Record date: January 11, 1968
Paris is always said to be the creative centre of American musicians that resided in Europe. Of course that is true but Munich was also a pretty good place to be if you wanted to see some of the American top jazz musicians. Both Waldron and Bailey lived there, among others. And the Domicile was the place where they played so many nights in different settings. A bit like the ‘Village Vanguard’ of the Bavarian capital. Some very, very good music was recorded here: concerts by Charles Tolliver, Pepper Adams, Mal’s own Black Glory of course and this very record. Mal is not the only one that puts a smile on my face here. I have a real soft spot for both Jimmy Woode and Nathan Davis. Combining those names must lead to some exciting music.
Benny Bailey was a pretty busy man during his lifetime. His recording career started mostly in the bands of Dizzy Gillespie and Lionel Hampton. He really remained a bopper for the rest of his life. This record is in that style: nice uptempo hard swinging hardbop. But with such talented musicians that always leads to advanced music anyway. This is one very exciting jam session.
The first composition ‘Prompt’ is really an example of some of that fine and excellent bop. Most impressive are both the solo’s of Davis and Waldron. Davis is on tenor here and boy I just love that man’s sound. There’s a little Prez, a little Dexter Gordon but mostly a whole lot of Nathan Davis there. A powerful and advanced player who shines on every reed instrument he plays. His sound is warm, bluesy and just feels like a blanket on a cold day. His flute playing on Soul Eyes is also excellent but I would have loved to hear him on soprano here. With Davis sticking to flute the whole composition is pushed into more traditional territories while this group could have made something more interesting out of it.
The big excitement comes with Jimmy Woode’s composition: Ruts, Grooves. Graves and Dimensions. This is music that expands a little further than bop and this is where every musician is at it’s best. Bailey leaves his comfort zone here and plays a pretty advanced solo. He leaves the more traditional jazz patterns behind. Mal is lovely here too and one can hear he is truly developing his definitive sound here. He fares very well by this great modal composition by the hands of Jimmy Woode. He’s starting to sound more and more like the Mal we know with his hard hitting left hand, repetitive but swinging playing and overall very bluesy sound. Nathan is on tenor again and of course he was the very musician here that was so open to ‘the new thing’. His playing is influenced by it in a very positive way for he does not lose his own identity for a second. 12 minutes of very exciting music.
The final composition ‘Mid-Evil Dance’ was written by Nathan Davis. This was one group I would love to have seen, Davis’ robust tenor sounds fit so well with Mal’s deep chords and Woode’s free yet swinging bass playing. He could fit into a free playing group, but still swings as hard as Coleman Hawkins. What a sound! Bailey really loses himself here screaming trough his horn and Mal: he just swings like a mad man seeking constant interaction with Woode.
This is some very exciting music from the ’60’s European live jazz scene. The people that were in the Domicile that night were very lucky. It’s one of the more difficult to find MPS records. Well it’s not very difficult to find a copy, it’s mostly just that the copies are pretty expensive. Ive got the 1998 Japanese cd version myself. Can’t say I really like the sound, but that must be the recording itself for most Japanese MPS records mostly sound excellent. Highly recommended for Waldron fans, Davis fans and also Bailey fans. And a special shout out to Jimmy Woody: he was one hell of a bassist!
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