INDIANA UNIV JAZZ ENSEMBLE-NEAR EAST.SOUTH ASIA TOUR-FEB.MAY 1966
few weeks ago i picked up this 10 inch record in a nylon bag among other pile of records…
record with that title and comes with a nylon bag means there is some kind of mystery around it
taking a good look at the label at home discovering a small box with the the word flex , which it grow the intrest knowing that flex is the first record label in lebanon
if this record is a culture presntation from indiana university , why it was pressed in lebanon !!
and why the misleading near east -south asia tour that strongly suggest it would be a live recording while it’s a studio recording!!
the music is pure powrfull jazz
i think this a very rare find , share if u know any details on the record
indiana university
jazz ensemble
jerry coker , director
near east -south asia tour
feb-may 1966
side one
1- it’s good to be alive
2- tempus fugit
side two
1- will success spoil j.c
2- my ship
3- take the A train
cat no: FX 1661
12 Comments
Wow, that looks interesting Hany. A strange artefact from the era when the US state department send out it’s Jazz Ambassadors.
way cool. i am on a project to document all Indiana related vinyl lp’s. This one’s unknown to me, though I am aware of at least one IU jazz ensemble lp released in the US around 1966. Don’t know if it’s the same music, or something different.
OK with you if I use the photo on my site? i will credit you if you provide me info. Thanks, and great find!
Rick
culturecounter
no problem u can use the picture ,
i have no information beside what i wrote here
maybe extra tip would help if i said that i picked this record in the middle east…
thanks a bunch. i did catch that it was a middle eastern release. betting that it’s same or similar material that was released in ’66 on a US lp that I am still chasing.
culturecounter
it’s a wierd release ,
it suppose to be a culture presntation from the u.s to the middle east then it should have been made in the u.s ,though it was pressed in lebanon!
I was in this recording, Randy Brecker, Craig Andrews, Larry Wiseman lead trot. Chris Gallaher trumpets, 3 trombones and tuba 2 French horns, 5saxes Jerry green, whit sidener Larry Campbell, Stan Gage drums, Gary smart piano, the tour also had the small group with Randy, David lahm, piano. Started in ceylon, now sir lank,in Jan ended in Athens in June . Much fun and it required special permission from the selective service aka “that ss”. I was the tuba player. Don Harry Eastman school of music
I was on this recording. If you would like further info,please reply.
CSG
I’m a few years late to this party, but this recording was done in Beirut, Lebanon in April 1966, I believe in one session. To fill in some of the personnel gaps in Don Harry’s good narrative above, the trombones wee Brian Martz, Andrew McDonald and Arthur Moore. The french horns were Mark Williamson and Paul Navarro. The other woodwinds besides those mentioned by Don, (Jerry Greene, Whit Sidener and Gary Campell), were Carl Atkins and Pat Mancino. The bassist was Brent McKesson. It was a priviledge for me to play in this trumpet section with Larry Wiseman, Chris Gallaher and Randy Brecker.
Pretty great band for a college jazz ensemble! but then again we’d been hitting it for, what was it, like 3 months on the road?
Yeah, I was on this band! Best college band I ever heard (of course, I’m biased)! Have a couple of copies of this 10″ vinyl.
This wonderful band is having its 50th reunion May 27-29, 2016 in Bloomington, Indiana. Only three members – Larry Wiseman (lead trumpet), Stan Gage (drums) and Mark Williamson (French horn) are deceased. Our first reunion was in May 2015 in Knoxville, where we listened to our “farewell” concert prior to the tour, recorded January 11, 1966. It was a great band, indeed. Many of the arrangements were written by student band members Whit Sidener and Chris Gallaher and leader Jerry Coker. The 1966 State Department tour lasted for 75 days, during which the band played 72 concerts in Sri Lanka (Ceylon then), India, Bangladesh (East Pakistan then), Pakistan (West Pakistan then), Iran, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Greece and Cyprus.
How cool – and how strange – to see this record after fifty years! An old friend. I was on that band too. As Randy and Carl say above, we were very fine. The tour was as Craig says above and it had
a lasting effect on every one of us. Since the reunion(s) we all keep in touch.