Lenny White Group
Excerpts from 3 sets:
Jazz Workshop 2/23/77 (38:15)
Paul's Mall 3/24/77 (32:56)
and 3/27/77 (42:15)
Boston, Mass. U.S.A.
(all are incomplete sets)
Total runtime: 113:27
Performance quality: B+ (They're all the same band,
but some different songs and style in each set)
Recording quality: Mostly between B and B+, 2/23 set
has some more mike obstruction than the other 2 and ranges
from a C to a B in sound quality because it suffers some for
clarity and presence, also some hiss on a couple of songs
(not alot), the rest is quite listenable.
lineage (all 3): Sony? microphones > Sony 156 stereo deck >
master cassettes > my copy
(onto reels using Teac R T R recorder) >
soundforge 4.5 > FLAC > torrent.
notes:
This is a rare few gigs with Lenny White and his own group-
I really wish this was his solo debut of 1976 tour,
Venusian Summer, because that is a very good album. This
is the one that followed, and it does have its moments. Lenny is doing
music of his album "Big City" and all 3 sets include a version of his
favorite RTF tune, the Sorceress. I recall from seeing one of these
shows that I didn't like this album much at all, but listening to them
again I can't figure out which one was supposed to be the weak show.
I recalled years ago, one sounded very hot and jammy, (the least good
quality and least complete recording, of course), one sounded decent,
performance good but not great, and one of boring poppy funk. Well,
maybe my tastes have aged (along with me), cuz they all sound somewhat
different in style of the music, and after some level balancing, now I
can listen to live Lenny White group. Being a drummer this does have
an appeal to it.
These are among the 1st recordings I ever made at a concert.
Parts of 3 different nights a friend or I went to see Lenny White,
we tried to tape all of the 3 and had some problems in a few parts
of what nature I don't recall very clearly, but most of the 3 sets are
on here. After not hearing these things for about 20 years I had almost
given up on them entirely, not being able to fix level weirdnesses and
mike knocks, and for many years having only a cheesy reel to reel deck.
Now that's not a problem anymore, these recordings never saw that beat up
old Sony reel I had for about a year, and I've got these tapes sounding
good enough that I want to hear them now, so I want you to hear them too,
since I've yet to see any Lenny White Group recordings, on the dime or
elsewhere, and was inspired by all the RTF torrenting going on recently.
Speaking of, like to hear some more of that? I've got 2 either up or
awaiting their turn on the cyberwire.