David Liebman

Liner Notes

By the time of this recording, July 3 1972, the Elvin Jones Group was tight. In the jazz sense, this means obvious familiarity with the music itself, but more than that it translates to recognizing the basic
parameters of each individual’s style and how it all blends together in the mix. At this point in the group’s evolution Steve and I could communicate telapathetically while Gene and Elvin were completely locked in rhythmically. Time spent together on and off the bandstand is the only way this can be achieved (which unfortunately is not the norm in our time). The overall result is clearly heard on this recording… a sense of heightened intensity and commitment. The three of us were young and green, but realized that this was the greatest of gifts a young musician could experience, to play with one of the all time greats.
This concert (part of the Newport Festival) is a very good example of the group in full throttle and can be construed as an accompaniment to the iconic “Live At The Lighthouse” recording from later that year,
coincidentally done on Elvin’s birthday, September 9 1972. These two recordings represent two sides of the coin… a club atmosphere in contrast to the concert stage of Carnegie Hall, an intimidating venue to
say the least!! The tunes heard here represented the core of the group’s repertoire.
The link listed below consists of my extensive liner notes for the Mosaic boxed set of Elvin’s recordings on Blue Note Records during the late ‘60s into the ‘70s. Organized beautifully by Chip Stern with photos, everything about the “Jones” experience is described. Suffice to say the entire experience changed the lives of Gene, Steve and myself from the career and experiential points of view forever. Elvin was a force of nature and to be around him, again both on and off the bandstand was a life-changing event.
Special thanks to Pat Dorian who was instrumental in organizing this release.