Ray Anderson & Alligatory Band feat. Lew Soloff at Restaurant Mohren in Willisau, Luzern on Saturday, November 27, 1993
If the poster is right, there is also Jerome Harris, Tommy Campell, Gregory Jones and Frank Colon on stage. With a special access to the archive it is possible to listen to the whole concert. All the Willisau Jazz concerts are online and can be listened with a special access.
Lew Soloff is known to me, because my father have this record:
I grew up with Hi-De-Ho and Lucretia MacEvil and all these great horn sections. To see one of them live on stage is cool.
Willisau Jazz
Willisau Jazz is such a great place. It’s a kind of a small Montreux Jazz Festival. Really outside in the country. Friends of mine came from Berlin to some of those special events. They saw a poster in the country with the commercial note: “Hier gibt es frische Landeier” (that means here you can get fresh eggs from the country). The funny thing is, that country egg also means in German hillbillies.
Sun Ra
Once I drove with my brother on the bicycle to Willisau to see Sun Ra Archestra, but we were too tired to go inside, we stayed a little outside the concert heard a few Free real Free patterns and left back home. What a strange thing, but that was the last chance to see the real Sun Ra. We missed.
David Murray Big Band
In August I went with my brother to the great David Murray Big Band concert. I remember a little boy on stage, a son of David Murray. Later I learn, that Nathan Breedlove of The Skatalites also played in that Band, but not in Willisau that night.
Ray Anderson & Alligatory Band
I am all alone travelling to Willisau to meet with a friend (Nicole) who lives in this tiny little town, but she didn’t come with me. At the concert I’m just another visitor. It’s a great band and Ray is leading perfectly. I have no recording nor pictures.
Ray Anderson & Christy Doran live at Kleintheater in Luzern
I have seen two shows with Ray Anderson and Christy Doran (member of the group Om) in Luzern.
From this first show I have made a recording. Hopefully I don’t break any law when I enclose this little sample of the show to illustrate how full the music was with this two musicians alone. I remember two events with a lot of laugh and wild sounds. For me it was too much guitar and Ray took himself behind that, because it was Christys home, I guess.
I enjoyed Ray Andersons humour and brilliant ideas again and again.
Alphorn session in Neuchâtel
It was great to meet him in person in Neuchâtel at a special event with alphorns and other horns played by four trombonists. I know I have a picture of the poster somewhere.
Four Trombones
Another event with Ray Anderson wasMy brother took some nice pictures of another show in Luzern with Four Trombones.
George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band
Another moment with Ray Anderson was this event with The George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band with a long list of master Jazz musicians.
The connection to NoF-NoF makes it possible to sit at the table with the greatest Jazz trombonist of our time. It is also NoF-NoF who made it possible to become a good friend of Rico Rodriguez. But that is another story. Once I went to sleep at NoF-NoFs place, he asked me if I don’t mind to sleep in the same bed, Ray Anderson slept a day before me. I didn’t mind. Sorry Ray, maybe you find that discussing.
I guess, that’s about the different connections with Ray Anderson. I love the trombone and I’m happy to have seen Curtis Fuller live in concert and also Rico Rodriguez and Vin Gordon. To me they all are extremely talented trombonists who changed a lot my listening to the sound of the trombone. Not in person but on disc there is another, if not the greatest: J. J. Johnson. Of course, there are many others, but those are the inspirations and most influencial ones to me.