms they know the jam worldwide, which is a good thing. All in all, the combination of Lington, Oliver & Baldwin was a good mix.

The club Pizza Express was incredibly cordial and classy. Soufiane was an angel and Jimi King needs to be commended for his efforts in delivering Contemporary Jazz in the UK with NO terrestrial radio, which was pretty impressive.

(Baldwin Lays the Keys down for Lington)

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(Holdin' it down in LondonTown)

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Baldwin/Lington/Oliver after the show - (Jimi King)

All in all, the combination of Lington, Oliver & Baldwin was a good mix. The club Pizza Express was incredibly cordial and classy. Soufiane was an angel and Jimi King needs to be commended for his efforts in delivering Contemporary Jazz in the UK with NO terrestrial radio, which was pretty impressive. And as JK said on Facebook, "The NuGroove Boys seriously rocked the house.

To add a little flavor to the week, we were able to uncover 3 songs that were recorded in the back of the room.

Baldwin/Lington/Oliver after the bow (Jimi King)

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LIVE SONG FILE CLIP -

http://www.facebook.com/search/?init=srp&sfxp=&q=bob+baldwin+jazz#

I had a blast!! When's the next one??

Hope you enjoyed reading this blog.

Enjoy the latest!

Baldwin's latest "Lookin' Back" on NuGroove
Records...click the cover and make it part of
your home collection.

Bob Baldwin

JOY OF JAZZ FINAL DAYS THRU MY LENS - 2009

Days 2 and 3 of the Joy of Jazz Festival in Johannesburg, South Africa was fantastic. I'll lean on Saturday's show closeout. JoBurg has an incredible zest for jazz. They love the funky as well as the straight-ahead.

Before we begin, we decided to hang with the natives.....Don't worry, we thought about treading here, but I left my steel anti-snake suit at home!!

(Don't even think about it!!)

We decided to just hang with the vendors. These guys were pretty amazing, carving out some very hip artistic designs by hand. These brothers work hard for the money and make a true honest living. What a pleasure to hang with them. We were able to break a few Rand off and support their causes as they use their gift(s) to keep food on the table.

(BB and the gang)

(Meadows and the gang)

Now to the gig.....

MM crafted a cool signature scarf donned with a NY-hipness-type of hat and a white soccer-type top, styled sweats and a pair of sport shoes. I was having fun pushing the colors with a Desigual shirt and some cool jeans. It was fun bringing the American flavor overseas and they too showed up a few fashion tricks as well.

(Baldwin/Meadows warm up the crowd)

The BB/MM Team consisted of some very cool musicians from South Africa, including Vusi Khumalo/Drums, Vuyo/Bass, and Cameron Ward/Guitar. They laid down the funky SA groove for me and Marion and the end result was a nice appreciative audience. We opened the show with "Tales From a Gypsy" and moved that right into "The Way She Looked At Me". We then did one of Marioin's tunes "Treasures", a nice mid-tempo funky vibe and it featured Cameron on guitar. This boy rocks. At 28, he loves the vintage Earth, Wind & Fire, but his solo chops
are quite lovely. You would have enjoyed it.

(Cameron Ward on the solo with the coolness of South Africa)

The next piece was the SA-born "Ukuphila", which was written when I was there in 2000. I've recorded it once, but plan to record again with some of the great artists there....in fact, the trip was extended for a few days later to record tracks with Vusi and his brother Bakithi (who's a legend on own with his work with Paul Simon). That was a tear-jerker, both for me and for them because of their transition away from Apartheid. Some of those wounds are still fresh and
wide open.

Then there was a tribute to Michael Jackson - on Saturday, it was actually his birthday, and although sadness surrounds the tragedy of MJ, we memorialized it with "Never Can Say Goodbye". The locals there sang the song like it came out yesterday. They really loved MJ in SA. He was well appreciated!! We then slowed it down with a George Duke classic "No Rhyme, No Reason" and he proceeded to weave the crowd into the jam.

(Meadows in the house)

Next was the BB/MM Classic "South Beach", written for his 1995 album and still has that vibe. We recorded that on the "Sanctioned Bootleg" disc. Marion's solo starts mellow and quiet and funky, but launches into an explosive ending which rarely leaves one in their seats. It's like you have to jump up and cheer...Amazing how he does that.

Last was "Summer Breeze" and even in SA, the tune is still lovely. Again, we had the best time and was well received by everyone.


(What key is this in??)

I want to thank Peter Tlade for making the event come alive, as well as Rod Taylor, who bridged the gap with his residency there in 2000. Brenda Hazel from Lezah Entertainment (http://www.lezahentertainment.net) sealed the deal with her multiplicity of emails and Skype calls. Thanks, Brenda!!! I met a few cool cats along the journey, and I appreciate every contributor who made life easy on this trip.

Pictures are by Prudence and Mesia, two great South African residents who LOVE JAZZ....

(Backstage with Cameron Ward, myself, our friend Kenny from Sheer, Vusi Khumalo, and Marion)

Later that night, some magic happen. When the lights were off, the cats were paid, fed...the crowds went home, it just came down to 'gettin' down in the lobby of the Crowe Plaza in Rosebank, Johannesburg. On the left of this picture was a lady who coined herself as "BreakBeats"..she was working with Vollenveider early that evening. In any event, after 4:00am, the boys were still wailing away on experimental music. Local guitar legend Jimmy Dludlu was jammin' in the lobby. When Jonathan Butler left SA about 10 years before the end of
Apartheid, Jimmy stuck around and before long, became a local legend. Jimmy has recorded state-side. His guitar work is exquisite and highly underrated, but again I say - Jammin' in the hotel lobby. On the right of him was a brother from the country of Mali and this boy was no joke. On his right was Cuban - born Raul Pineda, who worked with Lao Tizer at the Joy of Jazz Festival. His conga work was NASTY...he had my man from Mali taking notes....overall, it was a beautiful evening of cats just vibing off of each other's gifts. It was better than the concerts themselves because it was REAL!

(The Break-Beat Girl (Standing), Jimmy Dludlu on guitar, Brother from Mali and Raul Pineda on percussion, Marion Meadows and the rest of the late-night gang at 4:00am)

I will continue to blog on here as other things develop...trust me, there are some cool things forthcoming with a future trip there within the next 3-6 months.

B