In the past year, Buzz Feiten has been the subject of several posts here, along with ones on his collaborations with keyboardist Neil Larsen.
We have to some extent documented his work in The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, the original Full Moon, The Larsen-Feiten Band, a reunion of sorts with Butterfield and his more recent projects, including The New Full Moon of the early 2000s.
But his work is at best elusive, somewhat rare and definitely difficult to track down with so many albums going in and out of print. Mostly out.
Coming across the video below was a happy find. It features Feiten with The New Full Moon band that released an album around 2002 (although this clip is acutally dated Jan. 11, 2007) and included original Full Moon bass player Fred Beckmeier, reed man Brandon Fields, drummer Gary Mallaber and keyboard player Jai Winding playing the opening cut from that self-titled album, Hey, Dinwiddie, a dedication to the great tenor sax man Gene Dinwiddie of the Butterfield Band and the original Full Moon.
If you haven’t actually heard or seen Feiten yet, then this clip is for you. The tune is a soulful, funky, blues-drenched track, right in Feiten’s main groove.
Thanks for the piece on Full Moon. I picked up the first Full Moon LP at Tower Records while in LA, about 1973 maybe. I don’t recall what prompted me to buy it — maybe it was playing on the store’s sound system — or possibly the cover just caught my (16 y.o.) eye — whatever it was that made me buy it, I have to say that it was one of those music purchases that changed my view of music at the time, and veered me down still another path in music appreciation. I still own the original LP to this day. It has been recorded onto countless cassettes, and most recently onto a CD, (consequently the LP is almost mint). It was a perfect combination of writers and players, with extraordinary vocals by Phillip Wilson, and I believe that I can truly say that there are few LPs in my collection that have had the same effect on my musical life. Now excuse me while I gingerly place this beautiful work of art on the turntable, one more time.
Thanks Mike,
I couldn’t agree more. An extraordinary album. I also transferred it to cassette and CD. Unfortunately, I never owned the vinyl. I borrowed it from a good friend and made a reel-to-reel copy years ago that has sufficed and allowed me to transfer it. After several years of looking at it, I did break down and grabbed a copy of the Japanese import with a bonus track when it came down in price to something reasonable. The bonus track, although excellent, really does not fit in with the rest of the album.
Isn’t it great to still own a piece of musical history with your vinyl version of the album? Although my CD collection now is larger than my vinyl collection, nothing compares to older records in excellent condition, and I’m not necessarily talking about sound but in some cases sonically as well.
Paul