The New Dark Age

17 June 2015 — Youtube

What can I say? I’ve dug them since I was a teenager. For a number of years, from the sixties, Jon Hendricks was living ‘in exile’ in London, and I used to bump into him into a small, and cheap Italian restaurant just off Charing X Road in Soho, and we’d talk jazz and politics over a scallopini and spag.

The fantastic trio of Dave Lambert, Jon Hendricks and Annie Ross perform ‘Avenue C’ in an extremely rare video clip, backed by a jammin Count Basie Orchestra. Jon Hendricks, who famously wrote and sang lyrics  written using  instrumental solos, note for note, by the likes of Coltrane, Miles and Cannonball. A totally underrated and innovative group who deserve greater recognition for their contributions to the music, but especially Jon Hendricks.

Written by Buck Clayton, Jon Hendricks, and Dave Lambert
Performed by Lambert, Hendricks and Ross with the Count Basie Orchestra
unknown program, circa 1959