Live at the Baked Potato, Vol. One [Live]

Live at the Baked Potato, Vol. One [Live]

ASIN: B00005J9YJ

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Starting the mid-'90s, the Baked Potato became one of the few spots where you could hear top L.A. players blowing fusion hot and heavy on a nightly basis. Culled from a series of 1999 performances at the new Baked Potato, now situated near the legendary Hollywood intersection of Sunset and Vine, this CD features train wrecks, warts, and inspired moments under the direction of guitarist Jeff Richman. It's definitely a mixed bag, but there is enough energy and deft soloing here to cause an earthquake. Since much of the action revolves around the drummers (and their ability to make these jams gel), what better way than to start off with a magnificent performance by Vinnie Colaiuta on Peter Gabriel's "Mercy Street." Richman, saxophonist Steve Tavaglione, and bassist Abe Laboriel are no slouches, but the anticipation of Colaiuta's solo is palpable, and he doesn't disappoint, exploding with a rush of bass drum/tom flurries and whirling-dervish snare and cymbal stickings. A few Richman originals follow and are pleasant enough, executed by bassist Jimmy Haslip, drummers Chad Wackerman and Ralph Humphreys, pianist Russell Ferrante, and saxophonist Brandon Fields. But then Marcus Miller's "Splatch" fires it up with a 16th-note groove from drummer Dave Weckl and Richman's soaring fretwork. If you can't make it to L.A., and the sleazy Sunset Strip home of the Baked Potato, this is the next best thing to being there. --Ken Micallef

Tracks:

Mercy Street - Vinnie Colaiuta/Abraham Laboriel/Steve Tavaglione/Jeff Richman
Ain't Gonna Wait - Ralph Humphrey/Dave Carpenter/Mitchel Forman/Jeff Richman
Monkfish - Jimmy Haslip/Chad Wackerman/Brandon Fields/Jeff Richman
Seven Stars - Russell Ferrante/Danny Gottlieb/Robert Hurst/Jeff Richman
Splatch - Dave Weckl/Abraham Laboriel/Peter Wolf/Jeff Richman
Dreamscape - Simon Phillips/Tom Kennedy/Jeff Babko/Brandon Fields/Jeff Richman

Amazon.com

Starting the mid-'90s, the Baked Potato became one of the few spots where you could hear top L.A. players blowing fusion hot and heavy on a nightly basis. Culled from a series of 1999 performances at the new Baked Potato, now situated near the legendary Hollywood intersection of Sunset and Vine, this CD features train wrecks, warts, and inspired moments under the direction of guitarist Jeff Richman. It's definitely a mixed bag, but there is enough energy and deft soloing here to cause an earthquake. Since much of the action revolves around the drummers (and their ability to make these jams gel), what better way than to start off with a magnificent performance by Vinnie Colaiuta on Peter Gabriel's "Mercy Street." Richman, saxophonist Steve Tavaglione, and bassist Abe Laboriel are no slouches, but the anticipation of Colaiuta's solo is palpable, and he doesn't disappoint, exploding with a rush of bass drum/tom flurries and whirling-dervish snare and cymbal stickings. A few Richman originals follow and are pleasant enough, executed by bassist Jimmy Haslip, drummers Chad Wackerman and Ralph Humphreys, pianist Russell Ferrante, and saxophonist Brandon Fields. But then Marcus Miller's "Splatch" fires it up with a 16th-note groove from drummer Dave Weckl and Richman's soaring fretwork. If you can't make it to L.A., and the sleazy Sunset Strip home of the Baked Potato, this is the next best thing to being there. --Ken Micallef

Customer Reviews:

Need more Vinnie!!.......2004-08-13

I grew up near the original (and now only) Baked Potato in North Hollywood, which opened in 1970. I've attended literally hundreds of shows there. While this CD has some special moments, most notably Vinnie Colaiuta's spectacularly slippery drumming on "Mercy Street", it falls short of capturing the true BP sound and improvisational spontaneity. I've seen Jeff Richman a couple of times at the original BP and he's better than this 2-disk set represents. My advice to fans of this disk is to pick up Greg Mathieson's "Live at the Baked Potato 2000" double CD. It features Vinnie, Abe Laboriel and Mike Landau shredding from start to finish. Better yet, just go there.

Hot Potato.......2002-02-27

"Live At the Baked Potato" is a two part cd series that features guitarist Jeff Richman with various fusion performers. This is the first volume and is also the better of the two. Jeff Richman is a very good guitarist with his own non-flashy style of jazz fusion. The disc contains covers as well as a couple of Richman originals. The things that make this disc worth getting are the performances by some of the other musicians. Peter Gabriel's "Mercy Street" is the opener on this disc and this is a spectacular version. Abraham Laboriel and Vinnie Colaiuta form a dynamic rhythm pairing and Tavaglione and Richman both add quality solos. The ending of the song is Vinnie cleaning house in a most impressive fashion. The other highlight of this disc is the cover of Marcus Miller's '"Splatch". A short piano imrovisation by Peter Wolf is soon joined by Richman who establishes the melody. This time Laboriel teams up with drumming sensation Dave Weckl to form an undeniably great groove. Richman delivers a fine solo and then Dave Weckl shakes the room with his drumming insanity. The rest of the tunes are solid but unspectacular fusion. If you like fusion then I suggest that you pick this one up; the two highlight songs are worth it by themselves.

Tasty L.A. fusion without the muzak tendencies.......2001-08-08

Bought this on a whim, and have been pleasantly surprised. Richman is a tasteful player with an unique sound and surrounds himself with some some serious musicians. Each tune is stretched out for maximum blowing potential, can't wait to hear Volume two!

Jazz Music:

Jazz Music

Jazz Music