This is a recording of a remarkable evening in which Malcolm Felder, Gabriel Boyer, Jeff Black, and the Eugene Community Choir joined hands to recreate the magic of our favorite jazz standards, but how was it to be done? Were they going to play them straight or in a curlicue? Boyer’s velvet voice was offset by his angular piano stylings, while Black wailed on his clarinet in a manner reminiscent of some extinct bird of paradise, the Eugene Community Choir backed up Boyer with their eerie a capella renditions of some big band instrumentation, and Felder rapped his hands round his kit in a series of giddy runs. That man can tease the rhythm out of a lame dog running for its life.
For these were to be free jazz versions of the below standards, performed as they had never been performed before, and here at the notorious Pie House, the crowd was getting violent for the players had yet to arrive. Only the Eugene Community Choir was in attendance, and conductor Joe Ullula was frantic. Then, just a moment later the other players were running onto the stage, their eyes glassy with some feverish drive to transform sound into something inhuman. The evening was underway.
Performed by
Gabriel Boyer: Vocals, piano
Jeff Black: Clarinet
Malcolm Felder: Drums
Oregon Community Choir: Backing vox
Recorded in Eugene, OR
Production by Malcolm Felder