Bob Dylan - The Times They Are A-Changin’
When Sony did their SACD hybrid reissues of the Bob Dylan catalog, this was one of two (with the s/t debut) early albums that didn’t make the first batch. For me it was the Dylan album I remember most from when I was younger, so it did bring back some memories, particularly when I saw him live in the mid-80s. It’s hard for me to want to call the album this early because for me, there’s an extreme sublimity when it comes to Dylan that I usually pick up over many multiple listens and rests that have made albums like Highway 61 Revisited masterpieces to my ears. I get the impression this might be one of the weaker titles of the early catalog, but as I’ve been very impressed with live Dylan recordings as early as 62, I’m not totally convinced this won’t bite me at some point.
Tony Williams Lifetime - Village Gate, NYC 1969
A friend sent me a copy of a slightly murky but stunningly amazing disc of live material and outtakes from the original Lifetime band. Honestly, it’s hard to think of a more distorted, fuzzed out, overdrived trio than Williams, McLaughlin and Young, to have heard them in a club in 69 probably ranks among my top 10 “wish I could have been there” moments. Anyway, this show, from Village Gate may or may not have been included on that original disc, but I was going to leave no room for mistake. Without doing a side by side, I’m not quite sure, but I wasn’t going to take any chance. They take the Emergency material and beat it down, probably destroying everyone’s hearing in the vicinity. And I love, love, love it. In a way it was as punk as anything that came after it.
Freddie Hubbard - Montreux Casino 7/21/78
Seeems like at this point in his career, which may have included a VSOP stint, Hubbard had returned to his hard bop roots, gone were the funky CTI, quasi-fusion stylings of Red Clay and Straight Life. Hubbard can cross back and forth as much as he likes as far as I’m concerned, and it’s heartening to see he was as good at this rather short show as he was 15 years earlier. Hubbard has now trained me like Pavlov’s dog to anticipate his solos with just a note or two, and there’s one or two on this that I can’t imagine any other trumpet player topping. Note to self: find a way to go see him live.