more from
Cellar Live
We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

In Baltimore

by George Coleman Quintet

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $9.99 CAD  or more

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Comes packaged in a gatefold sleeve with a deluxe 28 page booklet with rare photos, essays and interviews

    Includes unlimited streaming of In Baltimore via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days

      $9.99 CAD or more 

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Pressed on a white label and packaged in a white sleeve

    Includes unlimited streaming of In Baltimore via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    edition of 12 

      $39.99 CAD or more 

     

  • Limited Edition 180-Gram Vinyl
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Packaged in a gatefold sleeve with an extensive booklet with rare photos. essays and interviews. Pressed on 180-gram vinyl

    Includes unlimited streaming of In Baltimore via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

1.
2.
Sandu 10:26
3.
I Got Rhythm 05:13
4.
Body & Soul 09:55
5.
Joy Spring 09:29

about

One of jazz’s most powerful tenor saxophonists is heard at his freewheeling, unfettered best on The George Coleman Quintet in Baltimore. The high-energy set, captured at the Famous Ballroom in Baltimore on May 23, 1971, by engineer Vernon Welsh for the Left Bank Jazz Society, is restored for Reel to Real by Chris Gestrin.
The set marks the second project from the Left Bank—which mounted live jazz shows in Baltimore from 1964 through the ‘90s—to be unearthed by Resonance Records co-president and noted “Jazz Detective” Zev Feldman, who is partnered in Reel to Real with Vancouver-based jazz impresario and saxophonist Cory Weeds.

Now 85, Coleman was the product of the fertile jazz scene in Memphis, which produced such renowned contemporaries as Charles Lloyd, Phineas Newborn, Jr., Frank Strozier, Booker Little, Hank Crawford, and the tenorist’s longtime band mate Harold Mabern. From the early ‘60s, he was a noted sideman, perhaps best known for his 1963-64 stint with Miles Davis’ “second great quintet,” which included Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams. He also made notable records with Hancock (the classic Maiden Voyage), Lee Morgan, Chet Baker, Jimmy Smith, Charles Mingus, and Max Roach, among others.

Coleman cut his first studio album as a leader in 1977; he played and recorded regularly with Mabern until the keyboardist’s death in 2019. This Reel to Real release represents the saxophonist’s earliest available live offering fronting a nonpareil combo of his own.

He is joined by trumpeter Danny Moore (whose credits include work with Quincy Jones, Count Basie, Oliver Nelson, Buddy Rich, and Dizzy Gillespie), pianist Albert Dailey (Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz, Hank Mobley, Kenny Dorham, Art Blakey), bassist Larry Ridley (Horace Silver, Jackie McLean, Philly Joe Jones, Randy Weston, Barry Harris), and drummer Harold White (Gary Bartz, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Eddie Jefferson).
“This is one hell of a band,” jazz historian and archivist Michael Cuscuna notes in his comprehensive overview of the date. “This concert is a rare early glimpse at George Coleman in charge and, as always, playing magnificently.”

In a new interview with Weeds included in the booklet, Coleman looks back at his days at the venue that was a regular hitching post for him in the ‘70s.

“Oh yeah, the Famous Ballroom was great,” Coleman says. “We used to get up there quite a bit, with Wynton Kelly, Ron McClure and Jimmy Cobb. Those were some of the good moments. I really enjoyed playing there. The people were nice, too. A lot of black folks used to go there, too. It was integrated—I mean, black, white, whatever. They were there to listen to the music. It was a really great era.”

Feldman, who selected the ’71 Famous Ballroom set from a trove of Left Bank recordings, says, “Cory and I have total reverence for Coleman and we wanted to roll out the red carpet for him on this very special production….George Coleman is someone who is extremely important in this music. Now that he's in the twilight of his career, it's nothing short of a blessing to be able to present this music for the very first time.”

Weeds, who has himself presented the tenor player at his Vancouver club the Cellar, says of the Baltimore date, “Coleman is playing with reckless abandon, not concerned with perfection or even precision. He is clearly feeding off the energy of the crowd and riding high above the beautiful accompaniment from the top-flight rhythm section. He is going for it. The no-holds-barred approach that is his signature is on full display throughout this whole date, and it’s absolutely delightful.”

Heatedly charging through Clifford Brown’s compositions “Sandu” and “Joy Spring,” John Lewis’ “Afternoon in Paris,” and puissant readings of “I Got Rhythm” and “Body and Soul,” Coleman ably demonstrates that he remains one of the most underestimated soloists in jazz.

Neatly summing up the collection in an interview with Weeds, the band leader’s student and self-defined disciple Eric Alexander succinctly sums up The George Coleman Quintet in Baltimore: “It’s about the music and the music is f___ing great.”

credits

released December 11, 2020

Musician Listing:

George Coleman – tenor saxophone
Danny Moore – trumpet
Albert Dailey – piano
Larry Ridley – bass
Harold White - drums

Produced for release by CORY WEEDS and ZEV FELDMAN
Executive Producer: CORY WEEDS
Associate Producer: JOHN FOWLER
Sound Restoration by CHRIS GESTRIN
LP Mastering by KEVIN GRAY
Original Recording Engineer: VERNON WELSH
Recorded Live at The Famous Ballroom in Baltimore, MD on May 23, 1971
Cover Photo by FRANCIS WOLFF © Mosaic Images LLC
Art Direction and design: JOHN SELLARDS
Album Package Editor: SHARON MCINNIS
Production Manager: CORY WEEDS
Photo Research: CORY WEEDS and ZEV FELDMAN

SPECIAL THANKS TO: Raymon Torchinsky, Peter Brooke, Zak Shelby-Szysko, Antone DeSantis

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

George Coleman Quintet Memphis, Tennessee

Coleman is a product of the Memphis jazz scene producing such famed contemporaries as Charles Lloyd, Booker Little and bandmate Harold Mabern. From the early ‘60s, he was a sideman best known for his stint with Miles Davis’ quintet with Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams. He's recorded with Hancock (on Maiden Voyage), Lee Morgan, Chet Baker, Charles Mingus, and Max Roach, among others. ... more

contact / help

Contact George Coleman Quintet

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like George Coleman Quintet, you may also like: