Excerpted from full review: Legendary trumpeter, Eddie Gale, played incredibly hot trumpet with Cecil Taylor on 'Unit Structures' in the mid-sixties and then recorded two classic discs for Blue Note that mixed jazz with other earthy and funky sounds. He has recorded very infrequently ever since and seemed to have disappeared, yet remains active in the bay area. His set featured his own west coast band and was thee most intense and creative set of this year's fest. Considering I had barely heard of any members of his group, this was indeed surprising. His monster sextet featured John Gruntfest on alto sax, Ismael Navarette on tenor & soprano sax, Valerie Mih on piano, special guest William Parker on bass, T. Squire Holman on drums and Mr. Gale on trumpets. They opened with a Trane tribute called "Remember John" and they were burning from the gitgo, super tight and super hot. William Parker fit perfectly and played powerfully with their dynamic drummer. There were two things about this band that made them so special, one was the writing of every tune was instantly memorable and all post-Blue Note gems. The other great thing was each and every solo was f**king amazing! I recall alto saxist John Gruntfest from a Henry Kaiser record from 20+ years ago, but never heard of the tenor saxist, pianist or drummer, all of whom were truly inspired. [More...]