Dave Lewis Plays Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass


Dave Lewis was a highly notable teenage Rock & Roller in the 50s, and somewhat unintentionally responsible for uniting the two segregated musician's unions in Seattle. The story goes, local club owner Dick Parker said if you're gonna make me choose between Dave Lewis and the entire Local 76 white roster, i'm gonna book Lewis. On Jan. 14, 1958 the two locals merged and Seattle's music scene became a little less terrible, at least on paper. 

Lewis's various bands opened for all sorts of famous acts on tour in the Pacific Northwest, but regular club gigs were his main career throughout the 60s and 70s. Jimi Hendrix even jammed with them a few times, but audiences wouldn't exactly call Hendrix "danceable." That's fair. Lewis had some arrestworthy drug problems later in life and died in 1998. 

None of that matters much, tonight we're hearing his jazz organ covers of Herb Alpert tunes. I'm told it's an all the stars album, so i expect it'll be lovely. Keep in mind, it is merely background dancefloor music, so don't expect too much flash and dazzle, playful and tipsy is what we're striving for here. Now let's mingle. 

Oh yeah, this is seriously splendid. Organ and guitar solos, some jaunty, some clumsy, none annoying or overly silly. It's department store jazz, what more do you want? 

I guess if something like Maurice Larcange or Tony Mattola is too kitsch for you, then this will sound like a half hour of noodling that isn't Green Onions. If you have Merv Griffen Game Show Induced Psychosis (MGGSIP, for you fans of neologic acronyms), then this will sound like the dentist office waiting room in hell, but otherwise i think you're gonna love it as much as i do. 

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kpCiMWWRIJsdirBlDn1uDKvoK9P67FBPs

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