Jefrey Leighton Brown, "Change Has Got to Come!" from Change Has Got to Come! (Community Library)

I finally got the chance to see the Evolutionary Jass Band last Friday night at their monthly Valentine's residency. Much thanks to Tom Humphrey for reminding me. I'm told it was a pretty different bag than most of their shows, adding in a couple of free-variable horn players that may have affected things a bit, shoving some more “free” into their “free-jazz.”

I've also been told they've been playing cuts–or, at least, variations of cuts–from this album (Jef Brown is the frontman of EJB). But, last Friday was a bit of an anomaly: ninety percent improv versus around seventy percent, according to member Jesse Johnson. I don't think they even came close to this song, a “classic” free-jazz twisted take on old soul tinged blues. It's a “jam” and a grand one at that, but doesn't let itself loose in nearly the same way as a live show. But, damn, I wish there was a mic in that room for Brown to let loose with the climatic titular chorus, and its classic cascading “oooooohhh/yeah” finish.

[audio:changehasgottocome.mp3]

Links:
Evolutionary Jass Band on the web.
www.community-library.net

Photo: from ComLib's website.