digging on stockon, ca

Rickey Kelly - Limited Stops Only
Originally uploaded by lllloyd

My dear friend Andrew Schneiderman recently found gainful employment at the Dave Brubeck Institute at the University of the Pacific - which is one of the few good excuses to move to Stockton. It's not a terrible place, it's just not a destination, per se. Until now! Andrew graciously agreed to take care of a couple thousand LP's for me while I roamed the rest of the country, and I'm sure he'd play a few for any of you if you found yourself anywhere near there (but not this one, I took it with me).

I had actually been to Stockton for work a couple times before Andrew moved there, and took those opportunities to hit a couple of the Goodwill's that were in the same strip mall's where I was counting lightbulbs (and such). I mainly struck out, but the two LP's I did find made it worth spending my lunch break getting my fingers dirty. The first was Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin's Je'Taime, and the second was this gem.

The cover was enough to pique my interest, but the label is what sealed the deal. Nimbus was a Jazz record label out of Santa Barbara in the 70s and 80s, famous (to me at least) for releasing some of Horace Tapscott's music. In fact, the album is dedicated on the back to Horace - it reads: "I send a very special message of peace & love to Horace Tapscott whose dedication inspired my musical awareness." I'm sure the same could be said for most jazz musicians fortunate enough to hear the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra in their heyday.

Rickey Kelly plays the vibraphones, and while I'm not a big fan of the vibes (outside of Bobby Hutcherson,) this 1983 set manages to take standards ("Lush Life," "Dolphin Dance," "Yesterdays") just far enough out of the middle zone to make this a definite keeper. I'm not sure who any of these guys are, but here's the rest of the personnel:

Keys: David E. Tillman
Drums: Sherman Ferguson
Bass: James Leary III
Flute: Dadisi Komolafe

... And here's the download link:
http://www.mediafire.com/?wk33izzwydk