Did you hear? Depaul University Jazz Ensemble with special guest Phil Woods - Woodlands

In 2005, the Depaul U. Jazz Ensemble played a special concert at D.G.S. Their special guest for that tour was the jazz alto-sax legend, Phil Woods. He taught a workshop in the afternoon before the concert, and at night he performed a few numbers with the Depaul kids. He was old then, and I'm pretty sure he already had some bad respiratory problems because he took breaks between songs and had to sit when he played. Nevertheless, his tone was massive and he shamed the other jazz peons on stage.

The most impressive number on Woodlands is "Goodbye, Mr. Evans." When Phil's solo builds and explodes at 2:30, and then again at 3:20, I go nuts. Woods has a history of writing tribute songs (go get this record), but his ode to Bill Evans is the best. The author of Woodlands's liner notes remarked on how great the pianist's solo was in "Goodbye" being that he followed Phil and that the track is about the best jazz pianist ever. The other songs aren't bad either, and since this thing's been OOP for awhile, have at it.

Get it here!