Just as with its Echoes of an Era experiment, the short-lived Griffith Park collective capped off its studio album with a live performance, recorded here at the now-defunct Circle Star Theater in California. The Griffith Park Collection 2: In Concert captures the quintet at perhaps the height of their synergistic powers. The interplay between these musicians is the stuff of legend; Freddie Hubbard in particular is in rare form. Most of the songs, which first appeared on their studio album, are little more than vehicles for solos and occasional dances between two instruments. Ah, but what solos and dances they are! The chemistry in this concert is amazing, which isn’t so surprising when you consider that these musicians were already well familiar with one another. Hubbard shines on Guernica, Why Wait, and (of course) Happy Times, here played at almost twice its original speed. Joe Henderson takes the lead on the last two tunes, I Mean You (which first appeared on Echoes of an Era) and Here’s That Rainy Day. Along the way, the core trio of Chick Corea, Lenny White and Stanley Clarke continue their conversations from the well-chronicled Return to Forever. The show isn’t perfect—White’s drumkit seems poorly miked most of the time and there’s some distracting feedback on “Here’s That Rainy Day”—but they’re small sins to pay for such heavenly music. An alignment of stars such as this is a wondrous thing. It gets to the very heart of what makes live jazz so exciting, because you’re experiencing music made in real time. It’s art in the act of creation, a live conversation where anything can happen and everyone has a chance to contribute. The Griffith Park Collection was a good album, but in concert it’s clear that we’re in the presence of greatness.
A1. Why Wait (Stanley Clarke) (18:53)
B1. Guernica (Lenny White) (19:35)
C1. Happy Times (Freddie Hubbard) (12:30)
C2. October Ballad (Chick Corea) (14:36)
D1. I Mean You (Thelonius Monk/Coleman Hawkins) (11:51)
D2. Here’s That Rainy Day (Johnny Burke/Jimmy VanHeusen) (12:22)
Stanley Clarke (bass), Chick Corea (piano), Joe Henderson (tenor sax), Freddie Hubbard (trumpet, fluegelhorn), Lenny White (drums). Produced by Lenny White; recorded live by John Searle; digital editing by Jim Wolvington, Tom MacClusky, and Jeffrey Weber.
Art direction by Norm Ung/Design. Cover painting by Edward Hopper. Back cover photos by Andrew Su, Ron Slenzak.
Released on 2LP in 1983 in the US (Elektra Musician, 60262-1), Germany (Elektra Musician, 96-0262-1) and Japan (Warner/Pioneer, P-5632/3).