Hard Bop legend Freddie Redd is gigging again in L.A.

[Allan Songer]

I have always loved Freddie Redd. He has been sadly under recorded and under appreciated throughout his career, but the small recorded legacy is nothing short of outstanding. He is best known for his two LPs for Blue Note from 1960-- "The Connection" and "Shades of Redd," both of which are hard bop classics and feature stalwarts like Jackie McLean, Tina Brooks, Paul Chambers, etc. There was a 3rd Blue Note LP that remained unreleased until the fine Mosaic Records box set "The Complete Freddie Redd Blue Note Recordings" came out in the late 1980's. That release led to a an album on Milestone called "Everybody Loves A Winner" in 1990 with the GREAT Teddy Edwards on tenor. I used to hear Freddie live quite a bit in the early 90's here in LA but in the last few years his gigs have been few and far between. I sometimes would run into him in clubs and ask him if he was playing anywhere and he's just say--"soon, soon I'll be back out there." Well, at age 77 he's back out there with a monthly gig at the Cafe Metropol in downtown LA. It's billed as "Freddie Redd and Freinds" and you never know who might show up--last time he had Herman Riley on tenor and needless to say it was a VERY soulful and bluesy evening.

Freddie's next gig is on November 25 and I sure would like to see anyone who loves jazz and who lives in SoCal to try to make it out to see a living legend.

http://www.cafemetropol.com

http://www.laweekly.com/ink/05/37/music-burk.php

http://209.216.209.7/CMS/modules/freecontent/content/ReddF/index.htm

[laikadog]

So, Allan, where is he playing on the 25th? Cafe Metropol? I checked out the links, but couldn't determine the location of the gig. I'll be up from San Diego to see the folks for Turkey day in L.A. I'm thinking they can babysit and my wife and I can get out for a night on the town. Over the years, I've always found the Friday after Thanksgiving to be one of the best nights for going out. Kind of a "free pass" day and the start of the holiday season. Anyhoo, sounds fun. Keep us updated on the details.

laikadog

[Allan Songer]

Yeah, he's at the Metropol which is in the Downtown LA "arts disctrict" which is another name for "really crappy neightborhood that's trying to make a comeback with artists and yuppies." The club is VERY cool and laid back and Freddie is a gas--you'll have a great time. The music is over by 10:30 or so, so you'll have time to hit another club before you call it a night if that's your bag!

[jazman]

Allan,

That should be a wonderful session. I wish he would do a show in northern Cal, like maybe Yoshi's. Do you know if he's traveling at all?

Tonight I plan to get to Yoshi's to hear the Jeff "Tain" Watts Quartet. Jeff is one of my favorite drummers and one who always sounds fresh with his style.

Klipsch out.

[Allan Songer]

I think Freddie would travel if someone had a gig for him!

You should make it down here for a jazz jaunt some time, Edmund--there's something good going on nearly every single night in LA. Other than NYC this is the best town for jazz in the world! There are local players here that are truly world-class--John Heard, Roy McCurdy, Herman Riley, Nolan Shaheed, Ben Clattworthy, Bobby Shew, Jack Sheldon, Jennifer Laitham,

Charles Owens--and I could name 50 more. . .

[jazman]

Allan,

I'd love to get to LA because the Jazz music offerings are plentiful, but with my mother being ill, I've been flying to St. Louis every 4 weeks or so. My son's hockey team usually plays in a tournament somewhere in SoCal before the end of the season, so maybe that will give me a chance to get down there and get out to hear some music.

Klipsch out.

[Allan Songer]

Just a reminder that Freddie Redd will be at Cafe Metropol in downtown LA on Friday night, I'll be there by 7:30 to listen to this one of a kind hard bop legend. Anyone in LA looking for something to do on Friday who has ANY interest in great jazz and in hearing one of the last of the original bebop piano men, please make the effort. The first drink is on me!!!

http://www.roccoinla.com/rocco/index.htm

http://209.216.209.7/CMS/modules/freecontent/content/ReddF/index.htm

[Duke Spinner]

I surely wish I could be there ,Alan....

sadly .. I'm 3400 miles away .....[]

[Allan Songer]

Freddie was in top form on Friday night, playing three great sets before a pretty nice crowd--there were about 40-50 people at the Metropol witch pretty much FILLED the room--folks from 8 to 80, LITERALLY! The boys from Atomic Records were there which was nice.

Freddie did a really BEAUTIFUL version of "Laura" that seemed to make time stop and played a lot of furious bebop and blues. He really seems to be playing awfully well and will be appearing once a month at the Metropol--in his words, "as long as they'll have me." He told me between sets he's going into the studio with a trio soon. This is great news!

I'm not sure if this one is still in print, but I'd have to say it's my favorite straight-ahead jazz trio album of the last 20 years. I bought a copy on ebay about a year ago for a friend of mine, so if you look you'll find a copy I'm sure. I heard Freddie at the Studio Grill (long gone) in Hollywood at least a dozen times back in the late 80's.

What a gentleman. What a great player.

I will remind eveyone here before his next date at the Metropol.

Here's something recent about Freddie Redd

[DRBILL]

This must be the time of the year that they prop the old guys up on stage. Last week were were treated to a concert by Blue Lou Marini.

He played with the One O'Clock Lab Band at UNT, Denton. You could still see shades of greatness, but he sort of tired early in his segment and didn't always pull of the high notes.

But I'm glad he was there. I had never seen him live. "In those days there were giants on the earth."

DRBILL