muzycy:
CD 1, tracks 1-4:
Thad Jones: cornet
Al Porcino: trumpet
Frank Gordon: trumpet
Earl Gardner: trumpet
Lynn Nicholson: trumpet
Billy Campbell: trombone
John Mosca: trombone
Clifford Adams: trombone
Earl McIntyre: bass trombone
Ed Xiques: bass trombone
Jerry Dodgion: alto & soprano saxes, flute
Gregory Herbert: alto & soprano saxes, flute
Larry Schneider: tenor saxophone, clarinet. flute
Pepper Adams: baritone saxophone
Harold Danko: piano
Bob Bowman: bass
Mel Lewis: drums
Live at Jazz Jantar, Sopot, Poland, August 6, 1976.

CD 1, track 5-6:
Thad Jones: trumpet, cornet, flugelhorn
Larry Moss: trumpet
Simo Salminen: trumpet
Ron Tooley: trumpet
Irving Stokes: trumpet
John Mosca: trombone
Lollie Bienenfeld: trombone
Lu Robertson: trombone
Dick Bienenfeld: trombone
Douglas Purviance: trombone
Dick Oatts: alto saxophone
Steve Coleman: alto saxophone
Richard "Rich" Perry: tenor saxophone
Bob Rockwell: tenor saxophone
Charles Davis: baritone saxophone
Jim McNeely: piano
Jesper Lundgaard: bass
Mel Lewis: drums

CD 2:
Thad Jones: trumpet, cornet, flugelhorn
Larry Moss: trumpet
Simo Salminen: trumpet
Ron Tooley: trumpet
Irving Stokes: trumpet
John Mosca: trombone
Lollie Bienenfeld: trombone
Lu Robertson: trombone
Douglas Purviance: trombone
Dick Oatts: alto saxophone
Steve Coleman: alto saxophone
Richard "Rich" Perry: tenor saxophone
Bob Rockwell: tenor saxophone
Charles Davis: baritone saxophone
Jim McNeely: piano
Jesper Lundgaard: bass
Mel Lewis: drums
Live at Jazz Jamboree '78, Warsaw, Poland, October 26, 1978.

Editor's info:
The Thad Jones-Mel Lewis orchestra's complete Poland concerts.
This is the first time the 1976 performance ever appears on CD, as is the case with the 15-minute version of 'Fingers' from the 1978 concert, which is the band's last preserved collaboration ever. Includes 8-page booklet
Both Thad Jones and Mel Lewis were already veteran jazz musicians when they joined forces to create the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis orchestra in 1965, which would last for more than a decade. The first recorded collaboration between Thad and Mel was a James Moody octet album titled Great Day, recorded in June of 1963. The Thad Jones-Mel Lewis orchestra initially began in 1965 with informal late night jam sessions amongst New York's top studio musicians. The group eventually began performing at the Village Vanguard, to wide acclaim, and continued with Jones in the lead for twelve years. Our set presents their only two concerts in Poland in their entirety. This is the first time the 1976 performance ever appears on CD.

Po raz pierwszy na dwóch płytach ukazuje się legendarne nagranie orkiestry Thada Jonesa i Mela Lewisa z lat 1976 i 1978. Zwłaszcza ten drugi koncert, zawierający 15-minutową wersję 'Fingers' jest niesłychaną gratką dla poszukiwaczy muzycznych rarytasów - jest to bowiem prawdopobnie ostatni zarejestrowany koncert koncert orkiestry prowadzonej przez tych dwóch liderów (w tym bowiem roku Thad Jones, brak pianisty Hanka i perkusisty Elvina, przeniósł się na stałe do Kopenhagi). Już w momencie powstania orkiestry - w 1965 roku - obaj muzycy byli bardzo doświadczeni - Thad Jones przez ponad dziesięć lat był członkiem orkiestry Counta Basiego, natomiast w tym samym czasie Mel Lewis, pochodzący z rodziny żydowskich emigrantów, grał w orkiestrze Stana Kentona. Prawdziwa perełka w wytwórni Gambit !!!
[autor: Marcin Jachnik]