In the 1960's and 1970's, Newark, New Jersey was a hotbed of
organ trio goodness. I was around then but paid too much attention to the jazz
critics and not enough to my ears, so I lost a big opportunity. Charles Earland’s Living Black, live at Newark’s Key Club on September 17, 1970 is
the closest I’ll ever get to that scene. Earland’s first Prestige album, Black Talk, included his original
version of More Today Than Yesterday
by the Spiral Staircase, which proved so popular that the album even
charted on Billboard’s Top 100 pop album chart. Bob Porter, who produced Black Talk, decided to do a live album
with Earland but ran into a last-minute snag when the band’s tenor player left
unexpectedly the night before the recording date. No problem―the
Mighty Burner knew a guy in Philadelphia who could make the gig: Grover Washington,
Jr., who thus made his recording debut.
Washington, trumpeter Gary Chandler, guitarist Maynard
Parker drummer Jesse Kilpatrick, and conga player Buddy Caldwell all came out charging
hard that night: the opening Key Club
Cookout, a nice workout on Westbound
#9, a strong reprise of More Today
Than Yesterday and a heartfelt and still relevant Message from a Black Man (the last two bonus tracks on the CD). I
was especially impressed by Washington and Earland on Killer Joe and the whole band’s display of its jazz chops on Milestones.
Here are Killer Joe and Milestones―feel free to shout along with the audience!
Killer Joe:
Milestones:
