Search - Eddie Jefferson in Concert (Live From the Jazz Showcase) on DVD

A Personal Fave ! ! !

Eddie Landsberg | Tokyo, Japan | 12/12/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Eddie Jefferson taught me how to listen to and appreciate Jazz. He would take Charlie Parker, Dexter Gordon, John Coletrane, Miles Davis songs and write HIS OWN lyrics to them... they were always hip, enlightening... and most were toasts to the masters. Eddies unique offbeat edge is captured perfectly on this - - what I believe is his first and last video. Hes energetic and incredibly lively. His voice is imperfect and raspy, yet his attitude, phrasing and intonations make it an assett. While hes a real bop singer, theres a nice funky edge to his deliverance. Who would have know that just two days later he would have been senselessly shot dead ? - - Eddies version of JEANINE and ORNITHOLOGY are among Jazz favorites of mine. - - He also does a great version of NIGHT IN TUNISIA and BILLYS BOUNCE... - - I cant tell you how many copies of this video Ive purchased and never gotten back. Youll see what I mean when you get this, and by listening to his lyrics youll be able to see things about the songs, that perhaps you could never hear before. Another great thing about this video is that its simply the set, no annoying interviews and fancy cuts. GET IT or be SQUARE !"

A fortunate gift in time!

Eddie Landsberg | Tokyo, Japan | 04/03/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This video may very well have been business as usual for Eddie and Richie Cole...
two top notch swinging, energetic, fun, funky and cookin' sets at Chicago's Jazz Showcase...
a retrospect of many of Eddie's great tunes (Jeanine, Confirmation, Trane's Blues, Freedom Jazz Dance, Benny's From Heaven, etc.) - - all delivered with so much zeal, you probably wouldn't have believed that he had been traveling from town to town and sung them all a million times before...
Eddie was energized that night... perhaps he always was... and perhaps that's why he was revered...
maybe not by the non-hip general public, but by the legends he played with and wrote lyrics for...
And so it was on the heyday of years and years of non-recognition, the Manhattan Transfer were really breaking through, they were about to do an album together, and so it seemed Eddie's day had come... and then it happened: two days later...
Eddie was murdered in cold blood outside a club... shot in the chest by a jealous out of work dancer... just after a set that was probably like this... (Eddie himself had been a dancer, and his performance shows it.)
So it was... the end of the career of a true genius, artist... a master and American original...
In retrospect then, these two sets show a joy, energy and exuberance typical of Eddie's work...
and the filming/sound recording is well done ("PBS" quality circa 1979)...
but keeping in mind that what would happen two days later, it is hard to listen to his rendition of Body and Soul without wanting to shed a tear.

The line up:
Eddie Jefferson (vocals) with Richie Cole (alto sax) and John Campbell (piano), Kelly Sill (Bass) and Joel Spencer (drums).

I initially bought the video about 22 years ago (when even then it was very hard to find), and am still watching and enjoying it all these years later and constantly coming back to it... I particularly like it because you feel like you're in the club watching him... its not a made for TV type thing, but two real and swinging sets.

In summary: Get it... and give it as a gift... Eddie Jefferson reinvented Jazz singing... and interpreted Jazz with an understanding few players have ever had... his spirit must live on and continue to enlighten us all!"