Don weller rip....

[Serial_Apologist]

According to the review of the BBC CD in the Penguin Guide: "The occasion was distinguished by a brief walk-on from Van Morrison, who delivered an excruciating version of 'Moondance' before disappearing again; mercifully it is not included".
Maybe that was the missing piece you heard at the concert?

JR

[Flyposter]

Jazzrook


I saw Gil Evans at Hammersmith Odeon in 1987 and the sax section consisted of Don Weller, Chris Hunter, George Adams, Steve Lacy and John Surman. That was a massively impressive line up! The soloist I recall the most was guitarist Hiram Bullock who was dancing around the orchestra whilst soloing on "Stone Free." The concert came out on a BBC CD but I have always been convinced that one piece from the concert did not make it to the BBC broadcast. Never been able to clarify this. At that time, Gil Evans was my favourite jazz musician and seeing him in concert remains one of the greatest gigs I have been to.

Ian

Maybe before your time, but the Gil Evans orchestra appeared at the Southampton Guildhall in, I think, 1978, with, for those days, the unusual sight of a female drummer, Sue Evans (no relation}.
The support band was the Stan Tracey octet including Don Weller.

[Ian Thumwood]

According to the review of the BBC CD in the Penguin Guide: "The occasion was distinguished by a brief walk-on from Van Morrison, who delivered an excruciating version of 'Moondance' before disappearing again; mercifully it is not included".
Maybe that was the missing piece you heard at the concert?

JR

Jazzrook / Flyposter

I had forgotten about Van Morrison who made his appearance midway through the second set. I have a feeling that the missing tune was about 3 numbers in to the first half and may have been "Jelly Roll."

Oddly enough, the friend I went up to Hammersmith with had previously seen Gil Evans in Southampton in 1978. Unfortunately, this was about tow or three years before I started to listen to jazz seriously and my tastes were not broad minded enough at that point to appreciate Gil. I was given a tape of "Out of the cool" and was shocked at how revelatory his music was. I had started off with the more famous big bands from the 30s and 40s albeit it was those more jazz-orientated groups that impressed me. Gil Evans' music became an obsession for me at a teenager and it opened the door for me with music in a fashion that no one else has really done since. Just by listening to Gil you end up appreciating all sorts of other musicians whether it is Miles, Jimmy Hendrix, John Surman, Kenny Burrell and George Adams as well as Classical composers such as Ravel and Debussy.

I think that the band that toured in 1978 also made a couple of records for Mole Jazz prior to the 1983 band. When I was about 18, these two albums served to introduce me to more outside kinds of jazz but I do not believe they have ever appeared on CD. The same can be said of the album "Priestess" which , I have so say with foresight, is the last great record he made. I like the records he made in the 1980s yet there is not a great deal of orchestration and you can really appreciate how it was this band that influenced MM&W. If you like, it was almost a funkier kind of approach to the Basie head arrangements from the late 1930s. I don't think it also helped that the band had a pretty limited repertoire by the end although the gig I caught at Hammersmith Odeon did pull out some surprised with a couple of covers of tunes by Sting. The convert was hugely enjoyable and it forms part of my most vivid jazz memories. The hairs stood up on the back of my neck when Gil Evans walked on stage and the band launched in to "Boogie, stop, shuffle."

[Jazzrook]

Don Weller obituary in The Guardian:

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/jun/09/don-weller-obituary

JR