He has used it very well, but his is more Indian based and mine’s thoroughly based on Coltrane.”Īn excellent example of where Kooper and Blood, Sweat & Tears is at, is their yet-to-be-recorded single release, “Camille.” Kooper says the origin of the song is in “Le Domino Noir” by Hubert. It’s on ‘Baby, You’re a Rich Man.’ and on ‘Inner Light.’ It sort of sounds like a bagpipe or a soprano sax. Just by pushing switches you get a range of eight octaves. The keyboard is suspended like a record changer. The best it’s ever sounded is on the last chorus in ‘Meagen’s Gypsy Eyes.’ The in-instrument itself is a little teensy keyboard, with 39 keys, all electric. I’ve played the ondioline on a few records. In order to get anything really valid out of it I had to study Coltrane, literally study like a college course. “I only play one instrument really the ondioline, a French musical instrument. As opposed to being a virtuoso guitarist or organist, my talent - my virtuosity - is being able to put all those things in place. “My head,” explains Kooper, “is a cache of forty thousand riffs and figures. He has the gift of an editor in that he can listen for, pick up and use to his own purposes and in his own way any musical bit, any line or melody from any musical form and use it in such a way that it becomes original again and his own. The other two reasons are Kooper himself. The horns are one of the three primary reasons that Blood, Sweat & Tears is a such a fine, exemplary group. The sound and style of the band is the horn section.” It screams and cries and the band revolves around that alto sax. I wanted the alto because the alto can cry more than a tenor sax. Most rock bands don’t use a trombone or an alto sax. The instrumentation in the band is very strange even in terms of number of people. Now we listen to each other so well we can do nearly anything. A lot of the stuff isn’t written we make it up on the gig. We rehearsed the two parts of the group separately and then tied them together. “In addition to just riffing, we had to build a horn section which would be a strong, respected section above and beyond the band. “I set out to use the horns in an integral way,” says Kooper, the band’s leader. It is Al Kooper’s new band, an eight-piece group split in two halves: four men, Al Kooper, Steve Katz, Bobby Colomby and Jim Fielder, in a rhythm section (organ, guitar, drums and bass, respectively) and four men in the horn section, Fred Lipsius, Randy Brecker, Dick Halligan and Jerry Weiss.įor sometime now, musicians have been talking about incorporating horns into their sound - Butterfield and Bloomfield have already done it - but this is the first time a horn section has been used so strongly, so uniquely and tightly put together. Of a Man a worthwhile and enjoyable acquisition.Blood, Sweat & Tears is the best thing to happen in rock and roll so far in 1968. However, the incredible energy and overall solid musicianship make Soul Hit the high notes very well anymore, and there are the occasional gaffes. Of the influential jazz-rock band wails on songs from the first BS&TĪlbum and hits its apex with a fantastic trumpet duel between Randy BreckerĪnd Lew Soloff on "My Days Are Numbered." While most of Soul of a Man is excellent, at 50, Kooper's voice doesn't Here are any indication, they were tremendous live. Out solid blues on the amazing "Two Trains Runnin'," recreatesĦ0s psychedelia with "Flute Thing," and puts a new spin on theįolk song "Violets of Dawn." The original Kooper brainchild,īlood, Sweat, and Tears, never recorded a live album, but if the five tracks The versatile unit plays with conviction and feeling as it cranks The Blues Project tracks revive the most underrated blues-rock band of Sweat, and Tears - and also features his current unit, the Rekooperators. Reuniting him with two celebrated bands - The Blues Project and Blood, Recorded live at the Bottom Line, Soul of a Man is an Al Kooper retrospective Produced: 1995 Produced by: Al Kooper Record label: Musicmasters 65113. Closing Medley:You Can't Always Get What You Want/Season of the Albert's Shuffle (Bloomfield, Mike) - 7:15 19. Violets of Dawn (Anderson, Eric) - 3:41 18. Made in the Shade (VanZant, Ronnie) - 5:06 16. I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know (Kooper, Al) - 7:13ġ4. My Days Are Numbered (Kooper, Al) - 5:52 13.
I Wanna Little Girl (Mencher, Murray ) - 5:11 12. I Can't Quit Her (Kooper, Al ) - 3 54 11. Just One Smile (Newman, Randy) - 6:08 10. Two Trains Running (Waters, Muddy) - 11:36 7. Don't Tell Me (McLaughlin, Pat) - 3:46 6. I Stand Alone Medley:I Stand Alone/I Can Love a Woman/New York City Somethin' Goin' On (Kooper, Al) - 7:34 2.I Can't Keep from Cryin' Sometimes (Kooper, Al) - 4:31 3.
Al Kooper: Soul of a Man Soul of a Man: Liveġ.