It was Brass Fantasy's I Only Have Eyes For You that got me interested in Lester Bowie and subsequently the AACM, etc. Steve Turre that night was on fire.
I have to admit that I usually run in the other direction when I hear the phrase “electronic” music but the interesting history of Steve Reid makes me want to check him out. I saw the Art Ensemble and Lester & the Brass Fantasy several times when I lived in the Bay Area at the venues you reminded me of. I know Art Sato and went to a lot of great music at Koncepts now Lillian & Jones Bar-B-Que & wondering if we ever met ? Looking forward to Bob Marley !
Lord, Art Sato is not a name I have heard in a long, long time. I'm pretty sure I listened to Art on the radio. We probably were at the same concert—small world. Does he still have his radio show?
Art is retired now from teaching school and radio. He is on Facebook and occasionally posts about his travels and music. My favorite Koncepts story is once when I went to hear Sun Ra and the band came out for the second set and sat down when the evening train went by - they immediately swung into ‘Take The A Train’. I saw so many great shows there;Billy Harper, David Murray, Lester Bowie, I could go on and on.
On another note I was on KUSF for 13 years with first Reggae then African, Jazz,Soul -whatever I loved. I also had part interest in a record store Round World Music in the Mission District specialized in African, Cuban & other Latin - you get the idea, was how I met Art who lived in the neighborhood and loved Cuban music. I gave away tickets and helped promote Yoshi’s so could go to any weeknight show 2nd set and again so many; Abdullah Ibrahim, Shirley Horn, Pullen/Adams, Roy Hargrove….
I used to enjoy visiting Chicago with my ex(still friend) whose parents lived in Evanston . I would go to Jamaican record stores, Wax Trax, the Jazz Record Center, & Fitzgerald’s - saw a great show with Otis Clay & the Hi Rhythm Section.I made a lifelong (now) friend with Otis Taylor who worked for Alligator Records not sure when he left and went to book selling.
Thank you for this. It brought back memories of seeing many of these same artists in the 70s & early 80s.
Thanks for walking with us, William.
Another great read Tyler, thanks. Breakfast with Bowie, that's a great story. I saw Bras Fantasy about that time, very memorable.
I didn't know Reid was on Tutu. I was at that Scala gig, I wasn't a teenager though...
It was Brass Fantasy's I Only Have Eyes For You that got me interested in Lester Bowie and subsequently the AACM, etc. Steve Turre that night was on fire.
I have to admit that I usually run in the other direction when I hear the phrase “electronic” music but the interesting history of Steve Reid makes me want to check him out. I saw the Art Ensemble and Lester & the Brass Fantasy several times when I lived in the Bay Area at the venues you reminded me of. I know Art Sato and went to a lot of great music at Koncepts now Lillian & Jones Bar-B-Que & wondering if we ever met ? Looking forward to Bob Marley !
Lord, Art Sato is not a name I have heard in a long, long time. I'm pretty sure I listened to Art on the radio. We probably were at the same concert—small world. Does he still have his radio show?
Art is retired now from teaching school and radio. He is on Facebook and occasionally posts about his travels and music. My favorite Koncepts story is once when I went to hear Sun Ra and the band came out for the second set and sat down when the evening train went by - they immediately swung into ‘Take The A Train’. I saw so many great shows there;Billy Harper, David Murray, Lester Bowie, I could go on and on.
On another note I was on KUSF for 13 years with first Reggae then African, Jazz,Soul -whatever I loved. I also had part interest in a record store Round World Music in the Mission District specialized in African, Cuban & other Latin - you get the idea, was how I met Art who lived in the neighborhood and loved Cuban music. I gave away tickets and helped promote Yoshi’s so could go to any weeknight show 2nd set and again so many; Abdullah Ibrahim, Shirley Horn, Pullen/Adams, Roy Hargrove….
Nice. What years was that?
80’s & 90’s
It very likely we were at many of the same shows and that I listened to your show. I left California for Chicago in the mid-1990s.
I used to enjoy visiting Chicago with my ex(still friend) whose parents lived in Evanston . I would go to Jamaican record stores, Wax Trax, the Jazz Record Center, & Fitzgerald’s - saw a great show with Otis Clay & the Hi Rhythm Section.I made a lifelong (now) friend with Otis Taylor who worked for Alligator Records not sure when he left and went to book selling.