Guitarist Eddie Fisher synthesized the influences of blues, soul, jazz, rock, and funk right into a enjoying type that would technically dazzle or reduce proper to the emotional coronary heart of a tune with just some licks. The Little Rock, Arkansas product was already gigging in native golf equipment as a young person. However when a suggestion to affix pianist Robert Talley’s jazz band necessitated a transfer to Memphis, he additionally discovered himself amidst a burgeoning soul scene catalyzed by the nascent Stax and Hello Data labels. A two-fold music schooling came about: formal composition, association and principle underneath Talley; a looser, extra improvisational strategy whereas commiserating with budding soul males like Isaac Hayes, Willie Mitchell, and Steve Cropper. And after becoming a member of blues nice Albert King’s group, Fisher ultimately landed in St. Louis – town the place he made his skilled fame.
East St. Louis was dwelling to the Blue Be aware membership, owned by impresario, politician, and singer Leo Gooden – a determine of hefty civic affect and equally giant girth. Gooden’s hotspot was the identical membership from which stay jazz units had lengthy been broadcast throughout the area, retaining a teenaged Eddie glued to his radio again in his Little Rock days. So when Leo invited Eddie to affix his combo in residence, Leo’s 5, Fisher leaped on the likelihood. On the Blue Be aware, Eddie might sit-in with legends like Oliver Nelson or Sonny Stitt, or be a part of Sunday jam classes that will appeal to stars of tomorrow like David Sanborn and Michael McDonald. The large man gifted every member of his home band a chalice – a logo of 1’s musical potential, i.e. one’s cup to fill. Of the 5, Eddie’s was the third cup.
Gooden’s premature passing preceded Fisher’s recording debut by just a few years. However primarily based on the elegiac sound of “The Third Cup,” his former boss was nonetheless very a lot in his ideas. Swirling organ thrives and hi-hats open the tune – evoking a spirit-stirring breeze coming in off the Mississippi – then yield to a laid again groove perfect for after hours reflection. Fisher’s opening five-note riff gives a direct hook, and the remainder of his nimble soloing is awash in beautiful melancholia. Initially launched domestically as a forty five, the only bought effectively sufficient to garner Fisher an album take care of Chess Data’ sub-label Cadet. And as per Gooden’s encouragement, The Third Cup – produced by revered St. Louis saxophonist and bandleader, Oliver Sain – fulfills Fisher’s promise in a quintet setting with as pleasurable a jazz-soul effort as any of the interval.
“A Dude Called Zeke” mines equally atmospheric late evening vibes because the title observe, using an association of descending elements that drift and fall like cigarette smoke. Sharp boogaloo numbers like “Shut Up” and “Two By Two” showcase Fisher’s affinity for the danceable sound of the day. However by 1969 the spectre of funk was looming over all of Black music, jazz included. A canopy of one in every of Stevie Surprise’s earliest on-the-one Motown tracks, “Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Be-Do-Da-Day,” serves as acknowledgment of the revolution on the horizon. One other recognition takes the type of “Scorched Earth,” a blistering although transient observe that may’t determine if it’s a standard uptempo jazz burner or hyper rock-funk quantity, and settles for a compelling hybrid. Fisher’s notes tumble from his fingers like he can’t get them off rapidly sufficient, bassist Paul Jackson (later of Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters band) grounds him with a gradual low finish pulse, and an abrupt staccato hit slams the observe shut. It additionally hints at Fisher’s pursuits past jazz – territory he’d quickly discover together with his subsequent album, the psychedelic funk gem, Eddie Fisher and the Subsequent One Hundred Years. As pleasurable as The Third Cup is, Fisher’s potential had solely begun to be tapped.
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