Bennie Maupin - Berlin 2008

Today's shares will be some more MP2 digital radio captures... I'm well aware that the file format is a bit of a drag, but this is the finest you'll get from radio these days, and it's the original file format. I put up a link on top right of the blog (visible on each page), where you'll find some directions!

The files are small and the sound quality usually is fine, so I don't complain!

First then, here's another set by the great Bennie Maupin.

Taken from the biography from his website:

Bennie Maupin is best known for his atmospheric bass clarinet playing on Miles Davis’ classic “Bitches Brew” album, as well as other Miles Davis recordings such as, “Big Fun”, “Jack Johnson,” and “On the Corner.” He was a founding member of Herbie Hancock’s seminal band The Headhunters, as well as a performer and composer in Hancock’s influential Mwandishi band. Born in 1940, Maupin started playing clarinet, later adding saxophone, flute and, most notably, the bass clarinet to his formidable arsenal of woodwind instruments. Upon moving to New York in 1962, he freelanced with groups led by Marion Brown, Pharoah Saunders, and Chick Corea, and played regularly with Roy Haynes and Horace Silver. He also recorded with McCoy Tyner, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Jack DeJohnette, Andrew Hill, Eddie Henderson, and Woody Shaw to name only a few.
Maupin’s own discography as a leader includes a well-received recording for ECM Records, “The Jewel in The Lotus” (1974), “Slow Traffic to the Right” (1976), “Moonscapes” both on Mercury Records (1978), and “Driving While Black” on Intuition, (1998). The instrumentation of Maupin’s current group The Bennie Maupin Ensemble, harkens back to the tradition of great saxophone-bass-drum trios, such as the group led by Sonny Rollins with Wilbur Ware and Elvin Jones. While echoes of the great John Coltrane can be heard in Maupin’s work, one can also discern the influences of Yusef Lateef, Sonny Rollins, and Eric Dolphy, as well as Maupin’s contemporaries like Wayne Shorter and the late Joe Henderson. Maupin’s approach to his music is intentional and profound, yet alive in the interpretation of the moment. He maintains active performing and teaching careers in Europe, and the US. Bennie Maupin currently resides in the Los Angeles area.

Anyone interested in Maupin should really get his disc "Penumbra" on Cryptogrammophone!



Bennie Maupin Quartet
JazzFest Berlin
Berlin (Germany), Quasimodo
November 7, 2008 (MP2)

Bennie Maupin - tenor & soprano sax, bass clarinet
Michal Tokaj - piano
Michal Baranski - bass
Lukasz Zyta - drums, percussion

guest: Hanka Chowaniec-Rybka - vocals (8, 9)

1. Walter Bishop Jr. (Maupin) 23:34
2. band intros (2:25)
3. Message To Prez (Maupin) > Ann BM (10:55)
4. Tears (Tokaj) 8:00
5. Prophet's Motif (5:42) [inc, end missing]
6. Jewels In The Lotus (Maupin) > Ann BM (16:59)
7. Escondido (Maupin) > Ann BM (14:06)
8. Spirits Of The Tadras (7:41)
9. Atma (7:18)

TT: 96:44

Sound: A
Source: DVB-S@256, 48kHz > raw data > ProjextX > mp3DirectCut > mp2
(lossy recording seeded in its original broadcast codec)