THE LEGENDS
"Legends at the North Sea Jazz Festival"
Den Haag, the Netherlands
July 11, 1997

no label - no number - Aud 5

Disc 1:

1) Full House
2) Marcus #1
3) Ruthie
4) Snakes
5) Going Down Slow
6) Peeper
7) Suggestions

Disc 2:

1) 3rd Degree
2) 1st Song / Tango
3) Put it Where You Want
4) Jelly Roll / Sentimental
5) Layla
6) Right Next Door (with Robert Cray)

Band Lineup:

Marcus Miller Bass
Eric Clapton Guitar, Vocals
David Sanborn Saxophone
Joe Sample Keyboards, Piano
Steve Gadd Drums

Concert Reviews (from www.ectours.de):

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Comments on a Press Conference
By Albrecht Peltzer

Hello Slowhanders,

I had the chance to be at the press conference in Den Haag before the Legends-show. Other than the dates before all the Legends appeared in time on 4.30 p.m. Although all of them were very friendly, answering all the questions with great patience I think they felt a little bit bored by the press. The conference took only 20 minutes and most of the questions about forming the band together were answered by Marcus Miller. Marcus told, that they planned do choose only instrumental stuff - so the tour was announced in the press. But while rehearsing they changed there mind. David Sanborn said: "We thought that there will be many fans of Eric coming to the shows. And we didn't want to disappoint them when Eric wouldn't sing. So we decided to include those songs with vocals." Eric was asked, if he would like to do more stuff like TDF in the future. And he said: "Yes, I liked it, maybe there will be more of it, maybe film music or something like that."

Other than in Montreux at the press conference - where only Miller, Sanborn and Sample appeared - it was allowed to make photos during the conference. And after the conference the Legends posed for a band photo.

Not a very special event, this press conference, I think. But to be honest: It was great for me to be there with all five musicians in one room...

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Concert Review
By Tim 't Hart

Hello slowhanders,

Last night, July 11, the legends performed at the North Sea Jazz festival in The Hague, Netherlands. I went to the concert together with Gerd Klaassen. It was cool to meet another slowhander from this digest! EC and the rest seemed to have a good time on stage, and EC indeed looked like Buddy Holly with his glasses!

The concert was very, VERY good! This is how every concert should be like. No fancy light effects, or other weird effects, just play like you've never played before! Work for your money guys!

They played the same songs that were mentioned in previous digest messages. Instrumental songs that I don't know the name of, and EC sang 'Going Down Slow', 'Third Degree' and 'Layla'. They didn't play 'Everyday I have the Blues'.

After the legends concert, Robert Cray performed in the same hall. At the end of his performance, I got in front of the stage, and Cray played 'Right next door', and suddenly the song changed. Cray played some great blues licks, and then....EC JOINED HIM ON STAGE!! The crowd went wild. Don't ask me what song they played, because the tears were standing in my eyes! EC didn't have his own guitar, He borrowed a RC signature (rosewood fingerboard) from Robert Cray. They played one song, EC played a big solo, and they left the stage together. What an ending!

The legends concert was taped for television, but for some reason, no one cared about Robert Cray, so that show wasn't taped.

This Saturday, a big picture of EC is on front of the newspaper. The reviewers said that EC stole the show. He was the big star of the festival. Maybe I'll translate the review later.

Sorry for this long post, but you'll have to know that July 11 was one of the best days in my life!

Greetings,
Tim 't Hart

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Concert Review
By Gerd Klaassen

Last night the Legends performed at the north sea festival in the Hague. The show was mainly as described before with Marcus Miller on bass, introducing the others and himself, Steve Gadd on drums (great job), Joe Sample on keyboards and piano, David Sanborn on alto-saxophone and Eric on guitar and vocals (as we all know...). He played a strat with a strange golden finish (tribute to the brass-coloured Jazz? Looks like buyed from toys are us ;) ) and for the acoustic sessions his Martin.

They started with a some jazzy jamming, each member has its solo. Like on the other performances, most titles were instrumenals, only some EC songs (Third degree, Layla, Goin' down slow) had Eric on great vocal. No "everday I have the blues" this evening, I would like it better then this TDF-song they played... Eric looked well, joking with the other members and sometimes "fighting" with the cable from his guitar.

His outfit was the same as on the FTC-tour: T-shirt, gym shoes and the same army-style jeans as Miller. It was very hot in the hall, they all drunk a lot (water?). He had the Buddy Holly-style glasses described before, but he doesn't wear them all the time. When playing, he almost closed his eyes or looked everywere but on the fretboard.

His playing was superb with strong but a little to short solos, playing his usual bluesy style adapted to the songs. For the rhythm parts, he sometimes quickly changed to fingerstyle playing, even on the strat. Don't know where he hides the pick (between pinky and ring finger?), but with a quick turn of his hand the pick was back.

Marcus Miller played a very powerful bass with some outstanding solos. He used two different basses, one time he seems to have problems with the electric.

To summarize: They all are legends, and Eric can easily play this music with his personal style. He has got the most applause from the audience, I think the EC fans were in the majority...

After performing the acoustic version of Layla with Miller (!) on a "bass saxophone" (don't know the exact name), there was a short pause. Robert Cray was anounced, and nearly half of the people left the hall - no good idea!

Then the Robert Cray Band played for about one hour. I'm not a real Cray fan because of the oversharp single-coil strat sound (flame me personally...). But on the last song EC entered the stage with a nice black strat ;) and they jammed together for about five minutes. This was EC's best performance that evening. No TV cameras were present...

After driving 4 hours back home, I just arrived when the TV broadcasted the show. Only two "Legend" songs were shown, hope they will show more later!

A big thanks to Tim and his family for getting the tickets! Sorry to Peter - he wasn't the only one wearing an EC shirt...

That's enough for today, I think there are a lot of postings!
Gerd

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Concert Review
By Kasper Peeters

Just woke up after a lovely night at the North Sea Jazz festival.

Legends started promptly at 6 pm, so we rushed in while the band was playing one of Sanborn's tracks to warm up. Eric seemed quite relaxed, walking around the stage all the time. They took solos in turn on a lot of the songs. Miller, like last year when he performed at the NSJ with his own band, made full use of the lower dynamic range of the sound equipment at the Statenhal together with Gadd; sound quality was excellent as usual there (also handled Eric's acoustic guitars pretty well).

Eric did a very good version of Third Degree, but that was sort of expected. I was more surprised to see how well Eric handled his solos in the more jazzy parts. I for sure liked it a lot better than eg. his earlier collaboration with Sanborn on 'Upfront'; it had much less of his usual blues influence and fit in better with the songs now. It seemed like in every solo he needed a bit of time to really get his mind set to the change of style, but once he had taken off he really impressed me.

I liked the accoustic songs very much (among which a very nice version of 'Going down slow' and the encore 'Layla' with Sanborn doing the solo: excellent) though the mix with Miller's tracks with funky baselines made them stand out quite a bit, maybe a bit too much for some of the audience. Eric's voice was a bit less 'aggressive' (don't know how to properly describe it; a bit 'flatter') than on the '95 tour, but still very good.

The show right on time just like it started; I had hoped for some more blues in the encore. Nevertheless, it was a very special experience to hear Eric play in this totally different setting.

I didn't see any of Jesse's T-shirts though; where were you slowhanders? ;-)

Kasper

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Concert Review
By Peter Mehnert

Hi,

As there already have been some reviews from the performance of the Legends at the North Sea Jazz Festival in The Hague on Friday, 11th July, which I fully agree with, I just want to make some additional personal comments.

Compared to Vienna (Austria) there were much more Sanborn and Miller fans in the audience. The acoustics were a lot better in Vienna, there was a rather high background noise level in the Statenhal. Due to the time schedule of the night the Legends could only play for 1h35m. But nevertheless it was a fantastic evening. It was also a great moment, when EC joined the stage for the encore of Robert Cray.

Because we were standing rather near to the stage (4th or 5th row) I was able to observe some funny things. Before Eric started to play the first song on the acoustic guitar, Lee Dickson came onto the stage to bring a chair for Eric. EC wanted to sit down but Lee refused before he didn't manage to adjust the height of the microphone. EC stood beside waiting, laughing and shaking his head.

In between the concert I think he got some kind of an electrical hit, going suddenly some steps behind and looking uncomfortable. To the specialists: can something like that happen?

When he played Third Degree a cameraman from the TV came rather near to him. EC looked annoyed and disturbed for a while. I was wondering because he should be used to standing in the spotlight.

When the Legends finished the encore EC went to the back of the stage to change the guitar (putting on the golden strat again). Miller already started to say goodbye and thank you. The other guys left the stage and then EC turned around with his guitar realizing that he has been left alone. Quickly he put off the guitar and left the stage too. Obviously he had wanted to play more!

Peter

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Concert Review
By Niels V. Mogensen
(The first part of the message applies to the concert at København, Denmark (9-July-1997).)

Hello to you all.

Well, Monday I mentioned my meeting with Miller and Sanborn after the show in Den Haag Friday night (11-July-1997), but I had no time to write about it.

I'll start at the beginning:

Two days before (9-July-1997) I went to the show in my hometown Copenhagen. As earlier told by other slowhanders, the show was really good. Not just "I-love-everything-he-does-good" (hint hint), No - it was actually swinging in the old Tivoli-garden that night. 'The Legends' seemed to enjoy the warm summer-evening, and played like they had been together for years. Gadd pushed the beat from the beginning, and besides that my wife things he looks like some G. Clooney, I again was struck by his funky rhythms; He, as well as Sample and Miller played not just some outstanding rhythm-parts, but their solos where controlled yet provided the band with a sound so different from the 'normal' EC-setting. Of course I had a hard time before the show imagining a band where EC was just an ordinary member, but Gadd, Sample and specially Miller 'gave' just as much as 'our man' did. Sanborn sounded great too, and he as well seemed to enjoy the evening, chatting with the rest of the band between numbers. Sanborn and Eric harmonized on some tracks and on others they supported each others songs (for example on "Full House" and "Layla") perfectly. EC's was walking around on stage during the entire show, he seemed to love the role as 'just-a-band-member'. His rhythm-parts where funky and a mile away from what we have heard from him in a long time. His solo's where impeccable all throughout the evening, and his solos on "Everyday I Have The Blues" where the best you are likely to hear. As already mentioned he restarted it twice, which made the crowd go nuts.

Looking back I was really happy I was there, because the next show they played (in Den Haag last Friday), just didn't do the same for me... Well, I liked it, no doubt about it. The musicians are the best, and it's hard for them to play less than good, but because I had seen them just 48 hours earlier I could hear that it was not swinging like it did. First of all: It's beyond me how some other Slowhanders can say that the sound was good. I know it depends on where you stand, but I thought it was awful. The next problem was the heat. There was more than 40 degrees on the floor in front of the stage, and not only was my T-shirt completely soaked after 15 mins. but on stage it was even worse. All the musicians seemed to have trouble with the heat. Their solos were shorter and were not as good as two days earlier, the interplay lacked far behind, and both EC and Sanborn happened to hit the wrong string/key. Sanborn's sax-mic wouldn't sit right, it even caused some resonance during a solo, and Miller's bass had to be changed in the middle of number with the help of a busy Lee Dickson. All in all the 'Legends' played fewer songs, less enthusiastic and with more mistakes than in Copenhagen, where the sound was better too.

After the show, I needed some water and a break,- so Robert Cray started his show without me. 20 mins. later I went back in, stood in the back and little did I know that the night was about to 'go in the books'. With some waving and gestures, Robert Cray got Eric out on the stage, as I was pushing my way to the stage. They (as you know) jammed for about 10 mins. and my night was saved anyway. Afterwards I went up on the roof where Joshua Redman was playing an amassing set. Next to the stage Miller and Sanborn was enjoying the show as well, and after the show I got an autograph.

A few hours later I by now had found my way to the basement where two other bands where playing. Here I ran into Miller again who was on his way to the hotel after 7 hours of jazz-fest. I told him that I had seem them in Copenhagen and that I liked that show much better. I said that it was swinging better in Tivoli, and that they seemed to have trouble with the heat. His response was: "This was a mess!" He told me that the heat caused problems for them all, they simply couldn't hold on to their instruments because of the sweat! Miller said that because of that both Sanborn and Sample had trouble hitting the right keys. Finally he thought the sound was really bad too! Suddenly he was yelling something to someone behind me passing by. David Sanborn came over and Miller told him what I had said. Sanborn turned to me and said that he thought I was right, and basically repeated what Miller had just said about the show. He also said that he had trouble with his mic all evening. I got their autographs again, and finally asked where Eric was. Miller smiled and said he was back at the hotel sleeping... Sanborn said 'take it easy', and I went home as a happy little boy anyway.

That was my story from NSJF last Friday as promised.

All the best
Niels

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Newspaper Review
Translated by Tim 't Hart

Hello slowhanders,

Here is a review from a Dutch newspaper about the Legends concert at the North Sea Jazz festival:

ERIC CLAPTON PUBLIC'S FAVOURITE AT NORTH SEA JAZZ

THE HAGUE - Legendary blues- and popguitarist Eric Clapton was the big favorite of the audience at the 22nd North Sea Jazz festival. In previous years, Friday night was just a warming-up for the rest of the weekend, but now, the Statenhal was completely packed.

Clapton was part of the group Legends, a project by bass player and multi instrumentalist Marcus Miller. In interviews, the modest Miller said several times that it wasn't his band, and it wasn't going to be a Clapton show either. This last statement turned out to be different.

On stage, Eric Clapton was the only musician who deserved to be called a legend. And it must be told that his fellow-legends (piano player Joe Sample, drummer Steve Gadd and saxophone player David Sanborn) gave him a lot of space. In blues-classics like 'Third Degree' his characteristic vocals and guitar-solos went through heart and soul.

Also in the numbers that came from the big but boring Miller/Sanborn songbook, Clapton, as soloist, stole the show.

But because the finesse of Joe Sample and Steve Gadd were lost during this mega-concert, this spectacular opening of NSJ 1997, was moderate. And for legends, that is not enough. -----

This review was shortened a little bit... I never thought that translating was this difficult!

Greetings,
Tim

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Comments on Newspaper Reviews
By Geerke Simons

The reviews on the Legends concert at The Hague were varied in Holland too. Tim's newspaper was enthousiastic. The NRC Handelsblad critic called it tame: a lot of firework from Sanborn and Miller but Clapton didn't fit in and shouldn't have been there to open the North Sea Jazz festival. My local newspaper wasn't to enthousiastic either, same with some radio comments. I think Clapton fans weren't disappointed, but because we got what we cane for. My guess is the critics expected a lot of firework to dance on, partytime etc., something that usually opens the NSJ. An acoustic is something they don't expect. My suggestions: next year Candy Dulfer for openings and The Legends to close the festival. In that case they can give as much as encores as they like, not to be bothered by a rigid schedule!!!

Geerke

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Geetarz Comments:

A great performance. Contains the jam with Robert Cray.

Also see "Snakes" (DJ Copy 47/48) for a different recording of this show.

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New artwork scans @ 300DPI, September 2010. Scans of discs also included so you know this is the "real deal".

Enjoy!

~Geetarz, September 2010

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