Bass the Music: The Feast of St. Anthony

Norman Connors - Slew Foot (1974)

We are gathered here for the last Sunday service of the year, with something to spread some serious cheer, in celebration of a departed dear. If you liked when we did the 72-track Danny Thompson tribute a few months ago, we've got another brahmin of the bass, and another 72 slices of nice that'll satisfy just the same if not better. And in a completely different vibe, as well.

Two months ago, today's instant saint left this rapidly disintegrating realm for higher pastures, but not before completely tearing up the rulebook for his chosen instrument and basically rewriting, rewiring and recalibrating its possibilities forevermore.

He began his impact in 1972 and 1973, when he played on -- you could say, completely recast in his image -- several iconic, smash hit songs, and then went out on tour with a Soul icon at the tender age of 21.

Seeking to reimagine the electric bass on his own terms, his frustration with what he deemed its limited range led him to begin to explore alternatives.

The session work came fast, furious and fulsome. Through the 1970s, he played on a zillion albums while he experimented with having different instruments built for him. Eventually he settled on a six-stringed custom, in of all things contrabass tuning. Which was totally unprecedented at the time for electric basses.

From then on until he passed away in October, he played on literally an unquantifiable number of recording dates across an unbelievable breadth of styles and sounds, the detail and scope of which would require an encyclopedia and not just a blog post to recount.

And Holy Santa Claus on six bicycles did he play. People have long since settled into the cliché that Jaco Pastorius is the greatest electric bass player ever to live -- and this is to take nothing away from him -- but if we wanted to know who holds that title, I'm afraid, to paraphrase Jimi Hendrix, that we just missed our last opportunity to ask Anthony Jackson.

As I was, over the last six weeks of research and audio toil, putting together what I am sharing here today, I couldn't help but be blown away and back by the sheer audacity of what he did, and the balance between face-frying technique and total support of the song that seemed to come as naturally as breathing to him.

If I were a bass teacher, the 6 1/2 hours of music across these six CDs -- 6 strings, 6 hours, 6 discs, how diabolical of me, right? -- would be the syllabus for the first 6 weeks of the course.

In doing this beast of a bass busload of bangers, I tried my best to feature an ample amount of unreissued, hard-to-find tracks -- good luck finding a lossless LP rip of Lou Courtney's 1976 disco funk crusher Buffalo Smoke, on which AJ just loses his mind! Somehow I did before I lost mine -- on which our hero goes crazier than Eddie Antar (look it up), until he's practically giving it all away.

You can see by the tracklist that even in his first dozen or so years -- before those 1980s digital candy keyboards infected music like an artificial, artisanal apricot aioli virus -- he worked with a whole slew of some of the hugest names in music, as well as a bunch of folks who made but one, killer album and then vanished into the ancestral annals of audiology.

Perhaps the hardest part of this was doing the grindwork to ensure that all 72 tracks are indeed him -- not as easy with bass players as say, singers or theriminists, for instance -- when there was ambiguity in Discogs- and Sessiondays-land.

Thankfully, Anthony Jackson -- being as prodigious and prolific a genius as shall ever exist upon his instrument -- had a tone (several, really), a six-alarm blazing technique and a sense of harmony so distinctively unique to himself, that I was able to determine it was he by the scree at the apogee of the tasty finger filigree. Wanna come see? Welcome to the Feast of St. Anthony, guaranteed to put your freaky booty in the sea.

Various Artists

The Feast of St. Anthony

sessions of Anthony Jackson

1972-1985

CD1

01 The O'Jays - For the Love of Money (1973)

02 Al Di Meola - Electric Rendezvous (1982)

03 Garland Jeffreys - Ghost Writer (1977)

04 Chick Corea - Nite Sprite (1976)

05 David Spinozza - High Button Shoes (1978)

06 Paul Simon - Oh, Marion (1980)

07 Barry Miles - The Big A (1977)

08 Stephane Grappelli - Uptown Dance (1978)

09 Maxine Nightingale - Get It Up for Love (1977)

10 Funk Factory - Next Please (1975)

11 Buddy Rich - Billie's Bounce (1974)

12 Chaka Khan - Move Me No Mountain (1980)

CD2

13 Charles Sullivan - Field Holler (1974)

14 David Matthews with Whirlwind - Shoogie Wanna Boogie (1976)

15 Lalo Schifrin - Towering Toccata (1977)

16 Jess Roden - Misty Roses (1977)

17 Carol Townes & Fifth Avenue - Bring Your Body (1976)

18 Grady Tate - Ain't No Love In the Heart of the City (1977)

19 Norman Connors - Slew Foot (1974)

20 Randy Crawford - I'm Easy (1976)

21 Masabumi Kikuchi - La Moca Esta Dormindo (1976)

22 Frank Weber - Complicated Times (1978)

23 Dave Grusin - Montage (1977)

24 Gato Barbieri - Gods and Astronauts (Errare Humanum Est) (1979)

25 Russell Morris - Superman (1976)

CD3

26 Jun Fukamachi - Neutrino (1977)

27 Carlos Garnett - Let This Melody Ring On (1975)

28 Doc Severinsen - Fernando's Fantasy (1977)

29 Lee Ritenour - Captain Fingers (1977)

30 Billy Paul - Am I Black Enough for You? (1972)

31 Catalyst - Catalyst Is Coming (1972)

32 Eric Gale - Ginseng Woman (1977)

33 Quincy Jones - Love, I Never Had It So Good (1978)

34 Sonny Fortune - Turning It Over (1978)

35 Dave Valentin - Patterns for the Sky (1978)

CD4

36 Pee Wee Ellis - Gotcha! (1977)

37 Sadao Watanabe - The Chaser (1977)

38 Phyllis Hyman - The Night Bird Gets the Love (1977)

39 Steve Khan & Eyewitness - Guy Lafleur (1983)

40 Earl Klugh - This Time (1977)

41 José Mangual - Black & Brown Boogie (1977)

42 William Eaton - Struggle Buggy (Characters) (1977)

43 David Sanborn - Heba (1978)

44 Joe Farrell - Disco Dust (1977)

45 Willy Bridges - Taking Care of Business (1977)

46 Donald Fagen - I.G.Y. (1982)

CD5

47 Michal Urbaniak - Chinatown (1975)

48 Tania Maria - Made In New York (1985)

49 Grover Washington, Jr. - A Secret Place (1976)

50 Gene Dunlap - Party In Me (1981)

51 Lonnie Liston Smith - City of Lights (1984)

52 Noel Pointer - Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You) (1976)

53 Ullanda McCullough - Time for You and Me (1979)

54 John Scofield - Who's Who (1979)

55 Thijs van Leer - Pastorale (1978)

56 Steely Dan - My Rival (1980)

57 Roberta Flack - Why Don't You Move In with Me? (1977)

58 Warren Bernhardt - Manhattan Update (1980)

CD6

59 Jeremy Steig - Ouanga (1975)

60 Teena Marie - Playboy (1983)

61 Deodato - Amani (1976)

62 Masaru Imada - Tropical Butterfly (1982)

63 William Salter - Lena (1977)

64 Gene Harris - Stranger In Paradise (1977)

65 Terumasa Hino - Hino's Reggae (1979)

66 The Writers - Star Black (1978)

67 Perry Botkin, Jr. - Lady Ice (1977)

68 Harvey Mason - Phantazia (1977)

69 Sergio Mendes & The New Brasil '77 - The Real Thing (1977)

70 Urbie Green - Mertensia (1977)

71 Wlodek Gulgowski - Soundcheck (1976)

72 Lou Courtney - Danger (Watch Your Step) (1976)

Total time: 6:41:18

compendium of sessions featuring the iconic bass player Anthony Jackson, covering his initial dozen years active

selected, assembled and remastered for unity by EN, November/December 2025
2.48 GB FLAC/direct link

It may not be perfect -- I denoised a ton of vinyl for this for the cratedigger-rare cuts -- but it's a stone cold masterclass in The Low End Theory from one of the most qualified instructors ever to supply the bottom to the beats.

I have two more Teutonic taste treats on tap for the last two days of '25, so stay tuned to this channel for instructions on where to take shelter. And all the thanks to Anthony Jackson -- he's why there are basses with more than four measly strings, you know -- for a lifetime of rattling the cabinets of conformity. Happy Feastings!--J.

6.23.1952 - 10.19.2025

Original Joe's In San Francisco

Joe Henderson Quintet - Isotope

We'll move the Decemball with these exquisite two sets of pure hard bop bliss, on their 50th anniversary.

I've done him on here before, and anyone reading his oughta know who he was, so no redundant historical data today.

I mean, he's the premier Joe of Jazz, as far as I've ever known.

Meaning every fan or player with whom I've ever interacted has referred to him by his first name only, and everyone has seemed to know they mean this Joe.

There are some great Joes, too. Joe Chambers, Joe Zawinul (everyone calls him Joe Z), Joe Farrell. Joe Morello. Joe Sample. I've covered a few, and the ones I haven't are well worthy of inclusion on this page.

But when Jazz fans and players alike say Joe, they don't mean anyone but one guy.

I feel awful lucky that I got to see him play not once, or twice, but four times before he left the planet just before 9/11/01. At four different and iconic Bay Area venues too.

As potent and powerful as any tenor ever to have bent a reed -- that's a bold statement for sure, but we're talking about Joe -- I don't think he ever played a song the same way once, much less twice.

His solos? One phrase, you know who it is. Just from the tone alone, the meat is on the bone.

So, fasho there are a lotta Joes with the flow. But when someone just says Joe, and no mo'? Then you know it's time for the eternally extra immortal Joe Henderson to blow.

 Joe Henderson Quintet

Great American Music Hall

San Francisco, California USA

12.19.1975

01 Afro-Centric

02 Invitation

03 Isotope 

04 Recorda Me

05 Power to the People

Total time: 2:23:00

disc break goes after Track 03

Joe Henderson - tenor saxophone 

Bill Bell - piano 

Ross Traut - guitar 

Ratzo Harris - bass 

Ralph Penland - drums

256/48k audio streamed from Wolfgang's Vault

spectral analysis is fully lossless well past the FM cutoff at 17 kHz

converted to 16/44 CD Audio, edited, repaired, tracked, very slightly remux-rebalanced & remastered by EN, December 2025
918 MB FLAC/direct link

This was taped 50 years ago tonight in the Great American in SF, a venue at which I've seen many an iconic performance, but in this one Joe and his guys just about levitate the place, with solos that just go and go from Joe and everyone else. Some of the tunes go on for over a half hour, but go by in what seems like half that.

Anyway I will hammer out the completion of The Feast of St. Anthony for Christmas, a compilation to finish out 2025 in truly ridiculous style, and I have a few more shows lined up for New Year's. So stay tuned, because around here we don't mess around with just any ordinary Joe.--J.

4.24.1937 - 6.30.2001

Jamaica Statement: Cliff 'Em All

Jimmy Cliff - Wild World

Saturday night is special indeed, courtesy of this homage to one of the great musical ambassadors of our age, who departed this realm just a few weeks ago after a lifetime scrambling the DNA of the Earth in wonderful ways.

Considered the alpha/omega figure of Reggae music -- preceding and superseding even Bob Marley for that title -- no one in all history could have done more to take Jamaica's greatest musical export from regional popularity to global conquest than he.

Because before there was Bob, there was The Harder They Come, and the star at the film's core that propelled it to the worldwide impact that still resonates today, 53 years after the fact.

It's impossible to explain to today's total multicultural world of immersion and instant access to media from far-flung places just how colossal the reaction to and acclaim of the first full-length theatrical feature film ever made on the island of Jamaica -- today, a tourist destination for everywhere, but in 1972 still a remote destination -- was in its moment.

From the time the movie hit theaters, it seemed the floodgates opened. It only took five years for Reggae to take over the world, to where Dolly Parton and Rush were making songs infused with it.

If you want to know who made that shift happen so profoundly so fast, one figure you would have to acknowledge as at the vanguard forefront of it all would be Jimmy Cliff.

He claimed to have coerced Leslie Kong, the legendary early Reggae enabler and producer, to go into the record business with him one night, having stumbled into Kong's restaurant at random towards the end of the 1960s.

The hits soon started flowing, and the island public started knowing that Jamaica was glowing with a vibrant, earthshaking new sound. Kong passed very young in 1971, but by then Jimmy Cliff was on his way to a caliber of superstardom no one from Jamaica had ever experienced.

Once The Harder They Come migrated to theaters outside of the Caribbean, he became Reggae's first real ambassador figure, with a presence everywhere from the huge Rock festivals to Saturday Night Live.

In all honesty when you're talking about the all time Kings, Jimmy Cliff, Bob Marley and probably Peter Tosh start on the Mt. Rushmore of Reggae as charter members chiseled in glory at the outset.

Anyhow Jimmy Cliff passed into the ancestral history books on November 24 at 81, after a long career making Reggae and Jamaica monumentally influential forces on global culture for almost 60 years.

Having grappled for weeks with what sort of share fare might dare to compare with a figure of such flair -- and really tired of the same old regurgitated bootlegs of dubious quality anyway -- I at last settled on cooking up a halfway reasonable version of JC's complete Rockpalast performance, from 1984 in Düsseldorf.

This is a legendary burner of a show that circulates in all sorts of chopped up and compromised iterations, but never in its complete, 130-minute form and never sounding at least halfway as worthwhile as I hope I've done here.

Jimmy Cliff

"Rockpalast"

Philipshalle

Düsseldorf, Germany

6.1.1984

01 Rockpalast introduction

02 Spider Man

03 Bongo Man

04 Reggae Night I

05 Youth's a Ball (Beggar's Banquet)

06 Treat the Youths Right

07 Piece of the Pie

08 Rub-a-Dub Partner 

09 Reggae Movement

10 Third World People

11 It's Time 

12 Many Rivers to Cross

13 The Harder They Come

14 You Can Get It If You Really Want

15 No Woman No Cry

16 Nuclear War

17 Vietnam

18 Wild World

19 Reggae Night II

20 Roots Radical

21 Music Maker

Total time: 2:10:21

disc break goes after Track 11

Jimmy Cliff - vocals & percussion

Bertram "Runchie" McLean - guitar & vocals

Earl "Chinna" Smith - guitar & vocals

Harold Butler - keyboards & vocals

Ansell Collins - keyboards & vocals

Chris Meredith - bass

Uziah "Sticky" Thompson - percussion

Sidney Wolf - percussion

Wilburn "Squiddly" Cole - drums

Tracks 01-13 & 17-21 are sourced from 320/48k mono audio from an HD YouTube file of (almost) the complete concert, converted to 16/44 CD Audio

Tracks 14-16 are sourced from a master off-air stereo FM cassette, and -- together with the main segments above -- form the complete show

edited, repaired, merged & remastered for unity by EN, December 2025
724 MB FLAC/direct link

This show has never been officially released, possibly owing to the not-always-perfect sound, but until it does see a real DVD or whatever -- probably on that WDR label that puts out all the German TV stuff from back in the day -- this soundtrack might be as good a representation of it as may ever exist. Not perfect, but what is?

I shall be back in a week with more of the vital ital, and I've got quite the present for under the tree taking shape for Christmas morning proper, so you better stay naughty and be nice. And you better start by grabbing your weekend by the Roots Reggae, as we say farewell (and Rasta La Vista! OK, that was bad) to the unquantifiably incredible Jimmy Cliff, who brought the music of his native country to a Wild World that's still flying Irie on the wings of its plentiful charms.--J.

7.30.1944 - 11.24.2025
you can get it if you really want