12-30-2008, 04:56 PM
I was on the forum some time ago trying to track down some good recordings of him. My first exposure to Freddie, oddly enough, was his bit on Billy Joel's "52nd Street" album; he smokes the hell out of the track "Zanzibar". (FWIW, a recent Billy Joel set, "My Lives" (which I just ordered) has the non-fadeout version of this track; am anxiously awaiting it to hear Freddie's full solo at full volume. [added: just read lafinfil's comment above about the same]
If I remember correctly, most said his solo album work wasn't his best; he didn't succeed commercially as well as a frontman as, say, someone like Maynard Ferguson. And, as lafinfil said, he had a fluid and approachable sound -- which I got from Zanzibar -- that made me want to hear more.
RIP, Freddie. Looks like Maynard's going to have some competition trying to unseat Gabriel.
If I remember correctly, most said his solo album work wasn't his best; he didn't succeed commercially as well as a frontman as, say, someone like Maynard Ferguson. And, as lafinfil said, he had a fluid and approachable sound -- which I got from Zanzibar -- that made me want to hear more.
RIP, Freddie. Looks like Maynard's going to have some competition trying to unseat Gabriel.