Cat No DVD1568

Tenor player Fred Anderson has finally been recognised outside his native Chicago as a major figure in free form jazz. As a founder member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and tireless promoter of performances and jam sessions at the Velvet Lounge, a neighbourhood tavern on South Indiana Ave which he took over in 1981, Anderson has helped keep Chicago’s improvisational jazz scene alive for many years. This is a film of one of the final shows recorded at the old Velvet Lounge building which, surrounded by shuttered, debris-strewn storefronts, finally succumbed to the wrecker’s ball. With Harrison Bankhead on bass and Hamid Drake playing drums Fred Anderson can be seen and heard in full flight in the setting in which he is most at home – his own bar. Separate CD also available.

NTSC Region free