I love this thread. Read a lot, learned a lot and have learned about players I knew nothing about.
Thank you all.
Back in 1969 I was in high school, and had a crush on Margo. Margo's older brother was a senior and probably the coolest human on earth. Not into sports, nor the debate team. He had long hair and a smokin' hot girlfriend. He was also brilliant. His name was Rex.
I was deeply into Frank Zappa at the time. Also the Moody Blues, Jeff Beck and of course, the Beatles.
I was at their house during the Christmas holiday and as always, hitting unsuccessfully on Margo. Rex brought out a record, put it on and blew my mind. I'd never heard anything that moved me as much as what was playing. The conversation went something like this;
"Who IS THIS!!!"
"I NEED THIS RECORD!!"
Rex, in his very cool way said, "This is jazz man. This is jazz."
I never looked back. 40+ years I've collected, played and taught about this music we call jazz. I can never have enough.
Here it is, Les McCann and Eddie Harris. Swiss Movement. The record Rx played in 1969. I still like it. A lot.
-- Bob
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UrjQSVbIkk&list=PLvMh7Ixx-tsf6FSEncG6bBvGy9M-V6KJv