John Handy -

Date: September 18, 1965
Release: Koch 3-7820-2
Cover Art: view / download
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There are certain transcendent moments of live improvisation achieved by only the greatest of musicians, where the sounds they play spontaneously light up unknown nerve endings in the heart of the entire audience. It is an unmistakable event, because when the song is over, there usually follows a long and ecstatic hush, just before the crowd regains self-consciousness and breaks into a sustained applause. Such an unforgettable event took place over 35 years ago at the Monterey Jazz Festival, when master altoist John Handy and his quintet took the stage and launched into a 27-minute version of “If Only We Knew.”

After a brief but complex opening statement by the ensemble, Handy steps out alone, playing for several minutes an unaccompanied solo that silenced and captivated the audience with its intensity. A fiery saxophonist who played with Charles Mingus in the late-’50s, Handy stunningly reveals his musical kinship to former Mingus band-mate and fellow altoist, Eric Dolphy. Handy’s solo on “If Only We Knew” shows off his adventurous originality, perfectly blending the mystical sounds of the Middle East with the emerging sounds of the avant-garde, or “New Thing,” as it was called back then. After endless minutes of saxophone bliss, Handy steps back, giving each player in the band a chance to be heard. What follows is one brilliant solo after another by a band of musicians that were all unknowns at the time.

Guitarist Jerry Hahn’s solo starts off quiet and bluesy, then he brings things up a notch, climaxing with some exotic Indian-tinged guitar forms. Michael White goes for broke with his heavily charged electric violin solo (which shows no hint of the John Luc-Ponty-style fusion sound that has forever tainted the instrument). By the time Handy jumps back into the fray, the song has whipped itself up into a passionate state, which he miraculously proceeds to take a little higher. Strains of Coltrane’s “Ole Coltrane” filter through the spicy din. The song ends, the crowd waits, then explodes right on time.

Handy immediately blows into another lengthy unaccompanied solo that introduces the Moorish delights of “Spanish Lady.” The band joins in unison, heating up into a frenetic flamenco rhythm section, as Handy swirls and soars above them with exhilarating levels of passion. The song stretches ahead at a pulse-quickening tempo, building to an exciting climax (19-minutes later) that left people talking for decades.

His biggest hit and his brightest moment as a musician, John Handy’s immortal Live At The Monterey Jazz Festival ranks as one of the greatest live sessions ever captured on tape. The Koch CD reissue finally restores this gem to a long-overdue “in-print” status, and with the added bonus of superb remastering.

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