The Creator has a Master Plan - When I was a young improvisational dancer in Chicago, that cut off of Pharaoh's Karma album was my first loosely structured group performance. I used it for years. I don't agree with the theology, but Leon Thomas still rocks my world.
“The Creator Has A Master Plan” is right there with “A Love Supreme” that my spirit and soul require like my body needs nourishment (I made a career of being a Chef). I know I haven’t had my required dose when my yin/yang starts getting all funked out!
My introduction to John was his duo with David Murray on Sketches of Tokyo. When I moved to the City in 1990, he was in the clubs. I saw him at Zinno's bar one night, and I got to tell him how at Bradleys he'd played so intensely at 3 am that I saw the legs of their 9-ft Baldwin float 2-inches off the ground. Then I saw him at Birdland, the Vanguard and the Montreal Jazz fest with George Lewis. Incredible!
Yes Brett I went to Tin Palace a lot it was definitely one of the special places. I first heard John Hicks w Charles Tolliver and Gary Bartz in the very late 60's, early seventies don't remember exactly. But I will say this - the band Pharoah had with Hicks, Booker, ( sometimes Ray Drummond or Curtis Lundy) and Idris Muhammed was one of the REALLY great groups - certainly Pharoah's best imo.
I was lucky to catch John Hicks in a club in Dayton Ohio in the 80's with David Murray, Reggie Workman and Ed Blackwell...the whole band was extraordinary and John was on fire. It's one my favorite musical memories!
The Tin Palace was before my time (although I was friends with Paul Pines later on) but of course I used to hear Hicks all the time in NYC. At one point I played in his big band, I think it was at a short-lived club called Lush Life, where we had a regular night for awhile. He was very inspiring!
The Creator has a Master Plan - When I was a young improvisational dancer in Chicago, that cut off of Pharaoh's Karma album was my first loosely structured group performance. I used it for years. I don't agree with the theology, but Leon Thomas still rocks my world.
“The Creator Has A Master Plan” is right there with “A Love Supreme” that my spirit and soul require like my body needs nourishment (I made a career of being a Chef). I know I haven’t had my required dose when my yin/yang starts getting all funked out!
My introduction to John was his duo with David Murray on Sketches of Tokyo. When I moved to the City in 1990, he was in the clubs. I saw him at Zinno's bar one night, and I got to tell him how at Bradleys he'd played so intensely at 3 am that I saw the legs of their 9-ft Baldwin float 2-inches off the ground. Then I saw him at Birdland, the Vanguard and the Montreal Jazz fest with George Lewis. Incredible!
Yes Brett I went to Tin Palace a lot it was definitely one of the special places. I first heard John Hicks w Charles Tolliver and Gary Bartz in the very late 60's, early seventies don't remember exactly. But I will say this - the band Pharoah had with Hicks, Booker, ( sometimes Ray Drummond or Curtis Lundy) and Idris Muhammed was one of the REALLY great groups - certainly Pharoah's best imo.
I was lucky to catch John Hicks in a club in Dayton Ohio in the 80's with David Murray, Reggie Workman and Ed Blackwell...the whole band was extraordinary and John was on fire. It's one my favorite musical memories!
Book and Idrees were the perfect accompanists for him.
The Tin Palace was before my time (although I was friends with Paul Pines later on) but of course I used to hear Hicks all the time in NYC. At one point I played in his big band, I think it was at a short-lived club called Lush Life, where we had a regular night for awhile. He was very inspiring!