CLARKE / COREA / HENDERSON / HUBBARD / WHITE – The Griffith Park Collection 2 In Concert (2LP-1983)

Label: Elektra Musician – 96-0262-1

Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: Germany / Released: 1983

Style: Hard Bop, Post Bop, Contemporary Jazz

Recorded Live April 3, 1982 at the Circle Star Theater, San Francisco

(US release: Elektra Musician ‎– 60262-1-I )

Cover [Painting] – Edward Hopper

Photography By [Back Cover] – Andrew Su

Photography By [Freddie Hubbard] – Ron Slenzak

Executive-Producer – John Smith

Produced by – Lenny White

Producer [Production Consultant] – Jeffrey Weber

Mastered By – Bruce Leek

Other [Administration] – Norva Smith

Liner Notes – Lenny White

Art Direction – Norm Ung/Design

Edited [Digital] by – Jeffrey Weber, Jim Wolvington, Tom MacClusky

Matrix / Runout (Side A Etching): EM-96-0262-1 A-2 -ST

Matrix / Runout (Side B Etching): EM-96-0262-2 B-1 -ST

Matrix / Runout (Side C Etching): EM-96-0262-3 C-1 -ST

Matrix / Runout (Side D Etching): EM-96-0262-4 D-1 -ST

A  -  Why Wait  (Stanley Clarke) .............................................................................. 18:53

B  -  Guernica  (Lenny White) .................................................................................. 19:35

C1 - Happy Times  (Freddie Hubbard) .................................................................... 12:30

C2 - October Ballad  (Chick Corea) ......................................................................... 14:36

D1 - I Mean You  (Coleman Hawkins, Thelonious Monk) ........................................ 11:51

D2 - Here's That Rainy Day  (Johnny Burke, Jimmy VanHeusen) .......................... 12:22

Personnel:

Freddie Hubbard – trumpet, flugelhorn

Joe Henderson – tenor saxophone

Chick Corea – piano

Stanley Clarke – bass

Lenny White – drums, percussion

Manufactured in Germany by Record Service GmbH. ELEKTRA MUSICIAN 96-0262-1, Stereo. Phonographic Copyright (p) – Elektra/Asylum Records.

Realizing the wealth of talent that had assembled, Bruce Lundvall at Elektra/Musician asked for an album featuring just the instrumentalists. The Griffith Park Collection opens with White's "L's Bop," a 60's Blue Note paean showcasing some vintage Hubbard hornwork that evokes those sunny days when Blue Note producer Alfred Lion was repeatedly capturing the blinding brilliance of an era. Clarke's "Why Wait" is a blues that sneaks up barefooted as the bassist strums a slow amble of a walking rhythm, White riding a cymbal step-for-step, Hubbard and Henderson blowing sweet unison notes and somehow managing to create the additional harmonic of a trombone between them, when Corea's aggressive comping style finally gives the meter a push and Henderson punches a full-throated solo with his thick, unmistakable copper-and-zinc tone. A little over a minute into it when White bounces a snare roll that introduces the chorus' arrival like the low roar of an incoming tide, the boys are swinging so hard that you can feel it in your body...

... This is a stunning live recording. Magically resurrected from a soundboard cassette of one of the shows during the group's five day California tour, Griffith Park Collection 2: In Concert starts with "Why Wait," this time at a slightly slower tempo that seems to open up the arrangement and allow the soloists room to swing even harder. Like wanderers returning to their home hearth, they play with a mounting sense of urgency and passion as the night wears on, pursuing the music like it was the source of life itself.

Stalwart rhythm aces White and Clarke could both have turned in longer and more frequent solos, but this particular night they were largely content to lay down strong-shouldered support for the incendiary energies of Hubbard, Henderson and Corea—three players bursting with energy and clearly in a mood to solo on some unrestrained bop. Especially Hubbard.

These guys were certainly ready for something. Without preamble Hubbard starts by blowing a series of runs that sound like cascades of sparks sprayed from an arc welder's torch (it's tempting to imagine the other players wearing protective goggles as they watch him intently.) No question, Hubbard's unbridled, over-the-ramparts approach might have had a daunting effect on another stage, but on this spring evening it leads the charge and sets a standard. Each player's solo invites the next until it is clear that each is ready to take full advantage of this rare opportunity. White's "Guernica" is an unforgettable, hair-raising blowing session that evokes the passionate emotional landscape of that war-torn Spanish city. Hubbard's flashy, headlong bopper "Happy Times" is followed by Corea's tone poem "October Ballade," and then it's back to the races with a hard-driving "I Mean You," and finally a gently swaying "Here's That Rainy Day" with a handful of lyrical flourishes from Hubbard to close things out.

(Review By CARL L. HAGER)

The world's greatest musicians? Who knows... What is certain is that the kind of mastery and dynamic synergism on display in these performances comes from musicians who possess that exceedingly rare ability to listen as well as they blow. As Lenny White said when asked about his composition "Guernica": "When you write for musicians like this, all you need to do is give them a few notes and let them play."

If you find it, buy this album!