This could be the gift of the year for hard bop fans. Long considered one of the best live albums in Blue Note’s storied catalog and the only live recording from iconic trumpeter Lee Morgan as a leader, his date at The Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach, CA from July 10-12, 1970, was first released by the label as a 2-LP set with just four tracks, one track per side. Blue Note also issued an expanded 3-CD set in 1996. Now, through the efforts of producer Zev Feldman (aka “The Jazz Detective”) and David Weiss, we have the complete recording of all three nights, 12 sets in all, spread across eight CDs and a dozen LPs.
The original has long been among this writer’s and many others’ favorite documents of the hard bop era. Although to be fair, compared to Morgan’s ‘60s Blue Note output, the music here had become more modal, influenced by Coltrane. Now we can immerse ourselves in four plus hours of these bristling, energetic quintet performances. Remarkably, the sound is so pristine, you are transported directly to the club to hear each set transpire just as it did 51 years ago. Now a new generation can hear these performances perhaps for the first time. The unissued tracks represent 21 of the total 33.
Morgan’s quintet was comprised of Bennie Maupin (tenor, flute, bass clarinet), pianist Harold Mabern, bassist Jymie Merritt, and drummer Mickey Roker. Maupin, who went on to fame with Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters, among his many other stints, is the only surviving member of this historic quintet. As Morgan’s foil and sparring partner on the front line, he doesn’t give an inch and practically upstages the leader on a few occasions. Yes, in jazz parlance, he was blowin’. As viewers of the award-winning documentary, I Called him Morgan, know, the high-flying Morgan was tragically killed just months after these performances. Having battled addiction and substance abuse during the ‘60s through many great recordings under his name and with Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, these dates presented a ‘clean’ Morgan in peak form at his combustible best. Also. Jack DeJohnette, who was attending the show on Friday, July 10, sits in on “Speedball” in set 4.
As with all projects involving Feldman, the set comes with an expansive booklet featuring new interviews with Bennie Maupin and the last extensive interview with Jymie Merritt before his passing last year. There are essays from Jeffery McMillan (author of Delightfulee: The Life and Music of Lee Morgan) and Michael Cuscuna. Statements from a host of musicians from DeJohnette to Wallace Roney, Nicholas Payton, Charles Tolliver, Eddie Henderson, Dave Douglas, and many others fill the pages.
The tunes herein were composed by band members who knew their set each night was being recorded. Just two are from Morgan, five from Maupin, three from Mabern, and two from Merritt. Morgan’s “Sidewinder” and “Speedball” are from his ‘60s period and are more straight-ahead. The former only has one installment here, and it is roof-raising in intensity. The latter appears more often than any other, as it served as a theme set closer in seven of the dozen sets. Mabern’s “The Beehive,” named for the South Side Chicago nightclub where Mabern heard Bird in 1955, remains one of the most enduring tracks and is a burner in all three renditions.
Amazingly, they are on fire throughout. Even though many pieces extend into 18–22-minute lengths, the improvisational solos and riveting interplay never lags. The original recording established an identity as one of the best live recordings in jazz for that period and hearing all 12 sets does nothing to diminish that. In fact, given the production qualities here, it enhances that lofty reputation. Here are the tracks, less the introductions from Morgan which are interspersed throughout. The asterisk denotes previously unissued. You’ll note that there are only twelve compositions spread across the three nights but confirming that the excitement and power was present all three nights is the fact that until now at
The importance of this release cannot be understated. It’s a monument to some of the best live jazz ever recorded, made even more remarkable by how this quintet performed so tightly packed on a tiny stage. It put The Lighthouse on the map as a West Coast jazz destination. What the Village Vanguard is to NYC, The Lighthouse is to West Coast Jazz. Morgan was only 34 years old at the time of these recordings and it’s thought-provoking to think what his career trajectory could have been. The two interviewees, Maupin and Merritt used phrases such as these in their interviews – “developed such a heart-to-heart connection with each other,” “being in the moment and capturing the moment, and “In a sense, it is holy music…this was totally uncompromised music in terms of the way it went down.”
If you’ve clung lovingly to the original 2-LP set or 3-CD set from 25 years ago, you still need to get this expansive set for these explosive performances and its brilliant sound quality.
