McCoy Tyner - Sahara
T-Mac’s got a bunch of great albums to highlight his career, but Sahara might be the very best, at least MFSL thought it was worth giving the sonic upgrade to. In fact this comes between two very important periods for Tyner, the end of his Blue Note period and the beginning of his Milestone era which he launched with class. Tyner’s generally a piano player, one of the few jazzers who didn’t move even temporarily to Rhodes, various synthesizers or even organ, so Sahara is somewhat unusual for some koto playing on “Valley of Life.” This acts as a sort of meditative center to the album, following some plaintive piano work on “A Prayer for my Family.” However, it’s the bookends of the album, the propulsive and exotic “Ebony Queen” and the outstanding 25 minute title track, that are the true draw here, showing Tyner as a strong leader, his fingers leaving trails of fire in their wake. To my ears, one of the best 100 records ever made and it’s arguably one of the very best, non fusion, post 60s records. He was well and truly out of Coltrane’s shadow by this point, if such a thing is possible.
Grateful Dead - Swing Auditorium, San Bernardino 2/26/77
The first gig of 1977 and the first night out after recording the Terrapin Station album, and the band opened with 10 minutes of that suite, a range they’d mostly stick to thereafter. This is, if not one of the band’s best gigs, somehow legendary in its own way, with a rather healthy share of some of the band’s best tracks and even a couple big surprises like the 8 or so minute “Tenessee Jed,” the 11 minute “Sugaree,” a rather tasty Playin’>Wheel>Playin’s sandwich and a very respectable Help>Slipknot>FT. Perhaps it’s watching the group in one of their best phases for the next few months that lightens the impact of this first foray, but it doesn’t quite strike me with the fire the best gigs have, those that tend to make me wonder what happen to 20 minutes somewhere in the middle of the second set. But it’s rather essential nonetheless.