Recommended by us on 9th July 2010
...according to our Business Lady on Thu 08 Jul, 2010.
Bobby Jackson looks to be some kind of jazz super dude as he not only managed to run a successful and thriving jazz venue in Minneapolis but also found a little time to tickle an upright bass from time to time with the results documented here on The Cafe Extra-Ordinaire Story. This LP tells the tale of this jazz enthusiast and all round good guy Bobby Jackson whilst shedding a little light on the progressive playing style he adopted and developed with his own band. Jazzman are digging deep with this one. Not only do you get detailed liner notes documenting the scene at Cafe Extra-Ordinaire but also unseen photographs and rare interviews with the main man. The music itself is a testament of Bobby Jackson's passion for progressive jazz flavours with things shifting from smooth to lively at the skip of a beat. I'm not a big jazz fan (saving that for later in life) but I'm really digging the livelier numbers on this album especially 'Bobby's Blues', a real finger work-out for pianist Bobby Lyle. Jackson himself plays a badass bassline and makes his presence known throughout. I'll look forward to getting more familiar with this one.
Some people dream of performing in a band, with all the excitement and fun it brings. Others dream of making a record, buzzing off the achievement and kudos. And a few more would love to own and run their very own music venue, with the decor and music policy being up to them. In 1966, Bobby Jackson did all three.
You won't find the name Bobby Jackson in the jazz books. Yet here is a remarkable man who did more than anyone to promote live jazz in his hometown of Minneapolis, risking everything to open a venue for jazz lovers and putting on such luminaries as Freddie Hubbard, Roland Kirk and Elvin Jones. In so doing he rode the wave of financial insecurity, dealt with problems involving drugs, the law and the police, not to mention the issues and temperaments of the musicians themselves. Yet he still managed to keep things together enough to record a truly deep and inspired album with his band - although it took another 8 years before it was finally released, albeit in minimal quantities and with zero distribution!
And so the seventh release in our HOLY GRAIL series tells the story of Bobby Jackson and his Cafe Extra-Ordinaire. The music is deep, modal and progressive jazz. The story is one of bearded coffee-drinking jazz heads, Elvin Jones shedding tears, silver foil backdrops, and we also reveal what happened when a young man named Prince ventured into the cafe one day with the intention to sit in on a jam session!
The LP is a reproduction of the original, pressed on 180g virgin vinyl. The CD also contains a 12 page colour booklet with previously unpublished pictures provided by Bobby Jackson himself. Interviews with Jackson and his band help to make up the extensive liner notes, telling the engaging story of the Cafe Extra-Ordinaire and all who took part in it.
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