20 September 2010

Harry Beckett Trio live in Cottbus, DDR, 1982



More Harry Beckett and there will be even more in the time to come. This is a killer set from the old German Democratic Republic, showing that they weren't entirely cloth-eared as far as jazz was concerned on the eastern side of the wall.

This is Beckett in a 70s Miles mode, but not in the funky fusion mode which is what you might have expected. Short, clipped bursts of trumpet, sparse, nothing ostentatious. Behind is the juggernaut of Harry Miller and Louis Moholo which guarantees that it's gotta be good. Of course, we've heard of the Osborne and Brötzmann trios with these two super-heros so I'm extremely happy to have found this set and to be able to share it with all of you. This is off the Dime network, but these jazzy golden nuggests tend to disappear all too soon, so I'm determined to keep it available here on this blog.

Basic facts:

Harry Beckett Trio
Cottbus (Germany)
45. Jazzwerkstatt
1982-04-24 - April 24, 1982


Harry Beckett tp, flh
Harry Miller b
Louis Moholo dr

1) 38:10

Reportedly taped off radio, so the sound quality is impeccable.

What's left to say but enjoy!

14 comments:

  1. Miller, who would be dead 18 months later, is in particularly fine form.

    ...And Kinabalu enters the realm of the super-heroic. Thank you, kind Sir.

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  2. wow, thank you *again* for upstanding service to humanity -MB

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  3. Good catch, bravo! Looking forward to this one. Thanks!

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  4. Excellent surprise Kinabalu! Thank you very much.

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  5. I am fine with dealing with flacs once they download, but the Flacs from this site have always failed for me.
    MP3s would be much appreciated! This sounds amazing!!

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  6. Thanks for the wonderful music. You have the BEST free jazz/creative improv site on the internet.

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  7. Thank you for posting this one! It is nice to get to hear Beckett in a small group setting. What a group!

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  8. Thanks a lot for this post, a fitting tribute to Harry who died a couple of months ago.
    He was a lovely man who always made time for a little chat with me after a gig.

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  9. Good to see a full post from you again - and what a post!

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  10. Part one is not longer available, any chance you could put it up again?

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  11. Both parts are still available. Just checked.

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  12. Real Nice One!!
    Thanking you muchly...

    small query re dates; text file with download gives "19840424 - April 24, 1984" but blog has "1982-04-24 - April 24, 1982" - also all other files (like md5) have '82...so I'm assuming '82 is the correct date??

    Sound quality good - download still good.

    Henri

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  13. @Henri: It is April 24, 1982 at Jazzwerkstatt Peitz No. 45.

    By the way, I think I oought to delete the links as this concert was released last year with Elton Dean's Ninesense, "Ninesense Suite", which took place at Jazzwerkstatt Peitz No. 41 on June 20, 1981. It was released on the Jazzwerkstatt label, so it can now be ordered through the usual channels.

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