Bobby Hutcherson - Farewell Keystone (Theresa/Evidence, 1988)

This post is by Scott

Bobby Hutcherson (vib); Oscar Brashear (tr); Harold Land (ts); Cedar Walton (p); Buster Williams (b); Billy Higgins (d)

Recorded on July 10-11, 1982

Before the Keystone Corner closed in 1983, Bobby Hutcherson performed regularly at the San Francisco nightclub.  So the title of this album is a fitting memorial.  It's just one of the many outstanding recordings that were made there.  As Rahsaan Roland Kirk said, the club was the home of many "bright moments."

Farewell Keystone captures Hutcherson playing with his characteristic warmth and soulfulness, supported by an amazing band.  

It's no surprise that the group sounds so perfectly balanced.  They weren't a pick-up band; they were a unit that worked together regularly.  Just a few months earlier, Hutcherson, Land, Walton, Williams, and Higgins—with Curtis Fuller instead of Oscar Brashear—performed at the Keystone as the Timeless All Stars.  During their April 1982 gig, they made their first album, It's Timeless (Timeless, 1984).  

You can expect to read more about The Timeless All Stars later in the survey.