Please Help Drummer Jimmy Lovelace!

Drummer Jimmy Lovelace, perhaps more than anyone else, exemplifies the spirit of Smalls. His warm smile and gentle demeanor lit up many a night, and his playing there supplied the soundtrack for many of our lives. Jimmy's hip accompaniment is unparalelled in the eyes of many horn players, and he was always--always--the crowds' favorite, just as he is the favorite of scores of jazz musicians who turned up to perform at his recent benefit at St. Peter's church.. We are filled with sadness with the news of his life-threatening illness, yet filled with hope at the prospects for his recovery. But Jimmy is awash in medical bills, and unable to afford his next round of treatment without our assistance. We have an idea.

Smalls Records would like to offer our listeners five tracks featuring Jimmy Lovelace recorded during his tenure with Smalls favorites, the Across 7 Street quintet. You may download the tracks, listed below, at your discretion, with the understanding that you will make a donation directly to Jimmy Lovelace to assist with his medical treatments. We suggest a donation of one dollar per track as a minimum, but please donate whatever you can afford.

Please send checks or money orders payable to “James Ross Lovelace" to:

James Ross Lovelace
P.O. Box 897
New York, New York 10009

[Please write “Smalls Records" on the back of your envelope, so we can determine whether our efforts might be helpful in future cases.]

Across 7 Street featuring Jimmy Lovelace / The Eternal Pyramid Available for download at www.smallsrecords.com/helplovelace.htm

1 Number 72 (Chris Byars)
2 At Long Last, Love (Ari Roland)
3 Sundial (Chris Byars)
4 Bank Shot (Chris Byars)
5 Apollo 7 (Chris Byars)

Personnel: Chris Byars (tenor sax), Ari Roland (bass), Sacha Perry (piano), John Mosca (trombone), and Jimmy Lovelace (drums)

Recorded in 2001 at The Studio, NYC

For seven years of its nine year run at Smalls, Sunday night featured artists Across 7 Street held court with Jimmy Lovelace, sometimes known as The Ancient One, on the throne--the drummer's throne that is. It never failed that Jimmy would infect an audience with his charm, and the end of every Jimmy Lovelace solo was always greeted by cheers from the crowd. Musicians who work with Jimmy cite his hip accompaniment as the reason they love working with him. Here we offer up an “electronic 10-inch record" of this quintessential New York group that highlights Jimmy's playing. Byars' “Number 72" bristles with hip accents and fills, enough to give music students a master class. Roland's “At Long Last Love" (formerly known humorously as “I'll Destroy the World") shows more of Jimmy's impeccable straight-ahead playing. Listen on “Sundial" at Jimmy's transition between Mosca's trombone solo and Sacha Perry's piano solo, which gives exactly the right momentum and kick, and sounds a bit like a steam locomotive. We couldn't resist including Byars' brilliant composition “Apollo 7" to hear Jimmy behind this dark and mysterious walking ballad. This tune seems to point toward completely new directions for bop, and one never tires of unraveling its mysteries. [You can hear Across 7 Street elsewhere on Made in New York on Smalls Records.]

The title, The Eternal Pyramid, is of course a play on The Eternal Triangle, but it emphasizes the five points of the pyramid reflected in the quintet, and it also alludes to Jimmy's love for ancient Egypt. The members of Across 7 Street and I hope you will enjoy this music very much. Please give generously, and in Jimmy's own words “The-ankh you very much!"

Luke Kaven
September 28, 2004