Live At Jazzcup Caesar Frazier

• 1Jive Samba08:25
• 2You Don't Know What Love Is07:11
• 3King of Leonne05:45
• 4Thieves In the Temple07:57
• 5You've Changed05:48
• 6A Night In Tunesia07:44
• 71-2-308:17
• 8I Wanna Make It With You05:23
• 9Willow Weep for Me08:00
• Total Runtime01:04:30

Info for Live At Jazzcup

"Old school" organ combo fronted by a totally unknown veteran to me. A big positive surprise. Raised in Florida, Frazier's professional music career kicked off as organist in alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson's group and made his recording debut under his own name in 1972. But his jazz career didn't really take off, so Frazier became Marvin Gaye's keyboard player, and then sang soul in California. His background is a bit hazy, but in 2018 he started releasing organ albums again. This was recorded live in Copenhagen in 2022 with two Danish musicians and heavy Swedish tenorist Jonas Kullhammar. If I were to try to place Frazier on the Hammond map, he would be somewhere between Freddie Roach and Don Patterson, with major influences from Jimmy Smith of course. At the same time, I have to give Frazier credit for creating something of his own, with a dull, dirty sound. I like the cracked tone of the organ. To that I add a delicate bass playing, which lives a life of its own but of course perfectly integrated into his sound.

The album is not particularly blue-toned, but maintains a straightforward yet varied jazz course, with material drawn from many sources. Kullhammar's playing is restrained and raw; he could have played more but chose not to dominate. Johannes Wamberg is said to belong to Denmark's young guard of broad musicians. Here, as a jazz guitarist, he plays just as tastefully and disciplined (like Kullhammar) as the context demands. It could have been Grant Green in 1975. On the other hand, "Danish musical megastar" Kresten Osgood on drums acts a little more freely - without fussing. For my part, he could have played a little more on the ride cymbal, but the scars don't allow that. Osgood has played with names like Dr Lonnie Smith, Yusef Lateef and Billy Preston.

The crowd is low key, but so much so that you can hear when a solo goes over the top. To pick out a couple of songs: a pop-rock song by the group Bread, "I wanna make it with you" (worldwide hit 1970), remodelled into fast, airy, pawing 60s old school Hammond jazz. Frazier is not only experienced, he is innovative too. And in the exquisite ballad "You've changed", which Lou Donaldson, Billie Holiday and many others have recorded, Frazier brings out the Jimmy Smith piece. I enjoy all 65 minutes!

Caesar Frazier, Hammond B3
Jonas Kullhammar, tenor saxophone
Johannes Wamberg, guitar
Kresten Osgood, drums

Caesar Frazier
An entertainer so unique, that one musical genre does not adequately describe his performance skills.

Born in New York City, raised, and educated in the South, Midwest, and West Coast, Caesar Frazier has spent his entire life since the age of fifteen, performing in bands, orchestras, and as a solo artist.

As a recording artist, Caesar recorded numerous albums as an instrumentalist and vocalist. Over the years he also has accompanied other artists as a studio musician.

One of the numerous highlights of his musical career include the time he spent traveling on mega concert tours as Marvin Gaye's keyboard accompanist. While working with Marvin and having personal conversations regarding musical concepts, the lessons learned left their foot print on his understanding of effective performance.

Caesar grew up hearing and being forever influenced by many of America's greatest artist that covered most all of the popular music genres. "I heard the greatest country artist, blues artist, rock and roll artist, rhythm and blues artist. And, loved it all."

Another of the highlights of his musical life have been having numerous popular artists of recent years, use songs written by him to garner hit records.

The rapper, Kanye West, rapper / actor "Common", the hip hop group "Gangstarr", are some of the current popular artists that have used songs written by Caesar Frazier to garner hit records.

To further broaden his understanding of the music & media business, Caesar earned an Associates Degree in Broadcast Communications, worked as the music director of a smooth jazz station, did "talk radio", was a news anchor, reporter, and news writer for broadcast and an"On Air Announcer".

"What a wonderful way to spend my life....doing what I've loved all of my life!"

This album contains no booklet.