Equal Time Live at the 2007 Telluride by the Sea Film Festival

Equal Time was chosen to play the opening of the Telluride by the Sea Film Festival in Portstmouth, NH. Drummer Rob Duquette subbed for Mike Walsh, and it gave the band a different feel. Midway through the last song, one of the festival attendees walked between the band and the stanchions, kicking the recorder and ending the recorded part of the session. People are sometimes very careless.

Track List

1. Aquarian Sound
2. Greetings to Idris
3. Tell Your Ride
4. Traveler of Tomorrow
5. With a Little Help From My Friends


Tim Webb - bass
Rob Duquette - drums
Thom Keith - saxophones

Recorded at the Portsmouth Music Hall, September 21, 2007

3/4 Time at the Barley Pub

Recorded at a show when the bassist was injured and couldn't play. The band attempted to replace him with a keyboard player the day of the show. He confirmed, but two hours before the show had come down with a powerful winter illness. So this is a, largely improvised, trombone, sax and drums set. Some of it works, some if doesn't, all of it is real and energetic.

Track List

Set 1

1. With a Little Help From My Friends
2. Sunday Song for a Swollen Wrist
3. India
4. Song For Jesus
5. Zombie


Set 2

6. My One and Only Love
7. Equinox
8. 3-D Family
9. Suite:
a. Yearning
b. Mr. Dawkins
c. Skwalkin'
d. Pursance: A Love Supreme
10. Fables of Faubus
11. African Sunshine
12. Iron Man
13. Epilogue

Mike Walsh - drums
Derek Kwong - trombone
Thom Keith - saxophones

Recorded December 2, 2007 at The Barley Pub, Dover, NH.

What Is Avant Coast?

This is the Avant Coast Sampler, music recorded at live shows in 2007. Five of the six tunes were recorded at Lotus Rising Belly Dancing Studio in Rollinsford, NH, the sixth at The Barley Pub in Dover, NH. This music features a cross-section of musicians and styles who have performed as part of the series. The disc was produced with the notion that it would distributed freely, and listeners encouraged to copy the disc and redistribute it. The jury is still out on whether or not that was successful, but this particular disc is no longer in print. So have it, and please, burn a copy and then distribute a copy, the link, whatever, but this music *has* to circulate if it is to survive. For more on Avant Coast, check the link in the links section.

The Music
1. Pangea - Langley/O'dell
Tim O'dell - soprano sax; Matt Langley - tenor sax; Jim Lyden - bass; Luther Gray - drums
Recorded March 30, 2007 at Lotus Rising

2. Lotus Risen - Tim Webb
Tim Webb - acoustic bass
Recorded May 24, 2007 at Lotus Rising

3. Yard Dog - Kohlhase/Langley/Gray
Charlie Kohlhase - alto sax; Matt Langley - tenor sax; Luther Gray - drums
Recorded February 23, 2007 at Lotus Rising

4. Set Closer: Untitled Improvisation - Effenberger/Walsh/Phaneuf
Mike Effenberger - keyboards; Mike Walsh - drums; Nick Phaneuf - guitar

5. Summer Vegetable Soup - Out Of Boundaries
Richard Gardzina - tenor sax; Matt Langley - soprano sax; Thom Keith - baritone sax; Tim Webb - bass; Rob Duquette, Luther Gray - drums
Recorded June 22, 2007 at Lotus Rising

6. The Spirit Grows From Within - Equal Time
Derek Kwong - trombone; Thom Keith - saxophones; Tim Webb - bass; Mike Walsh - drums
Recorded July 8, 2007 at the Barley Pub

Equal Time: We Wake

Equal Time's first "release"... titled "the basement tapes". The recording quality is less-than-stellar, but this is what the band sounded like prior to adding trombonist Derek Kwong.

The tunes are a combination of free improvisations and works in progress. This disc was created to be sold at live shows, and is no longer in production.

Equal Time
We Wake

1. Warm Up
2. Sound Song
3. Six Over Two
4. Road Trip


Thom Keith - saxophones
Tim Webb - bass
Mike Walsh - drums


Download here

Clifford Jordan Quartet - Live at the Hasty Pudding Club, Cambridge, MA

Recorded October 18, 1982

Clifford let us record this; I was 12. The band was awesome and the house was full. Among those in the audience: Steve Schwarz (WGBH), Alan Dawson, and John Lockwood. This was one of the first bands I saw (prior to this I'd seen George Coleman with Terri-Lynne Carrington at this venue, and Art Farmer at a local high school). Anyway, this is a nostalgic set for me, but it's great music. I sent Clifford the tapes, but he felt the sound quality was too low to be released. When I digitized it, it was in the early days of the technology and the results were somewhat sketchy. In the interim, my tape player died and I just don't care to pay to replace it, so I haven't redone these yet. Still, the music is great.


Clifford Jordan Quartet
Live at the Hasty Pudding Club
Cambridge, MA
October 18, 1982

First Set

1. Invitation
2. Confirmation
3. Blue And Boogie
4. I'll Be Around
5. Evidence
6. Be- Bop


Second Set

1. The Way You Look Tonight*
2. Woody'n You
3. Hot House
4. Lush Life
5. Moose The Mooch
6. The Highest Mountain


Clifford Jordan - tenor sax
John Hicks - piano
Jamil Nasser - bass
Vernell Fournier - drums

*requested by John Lockwood


Download here

Louis Hayes Group: Variety Is The Spice

Dusty Groove's Review:

An incredibly soulful album -- vastly overlooked, but one of our favorites of the 70s! The set is one of the few ever cut as a leader by drummer Louis Haynes -- a wonderful player who's best known for his classic work with Horace silver -- but who's working here with a superb group of his own, one that includes Frank Strozier on flute and alto, Harold Mabern on piano, and Cecil McBee on bass. All players are completely wonderful -- especially the team of Strozier and Mabern, who work here with the soulful power of their best pairings from the time. And an added bonus to the set is vocalist Leon Thomas, who guest stars on two great tracks -- "Little Sunflower" and "Nisha" -- and delivers some of his only good work of the late 70s! The album's got a version of Freddie Hubbard's "Little Sunflower" that's worth the price of the record alone, as it's one of of Thomas' best recordings ever, and an essential chapter in his career. Other tracks include "What's Going On", "Kelly Colors", and "Nisha". (Original pressing. Cover has a large name in pen on front & back, and notes on back.)

And Scott Yanow Says:

Although best known for his work as a valuable sideman, drummer Louis Hayes has led some stimulating sessions of his own through the years. This somewhat obscure but valuable LP is most notable for featuring the unique singer Leon Thomas on "Little Sunflower" and "Nisha" and for giving ample solo space to underrated altoist Frank Strozier, who doubles here on flute. With keyboardist Harold Mabern, bassist Cecil McBee and a couple of percussionists rounding out the group, Hayes leads his band through a diverse set that includes "Stardust," "What's Goin' On," "Invitation" and "My Favorite Things." Excellent, advanced straight-ahead music.


I Say:

I bought this record for $.99 at Loony Tunes in Boston when I was a kid. I waited for it for years, finally gave up and digitized it. It was released on CD about a week later. The problem: they did the same thing I did -- digitized an LP. This isn't a great record, but half of it is very good. Strozier is in fine form and the band has an energy which I find missing in modern music. Sorry about the quality of the pictures, I used a digital camera -- hand held... it shows. If you are a fan of Mabern, McBee, Strozier or Hayes, you know exactly what to expect of this record.


The Louis Hayes Group
Variety Is The Spice
Gryphon G-787

1. Kelly Colors
2. Little Sunflower
3. Stardust
4. What's Goin' On
5. Invitation
6. Nisha
7. My Favorite Things
8. Dance With Me
9. A Hundred Million Miracles

Louis Hayes - drums
Frank Strozier - alto sax, flute
Harold Mabern - acoustic piano, electric piano
Cecil McBee - bass
Portinho - percussion
Titos Sompa - congas
Leon Thomas - vocal


Download here