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Greeting’s jazz enthusiasts, although it was a short week like you I’m excited that Friday has arrived. Viewer Mark Beckmanfrom Seattle turned me on to this project, therefore I decided to spend some time with the talented Joe Locke on vibes and a extremely gifted Geoffery Keezer on piano caught Live in Seattle as the featured album for the weekend spin. Great jazz, weekends & you linked together is the perfect collaboration, please do have a bless and safe one! —Rob Young | The Urban Flux

Joe Locke & Geoffery Keezer Group - Live in Seattle

Joe Locke & Geoffery Keezer Group -][- Live in Seattle – [Origin Records, 2006]

Geoffrey Keezer’s trio (with Mike Pope and Terreon Gully) are joined here by Joe Locke on vibes for an intense live performance at the Ballard Jazz Festival in Seattle.

Ballard, a Seattle neighborhood that formerly boasted two regular jazz venues but now has none, is a traditionally Scandinavian enclave. That part of the world has always supported this music, so the venue is still appropriate. What transpires here is great individual playing and tight group interaction. Keezer has been one of the best young keyboardists for several years, and is heard here on electric instruments as well as his more familiar acoustic one. Mike Pope is solid and collaborative as always, and Terreon Gully is among the most interesting and innovative of what is an outstanding cadre of younger jazz drummers.

Joe Locke shows why the vibraphone remains one of the most enjoyable instruments to hear in this setting. The instrument doesn’t have many exponents, but along with the estimable Bobby Hutcherson and younger players like Steve Nelson and Stephon Harris, Joe Locke keeps the vibes available as a solo voice.

With the exception of James Taylor’s “Native Son”, all the compositions are either Keezer’s or Locke’s. The performance is well-paced, each composition played long enough to give the two composers plenty of time to explore, and the live recording by Reed Ruddy is excellent. If you’re partial to jazz recorded live, as many of us are, this is an excellent performance by a small band generating big energy. Highly recommended.

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