- Format: CD
- Label: Fantasy
- Genre: Jazz
This live session was recorded by Pete Douglas at his California club a month after Art was in the Contemporary Records Studios with Lester Koenig recording Living Legend, his first album as a leader in 15 years, which included ten years in prison and three of drug rehab in Synanon. The title of this album, Renascence, refers to the rebirth of Art’s recording and performing careers, a “new life,” as it were. A month before this session Art was quoted as saying: “It looks to me like life begins at 50, and I never thought that I’d live to see 50, let alone start a new life at this age. . . .” Art’s new career lasted only seven years, but they were the happiest and most productive of his life, and were highlighted by a series of important recordings for Contemporary and then Galaxy, as well as numerous tours with his band. At Art’s funeral, there was a wreath from the musicians in his working band inscribed “To the Greatest Saxophone Player in the World.”
TRACK LISTING:Good Bait, What Laurie Likes, Here’s that Rainy Day, Straight Life
