Podcast 793: A Conversation with Monty Alexander

Last week we talked with Zev Feldman about the release of three previously unknown recordings on Resonance Records late last year. This week, we take a deep dive into Love You Madly: Live at Bubba's with pianist Monty Alexander.  Accompanying Alexander on this spirited live date are bassist Paul Berner (Lionel Hampton Orchestra), drummer Duffy Jackson (Milt Jackson, Benny Carter), and percussionist Robert Thomas, Jr. (Weather Report, Jaco Pastorius, Carlos Santana). Drawn from Alexander's personal collection, the vigorous, imaginative performances were recorded at the titular Fort Lauderdale, FL, nightclub on Aug. 6, 1982. The recording engineer was the late Mack Emerman, legendary founder of Miami's Criteria Recording Studios, the state-of-the-art facility where the Bee Gees, Eric Clapton, the Allman Brothers Band, and Aretha Franklin, among many others, had cut some of their biggest pop hits. The Kingston, Jamaica-born pianist had lived in Miami since his family moved there in 1961, and had known Emerman, a jazz buff who had played trumpet in his alma mater Duke University's big band, for many years. Emerman brought the Criteria Mobile Recording Truck to Bubba's that night, and made these recordings, which he had passed on to Monty after the gig. The album has flawless sound, and as with other Resonance packages, has extensive liner notes, interviews, and photographs. Podcast 793 is my talk with Monty Alexander, and musical selections from Love You Madly: Live at Bubba's include "Samba de Orfeu" and "Arthur's Theme," the Academy Award winning tune written by Christopher Cross, Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager and Peter Allen.