Throughout his solo, Billy, without question, is the personification of sheer joy...!

@JazzVideoGuy

8 ай бұрын

you can tell that just by the look on his face

I learned to love jazz through Billy Higgins and Cedar Walton. I saw these guys many years ago here in Italy.

Incredible performance! Bobby Hutcherson is magic!

Dear Billy! Incredible!

@JazzVideoGuy

Жыл бұрын

Billy was soooo good.

What a brilliant clip. Billy is my all time favorate drummer, he er more versatile than most, you can see the swing in his wrist, what a drummer! Thanks :)

Thank you for this, I loved Billy Higgins and every one of these guys all of whom I got to see many times in the S.F. Bay Area at the great club Keystone Corner in North Beach section of town. They had a big long mirror mounted along the top right corner above the stage and it was angled in such a manner that you had an overhead view of the drums and the drummers hands. If you were a drummer like me it was absolute heaven! Saw Billy with Dexter Gordon once, and I remember Cedar when he introduced Bob Berg to the world there and Bob came out with a muscle tee-shirt on while the rest of the guys were in suits. Bobby for many years lived in the Bay Area and he was like the house band there. The owner Todd Barken would announce (on KJAZ) that the Monday through Wednesday shows were free sometimes, just to get people in there buying drinks. I would be there all week long. The last time I saw Billy was with the great Mulgrew Miller.

Thank you so much!

Billy is amazing, a true legend

Cedar wrote such great tunes. This was always one of my favorites

@JazzVideoGuy

Жыл бұрын

Yes, love his writing

@clementeaccornero8900

Жыл бұрын

Grandissimo Maestro Billy Higgins, Dio 🙏♥️🌹👏👏👏✨✨✨ Firm Roots Forever ,Mr.Cedar Walton Bobby Hutcherson ♥️♥️♥️♥️✨✨👏👏🙏 David Williams Maestro ♥️♥️♥️✨👏👏👏

Cedar used to come in to where I was playing in 1999 and so I took some lessons from him around that time, and got his Fender Rhodes (Bill Evans’ Rhodes) when he left LA! It has an Pori Jazz 1983 sticker on it!). Billy Higgins had that thing where the really busy frenetic energy would change at the right time when it couldn’t go past 11, and he’d smile and the whole thing rebuilt from a more open space. I got to play w Billy a couple times, he sat in w Jeff Robinson (wow!) and once at his house for a rehearsal of Kevin Oneal’s. I went to Billy’s memorial at the Union. I heard Cedar, Billy, Ray Brown and Milt Jackson once in St Paul- so classic!

This so great to experience. I got to hear Cedar play Firm Roots w. David & Willie Jones III at Ronnie Scott's. I got to play Firm Roots with Australian tenor player, Dale Barlow. As a vibes player any footage of Bobby H is gold & w. Billy is an awesome bonus. Thanks so much for sharing - Garry Lee, Perth, Western Australia.

His facial expressions and dynamic contrasts remind me of Papa Jo.

@JazzVideoGuy

Жыл бұрын

yes!

Love this song, off CW's 1977 release Eastern Rebellion II , a great album w/ Higgins, Sam Jones on bass, Curtis Fuller on trombone and the great late Bob Berg on saxophone. This tune is not a Standard, should be elevated into one.Thanks for sharing.

@JazzVideoGuy

Жыл бұрын

I love Cedar's writing.

1:52 Show on

Thank you for posting this and cleaning it up! Billy was a fantastic musician and spirit! Beautiful solo full of humor and grace and joy!

I got to see Billy Higgins with Joshua Redman, Pat Metheny, Christian McBride, and I forget who was on piano but Billy stood out and really impressed me.

@Erschophone

10 ай бұрын

That band recorded as a 4tet so probably there wasn"t a piano player…

It was always an adventure Billy would take you on in his solos. I heard him play a solo on Firm Roots in Toronto in March 91 that to this day is the greatest drumming I ever heard live. I'm a Higgins freak but man I remember sitting right on top of his bass drum and this was the last tune of the night and was incredibly moved. I remember getting to hang some with him that weekend and found him incredibly modest. Listening to him should pretty much take away any drummer's ego these days with all due respect to some of the fine drummers today.

@JazzVideoGuy

Жыл бұрын

Billy was a total master and a wonderful person, as well.

First time I ever saw Billy Higgins play, he was with Charlie Haden's Quartet West. The band was all set up, ready to play. All except the drum kit. While they were waiting for that to show up, Higgins pulled up a plain old chair with a vinyl type top. The band swung into a ballad and Higgins played that chair with his brushes. You couldn't tell the difference. He was my favorite drummer from that point on.

@JazzVideoGuy

Жыл бұрын

we really miss him

@myroncohen7619

10 ай бұрын

Was honored to spend a lot of time with The Great Higgins..A very special person who could play any drum and would always elevate the Bandstand …Videos like this example continue to inspire all who are interested in Jazz Royality….Thank u again for making this available!

loce it!!

And Bobby too…

Why is Herbie Hancock tagged in this? Just curious.

@JazzVideoGuy

Жыл бұрын

Probably a mistake on my part. I'm a one man band and sometimes, the work flow is overwhelming.

Cedars native to North America are *not* true cedars. Cedar, however, *is,* and like the cedars from the East his roots run deep and firm.

Please tell me, why have we failed to pass this great music on to the next generation????? The (#########) they are listening to, and calling it musuc, makes me sick, cause' I'm in my 85th year, and will soon be going upstairs, to leave the filthy (language) music on called "Hip-hop". Makes me wannah' cry!

@JazzVideoGuy

Жыл бұрын

It is sad. We can only hope at some point, they will "hear" this music.

@jonwhitfield5653

Жыл бұрын

Kanye west will never have the faculty to hear this music but Marcus Gilmore, Christian Sands etc carry the torch. It’s an incredibly important African American art form and it will never die out. Whether it’s a good thing or not, there are colleges all over the world dedicated to teaching it.

@David34981

Жыл бұрын

I'm a professional jazz musician (drums) and I completely disagree. In the world of jazz there is still lots happening, but furthermore there is very good hip-hop or any kind of music for that matter. Of course there is lots of bad music - there has always been, but this kind of grievance is a tale as old as time: people claiming in their day everything was better, while there is no actual evidence for that. Things change but also remain the same. Open your mind and seek beauty.

The guys are not locked up. I've heard all of them so many times, but this isn't one of the better performances. Billy sounds a little behind and Bobby is way on top.