Tapscott Simmons Quartet - 1995 - Among Friends

Tapscott Simmons Quartet

1995

Among Friends

01. Milestones

02. Body And Soul

03. So What

04. Caravan

Recorded At – Parc Des Recollets, Longwy, France

Alto Saxophone – Sonny Simmons

Bass – James Lewis

Drums – John Betsch

Piano – Horace Tapscott

You can really find all kinds of goodies in the Horace Tapscott discography. Here's a concert he did with fellow cult Jazz legend Sonny Simmons. Simmons disappeared from the scene for a couple decades only to reappear in the 90s. He has avant-garde leanings in his style but there's also an underlying sensuality in it as well. After Simmons shakes off his gitters on the opener, Miles Davis' "Milestones", he lights up the crowd with the rest of the quartet. The bassist and drummer of the group definitely make a lasting impression. Horace Tapscott's piano playing steals the show as expected though. I've never heard anyone quite like him. His imagination is so amazing that it makes you laugh sometimes at the things he does. For example, Tapscott dips into "Pop Goes The Weasel" out of nowhere for a couple seconds then pulls out. The entire concert was composed of cover songs. The last two are the most interesting. They play the always popular "Caravan" and stretch it to 20 minutes. Turning Miles Davis' "So What" into a 16 minute cooker takes the cake though.