Episode #40

This was a very cool session – and contained everything one could hope for in a jam session – great musicians, great material and spontaneous freestyle performances. Here is how it came to be.

It was time for me to produce another episode. For whatever reason, I remembered both bassist Will Lee and drummer Anton Fig telling me at different times about a guitarist friend of theirs named Oz Noy that I should seriously consider having on the show. They both play gigs with him periodically – sometimes even together – in New York. And so I thought…why not…now’s as good a time as any. I figured if both Will and Anton dig his playing, chances are so will I.

So I then placed calls to both Anton Fig and Oz Noy to invite them in for the session. They both said yes. Next, I thought my friend Demetrios Pappas would fit in great on keyboards. Demetrios is an experienced Musical Director and a first-call session player in Philly. He has also been on the show a number of times so I knew he knew the drill.

I also thought this would be a nice opportunity to finally bring in saxophonist Louis Taylor. He came highly recommended by percussionist Doc Gibbs. At the time, Doc was Musical Director for the house band on the Food Network’s Emeril Live television series, and Louis was part of his band. All I needed now was a bassist.

I was starting to get a little concerned, as the date was fast approaching. It wasn’t until 2 or 3 days before the gig, while talking to a musician friend, did the name of the great Victor Bailey come up. Victor is a monster. In addition to lengthy stints with Weather Report and Joe Zawinul’s Syndicate, he has worked with some of the very best in the business including, among so many others, Michael Brecker, Hugh Masakela, Steps Ahead, Chuck Loeb, Mike Stern and Omar Hakim. I had no idea he was living in New York. I just had always assumed he was based in Los Angeles. So I quickly gave Victor a call and explained my situation. Lucky for me, despite the short notice, he was available and more than happy to join us…even though he knew none of the other players involved. Needless to say, I was thrilled…and incredibly relieved.

They played 5 tunes that day. In addition to Stevie Wonder’s Boogie On Reggae Woman, they covered Miles Davis’ All Blues and Wes Montgomery’s Four On Six. Oz also led the group through one of his original tunes, a funky upbeat song aptly titled I’m In A Funky State Of Mind. They ended the session with a simple Open Jam, a freestyle track with plenty of nice solo passages.

All in all…a real nice jam session…and one of my personal favorites.

– Tom Emmi / Producer