Great Live Album... Scofield Shines
352699
I attended a show on this tour and actually remember being a bit underwhelmed.  Never-the-less, I passed that off as being just a bad day for the guys and purchased this CD package.  I am not sorry I did.

First off, the concert is Medeski Martin and Wood with John Scofield.  They combination have put together 2 albums together in the past.  There is John Scofield's A Go Go and the MSMW disc, Out Louder.  I am a huge MMW fan, but always felt that A Go Go was a fantastic 5 star disc while Out Louder was more of a 3 star effort. The tour this particular live recording is from was from the tour was supporting Out Louder.  The thing that makes this album good is that pieces from A Go Go show up with the energy that went with that album (as opposed to the show I attended which felt like it was only Out louder material).

The live performance here captures the energy of A Go Go, and you really see the four piece combo fly.  Most pieces are extended improv and jams off of themes and songs from the previously mentioned studio performances.  As much as I love MMW, it is John Scofield who shines on the recordings.  His performance stands up front and he is carrying the melodies and the improv for most of the recording; you could say he is the voice.  So what about MMW?  Well they are there, but I can't help but say they play more of a supporting role.  Even Scofield steps back, I'm left wanting more from John Medeski and crew.  I've heard MMW live at shows before, and the performance here seems a bit reserved.  I like the quality of MMW you hear in studio releases like the Radiolarians albums or Combustication, but that just isn't here.  That being said, John Scofield steps up and steals the show.  It is a solid 4 star set, and if I was a bigger Scofield fan, I'd probably rate it 5 stars.  I just can't help but knock it a star for MMW taking a supporting role.  Perhaps there is only so much space, but John Medeski and John Scofield are fantastic artists, and I can't help but want to hear the best of both artists.
2334070
MMW and all its variants will always rule, especially this one with scofield, I saw them live at the Fillmore when this album was released and when I got home from the show this album was in my mailbox, most excellent!!!
2663144
Edgar Winter's Blues/Funk phase is where he really shines. I got the original vinyl album in the 70's and got the CD in the 90's so I'm a long time fan. When Edgar came on the scene I was already following his brother Johnny who was playing pretty raw blues. Edgar offered a more refined sound with jazz, rock and funk fusing with blues in a very beneficial way. I got to see him perform live in the early 80's at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage festival and his live performance did not disappoint.

White Trash stands out because I don't think there is a single dud on the album! I like every track. This is the time when I feel E.W. shines the most: in the albums before he went pop with his Frankenstein album. His refined (but not too refined) blues interpretations and excellent keyboard work shines through.

White Trash is an album in the vinyl sense. It holds together and is a pleasure to listen to from the first to last track. Picking and ordering songs on an album seems an art all but lost in our MP3/playlist world. That start to finish experience is part of what makes this a great album for me.

My favorite tracks on White Trash are:
+ Dying To Live
+ Good Morning Music
+ You Were My Light
+ Keep Playin' That Rock 'N' Roll
+ Fly Away

I like them all but if I could only have 5 these would be the ones.

Yes I'm a fan but this early album gets the essence of Edgar Winter and is one of his very best in my opinion. Gotta give it 5 stars.
1639789
This is a "sit back and enjoy" live recording by Steve Gadd.  I suspect that the live performances add to the enjoyment and allow the solos to be extended (versus the more curtailed solos that tend to feature in studio recordings). It all results in a series of familiar compositions with plenty to enjoy from the likes of Ronnie Cuber (Baritone Saxophone), Joey De Francesco (Hammond Organ) and Paul Bollenbeck (Guitar). Within the solos from Ronnie Cuber and Joey De Francesco there are numerous references to other familiar tunes that will have you hearing everything from Michael Jackson to Benny Hill and more besides.

A particular favourite of mine from the set is "Bye Bye Blackbird".  I say this because, despite its frequent interpretations, I don't especially like the song.  I tend to find it sad.  But on this occasion it comes to life and brings a smile to my face. It opens with just drums and trumpet (Joey De Francesco). At certain points, there's a bass line and trumpet suggesting that Joey must be playing trumpet and bass foot pedals simultaneously (if I'm hearing the live performance)!!  The song also features (great) saxophone and guitar solos.

Needless to say we are treated to a tour de force on drums by Steve Gadd and plenty of solos.  My favourite is saved for the last of the live tracks ("Sister Sadie").

There are a couple of additional (bonus) tracks by Edie Brickell as a foretaste of the subsequent Gaddabouts album.  Actually, while these songs have nothing to do with the live performances described above, they are ambitious in their own right.  On the first track ("Here I Am"), it's just Steve's drumming and Edie's voice.  On the second track ("Down") a rhythm guitar (and bass?) is added.  From these two, "Here I Am" is interesting (with drums and vocal only);  "Down" is a really nice song (in my opinion).  It ends with Steve effectively counting down the whole album with his (solo) bass drum pedal (just perfect).

Overall, this is a fun CD;  and if you like Steve Gadd it's well worth having.
3615774
A newly discovered, newly released live session with John Fahey at the top of his game. He'd finished eight albums (more or less) on Takoma, sold his Takoma label and recorded two albums for Vanguard. the big time. And three years or so before he'd make his masterpiece statement, "America". Shy, laconic John occationally talks but mostly plays, without the tape loops feedback and more "psychedelic" stuff. Consistantly good performance, without filler or outtakes. Bluesy, Heartfelt. but without the whiskey.

The announcer is wrong, he might have lived in Berkeley in '68, but he came from Takoma Park Maryland, in suburban Washington, DC as his first label and many song titles attest. On the title track he improvises and pieces together bits from "Voice of the Turtle"  (America) and Requiem for Russell Blaine Cooper, from Requia. Those familiar with his studio albums will here similar arrangement with occational improvization. The best cut is the thoughtful leadoff "When Springtime Comes Again" and a standout shortened "Requiem for Mississippi John Hurt".

I met John a few times, talked to him for hours, even tuned his guitars twice. Despite what he later said about disliking his earlier music, I know he'd approve of this. A great find, a great addition to the Fahey cannon, before John went off into the wilderness of his last decades, searching for that new sound....

Well recorded for a live album.

While I don't think it's his best (see my list), it is certainly his best live!
905503
This is one of the best live albums ever made. Some of the material
has recently been redone for the Zappa plays Zappa project and even
with 30 plus years of advances in technology some of these tracks
still sound that wee bit better. Don't think I'm knocking Zappa plays
Zappa ... its fantastic too.
589976
This might well be Frank's greatest live album, and he has more live albums than most groups have albums.(I just counted them-about 20). It is very similar to that great album you can't do that on stage anymore vol2. The band features his funkiest line up. we have the funkmeister George Duke, we have Ruthie, the fowler bros.,jeff simmons,we have TWO  drummers Ralph Humphrey and Chester Thomson. Don Preston is on this album too. And of course Napolean Murphy Brock, i almost forgot him. With these guys, how could it NOT be a great album? It begins with a great twisted song penguin in bondage. zappa gives some funny intros to some of the songs, and he does so with this song, talking about 'deVICES!!' and the like. Great guitar solo here . Pygmy twilight is a nice short little song about drugs i think. It's good but you should really get your hands on ycdtosa vol2 version which will blow your socks off man! A nice version of 'village of the sun' leads into the funny 'dummy up' with Jeff Simmons showing that you can be a pothead and play in frank's band. Then the awesome echidnas arf/ don't you ever wash that thing instrumental. The first one is a beautiful tune, one of Frank's best (also very tricky!). The second is also lovely but there is more room for soloing. We get great music from bruce fowler on trombone, george on keyboards, and the drummers with an amazing drum duel. And Frank delivers a short funky helluvah solo. Cheepnis has a hilarious intro by Frank-'twisting her ankle, on behalf of the Ice Cream Cone'. A great song about the cheapie monster movies. Then we get some oldies, ie More trouble every day and son of orange county. And just in case we forgot, zappa reminds us why he's the greatest guitar player with his soloing. Then bebop tango, my personal highlight. It's a difficult enough tune to get into, but so are a lot of great pieces. I love it when Frank says ' And this is a hard one to play'. It's such an unpredictable piece of music to listen to. So i kept on listening and eventually it made sense. And Bruce Fowler Great Trombone Solo #2!! There is also an extended audience participation which is the complete opposite of the tenacious discipline of the instrumental. fz delivers his quote ' jazz isn't dead it just smells funny'. Frank gets some fans to dance to George Duke's singing and ridicules their pathetic efforts 'no, no, you're just too reserved!' and praises the good dancing 'now THAT'S more like it!'. I love it when he says to them ' go back to your seats, and we'll bring up the next batch'. Sort of like sheep shearing! George then gets funky and we say good night, sadly the gig is over but only until i press the play button again. If you liked this, get ycdtosa vol2. Thank you.
4140659
This is the first and only double Satch album, disc 1 being studio tracks that were not previously released and disc 2 being some outstanding live playing from various venues. One of the coolest things about this  collection is that you get the long out of print Joe Satriani EP, which was  released in very small numbers. At the time, he was in a band called The  Squares and all of his bandmates, except drummer Jeff Campitelli, thought  it would go nowhere. How wrong they were, as this EP marked the beginning  of a very successful solo career for Joe. The "Time Machine"  album also introduced one of Joe's most beloved songs, "All  Alone." It is a very beautiful rendition of the Billie Holliday song  "Left Alone" and is often used by figure skaters during their  routines. Disc 2 features some awesome live performances of all his hits.  Tracks 11-14 were recorded at the California Theater in June 1988 and I  feel represent Joe at peak performance (please read my review of Joe's  album "Dreaming#11," which features more of the California  Theater concert, and you will find out the strange story behind this  recording). One of the definite stand-outs on the live disc is "Big  Bad Moon," a hard rockin' blues number that makes you want to hear him  in person. Overall, this is an excellent album and is a treat for Satch  fans and guitar fans in general. I highly recommend it.
114132
Great album by one of the best musicians playing today. Don't be confused by the product description. Scott Wendholt is on trumpet and flugelhorn. Steve Wilson is on alto.
1999396
One of my all-time favorite albums.  Featuring Rod Argent, Arthur Brown, Clarence Clemons, Dave Cousins, Annie Haslam, Percy Jones, Ben E King, Wil Malone, Meatloaf, Larry Fast (of Synergy) and many many more.  I transferred the album to CD about a dozen years ago.  I made a copy for Larry Fast.  Funny he didn't remember the recording sessions, but enjoyed the CD copy.  Enjoy this album...play for others.  And don't forget the Vibracon Globes.  Worth the Drimes.
90615
If you like Live music and you like Steve Miller....This album is for you. ...Very few live albums match Studio Sound and Production...This album does both!  Give it a shot!
884465
This live album functions as both a document of a great live band and as an excellent career-spanning Best Of album. Here we have the entire original band except synthesist/conceptualist/noise-maker Brian Eno.  His parts are either re-created with incredible fidelity or pre-recorded, so I don't miss him too much. The inclusion of original drummer Paul Thompson is crucial, in my opinion to cementing the sound of an actual band rather than that of a-few-members-of-the-group-plus-ringers. The band is firing on all cylinders with lots of energy and enthusiasm. The songs are performed faithfully to the original recorded version, but not slavishly - they stretch out several times for some very satisfying jams. I'm grateful that plenty of time is given to the first 4 albums, my favorites, including some deeper album cuts, not just the hits. Recording quality is excellent. All in all, this is an fine addition to the Roxy Music catalog. I have most of the official studio albums, but I listen to this as much or more than them.
966620
There are a few salient things about the first Genesis Live album: it is the only one of their early albums that actually includes pictures of the band, and it shows that Genesis sounded different live than in the studio (these days, technology has made the two worlds almost indistinguishable).
The instruments are easier to differentiate here than on thier studio recordings. You can pick an instrument and easily follow it through each song. Sometimes an instrument gets lost in the mix on their studio albums. Not so here.
Some of the songs differ in pace and energy. "Watcher of the Skies" seems a little slow and a tad bit muddled, but the keyboards are beautiful; "Return of the Giant Hogweed" (especially the ending) is more powerful in general, and I think Gabriel shouting "GIANT HOGWEED LIVES!!" at the final creshendo adds to the song immensely(I've heard other live versions -mostly from old tv spots - where he also does this). I don't know why this was left off of the studio version (it's in the lyrics sheet for "Nursery Chryme" but not sung/shouted); "The Knife" includes Collins on drums (he had not yet joined the band for the version on "Trespass"), and he adds some umph to the song. This song also gets the most enthusiastic reaction from the crowd when Gabriel announces it (all songs are announced except for "Watcher of the Skies"), by contrast, "The Musical Box" is greeted with absolute silence.
It's a shame that the record company didn't make this a double album. More songs, in particular "Supper's Ready", could have been included. As it is, it seems like an abbreviated live album. Sort of like a novel that ends halfway through the story. You know there's more, but it's just not there.  Nonetheless, it's the only official live recording of Genesis with Gabriel in front. What's there is great, but more would have been nice. I'm sure they were great live (I was in my single digits when Gabriel was with the band, so I obviously didn't know what I was missing).
Lastly, for those who open the CD case and see the little picture with the caption "This album is dedicated to Richard Macphail who left us April, 1973" - he is not dead! I was happy to find this out. He just left the road crew and they decided to honor him in the album sleeve. He must have been very good at his job.
3727588
I have something around 15 Scofield CDs. Uberjam is among the top 3. Sco and a young, groovy, innovative band found the right chemistry for a fresh new sound. Jazz and pop shake hands on a fun CD full of great musical energy. Definitely a must have.
3863189
Absolutely phenomenal live release. If you like Dave Matthews at all you will love this album. The only live album that beats it is Live at Red Rocks (1995).

#41 on this album is the best version available of this song (well, maybe its tied with Live Trax 2 - San Francisco).

Get. This. Album.
2599492
Agree with all the 5 star reviews.  Could be my favorite Sco album, along with A Go-Go.  Just great rythym on most of the tunes, and Sco's great signature guitar funk. Happy i finally got introduced to this great album.
4164540
I always prefered live albums, because I think they bring much more  dynamism and musical creativity from the artists.  But this CD is making me  change my mind.  I started out by buying DMB live albums (Listener  Supported, Live at Red Rocks and Remember Two Things).  But, on this CD,  the studio versions are, for most of them, better.  The fact is that they  recorded the songs in a live scheme, i.e. they played all together instead  of recording each their own part separately (wich was the case for Under  the Table and Dreaming).  The result is surprising.  You never heard that  good a version of #41 and Two Step, and Say Goodbye is worth the buying  itself.  Let You Down represents a new musical approach for Matthews, with  its blues, say Clapton like style.  And the idea of finally recording  Tripping Billies on an official studio album was a great one.  They've been  playing this one for years now, and the evolution they brought to it makes  it an excellent addition to the album.  The soft Cry Freedom is really  refreshing, while the more dynamic Lie In Our Graves, with great music  playing from Tinsley and Moore, prove the high quality of the album remains  high until the end.  Beauford's and Reynolds' (or Matthews'?) performances  on drums and acoustic guitar respectively are just amazing.  Those guys, by  putting musicianship in front of anything else, were able to give us some  of the best material of the 90's.  And of all their work, I think this  album is their best one, even though studio albums UTTAD and Before These  Crowded Streets are quite good too.