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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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!
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.
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.
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 :)
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.
Was wondering why noone else mentioned that it's all over the place. I just went straight to the piano solo.. it's terrible :-( Really amateurish. As a group, I mean. They aren't playing together at all, to an amazing degree. This could be the least-together jazz Ive ever heard. Maybe they couldn't hear each other at all. Very surprising.
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Throughout his solo, Billy, without question, is the personification of sheer joy...!
you can tell that just by the look on his face
One of the greatest drum solos of all time!
I learned to love jazz through Billy Higgins and Cedar Walton. I saw these guys many years ago here in Italy.
Thanks for the video, great to see and hear. I saw Billy many times in the 1980’s in Gothenburg, Sweden. The most tasteful drummer in my book.
Incredible performance! Bobby Hutcherson is magic!
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.
Dear Billy! Incredible!
Billy was soooo good.
Billy is amazing, a true legend
Cedar wrote such great tunes. This was always one of my favorites
Yes, love his writing
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!
Thank you so much!
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.
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.
I love Cedar's writing.
His facial expressions and dynamic contrasts remind me of Papa Jo.
yes!
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!
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.
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.
we really miss him
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!
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.
That band recorded as a 4tet so probably there wasn"t a piano player…
loce it!!
1:52 Show on
And Bobby too…
Why is Herbie Hancock tagged in this? Just curious.
Probably a mistake on my part. I'm a one man band and sometimes, the work flow is overwhelming.
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!
It is sad. We can only hope at some point, they will "hear" this music.
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.
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.
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.
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 :)
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.
Was wondering why noone else mentioned that it's all over the place. I just went straight to the piano solo.. it's terrible :-( Really amateurish. As a group, I mean. They aren't playing together at all, to an amazing degree. This could be the least-together jazz Ive ever heard. Maybe they couldn't hear each other at all. Very surprising.