![]() Thank you, Big G for the absolute greatness documented here on this CD - Life, Dedication, Perseverance, Swing, NYC, fans, practice and what greatness is.We stumbled across this jazz club while looking for somewhere to listen to live music and to get out of the rain, and had a fantastic time! You need to go down a small set of stairs to a small venue, but the smallness of the venue adds to the coziness of the whole experience. I hope to be able to tell a complete story that our fans will enjoy. Ever since the blues days I’m always reaching, I want to be different - knowledge accumulated through playing all these years. I asked him if he feels differently now playing at 87 then he did that first song he recorded with BB King in 1955: “Well I’m more adventurous now. George brings all of this every time he plays. ![]() Later, he went to Chicago with Max Roach and then to NYC for Miles, Kenny Dorham, Slide Hampton, Harold Mabern and Jamil Nasser. ![]() George said the doo-wop group Moonglows asked him for one and but they wouldn’t pay him the $10 he asked for - so he told them to “hit the road, Jack”. When he was 20, he started arranging and did one for Ray Charles. ![]() It was with all the blues players coming through Memphis that he learned about tonalities and playing in any key. This from a man who’s first professional gig was for a house party in Memphis in 1954 for $2! He went on to play with BB King for two years. The proof is in the response we get from the fans.” You’re in trouble if you don’t.” On The Nearness Of You: “I love playing ballads, it’s where all those years of living pay off - and I got a few years under my belt. When you get on the bandstand you have to lift off. Anything we do from my time with Miles Davis will be fine.” His rendition of this song brought a chill over all of us at the session - best rendition ever! The song Four he says, “Four is another Miles hit that I like to play to give the quartet a lift. What about the tunes for the date, what’s the connection? George says: My Funny Valentine, people love that song. It’s all about connection and how you make it. It’s a feeling and the Quartet is able to connect things there. The support I get from him, Pete and yourself - the energy I get from the crowd. Smalls is where we recorded this record and here’s what George had to say about the project: “Things just fall into place there with Spike on piano. I have been playing for great fans forever at clubs like Slugs, Boomers, the Tin Palace with Philly Joe and Barry Harris, Village Vanguard, Dizzy’s, Smoke, and now Smalls.” Whether you live here or just visit for the music, you are a New Yorker. The music consists of all the George Coleman hits throughout his career.Īs George said to me during a recent phone call: “this record is a tribute to our great city and all of our great fans. The quartet on this date is George Coleman on tenor, Spike Wilner on piano, Peter Washington on bass and myself on drums. When two or more people get together that love music as much as George and Spike do, love will be the result. A two-minute conversation turned into one of George Coleman’s best record dates ever. Strike while the iron is hot and Spike did. I said we have the greatest master right here in our backyard: the King of NY, BIG G! During the break Spike was telling me about his new project called The SmallsLIVE Foundation Living Masters Series grant. After Caramoor, I played our monthly Monday night Spike Wilner Trio gig at Mezzrow. He is playing better than ever! At each place, he left the stage to standing ovations and music lovers with tears in their eyes. The year 2022 brought about gigs at Dizzy’s, The Side Door, The Village Vanguard and finishing with a gig at the Caramoor Jazz Fest celebrating his 87th birthday. George Coleman started his 70th year as a professional musician on fire. Here's the notes from drummer Joe Farnsworth: In the words of George Coleman "this record is a tribute to our great city and all of our great fans." Coleman is on fire and sound better than ever! The 5th album in the Smalls Living Masters series finds tenor titan George Coleman in the company of pianist Spike Wilner, bassist Peter Washington and drummer Joe Farnsworth in the intimate confines of Smalls Jazz Club.
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