There are just some things that have to be. If you gather guitar players, Cornell Dupree and Eric Gale, bassist Gordon Edwards, drummer Steve Gadd and keyboardist Richard Tee in one band you’re bound to hear some amazing playing. These five cats have been adding their talents to sessions across the board — from jazz, rock, funk and beyond. Together as the band Stuff, they blew a few minds at the famed Montreux Jazz Festival in 1976. Live At Montreux 1976, a CD from that appearance, finds Gale, Gadd, Gordon, Edwards, Dupree and Tee pretty much at the top of their game.
The really fun thing about this disc is how breezy and laid back these five guys make it all feel. From the opening slow ease of “Foots” to the chugging of “Stuff’s Stuff” right through a truly moving instrumental version of “You Are So Beautiful” to Gadd’s short yet octopus-like solo at the end of “Boogie On Reggae Woman,” it seems like these dudes just got up on that Swiss stage, plugged in and found the muse. In fact, the booklet that comes with the CD suggests as much, telling the story of how the guys all got to the gig at various times, cutting it close to performance time and wrangling through some questionable instruments until they found their groove by the second song.
Of the 14 tunes here, I’d say the highlights fill in the central body of the record, especially the ones worked around the amazing Richard Tee’s piano. Alas poor Richard is not with us any longer but if you recall his work with Paul Simon you know how light his touch was and how much soul the dude played with. The tunes “That’s The Way Of The World,” “Feelin’ Alright” “Lift Every Voice And Sing” and “Oh Happy Day” — what really amounts to the middle of the CD — showcase Tee and the band.
Being the huge Gadd fan that I am, I really didn’t get enough of the guy in the few spots where he solos, such as the appropriately named, though way too short, “The Gadd Solo” and the aforementioned end of “Boogie On” that dovetails inot “Do It Again.” Dupree and Gale are blistering here — masters of touch and feel — while bassist Gordon Edwards is sublime and Richard Tee is everything I mentioned before and more. Live At Montreux 1976 is about as perfect a 14 song CD of great jazz players as you’re ever gonna buy. This is classic stuff, though three decades old, but none the worse for wear. After all, inspired playing never goes out of style.
~ Ralph Greco, Jr.
