''Live and Improvised'' is a two compact disc live album by the band

Blood, Sweat & Tears Blood, Sweat & Tears (also known as "BS&T") is an American jazz rock music group founded in New York City in 1967, noted for a combination of brass with rock instrumentation. BS&T has gone through numerous iterations with varying personnel and ...

, that was originally released in 1976 as a live album entitled ''In Concert'' by Columbia Records in Europe and Japan. This album was later remixed and released in the United States as ''Live and Improvised'' in 1991 by Columbia/Legacy and again as "In Concert" in 2012 by Wounded Bird, with a different cover. This collection was recorded live at four different venues over five nights during the summer of 1975. The lineup for this album is the same as the '' New City'' album they were supporting on that tour with the exception of

Steve Khan Steve Khan (born Steven Harris Cahn; April 28, 1947) is an American jazz guitarist. Career Steven Harris Cahn was born in Los Angeles. His father, lyricist Sammy Cahn, "loved to hear any and all versions of his songs". He took piano lessons as a ...

and

Mike Stern Mike Stern (born January 10, 1953) is an American jazz guitarist. After playing with Blood, Sweat & Tears, he worked with drummer Billy Cobham, then with trumpeter Miles Davis from 1981 to 1983 and again in 1985. He then began a solo career, re ...

on guitar. The songs in this collection were recorded at the Schaeffer Music Festival in New York City; City Hall Plaza in Boston; National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Ontario; and at the Monterey Jazz Festival in Monterey, California.

Reception

Writing for

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, critic Bruce Eder wrote, "What's also lacking is some excitement -- in the group's evident desire to emphasize their jazz side while minimizing any rock elements in their playing, they've also banished any tension, or the interplay between rock and jazz elements upon which their original appeal was founded. Numbers like "Spinning Wheel," "Lucretia MacEvil," "And When I Die," and "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know" are done in such loose-limbed fashion that, apart from showcasing some virtuoso playing and Clayton-Thomas' more oppressive mannerisms, they're rather weak reinterpretations... On the positive side, along with the presence of those arrangements, the playing is very good, if not always terribly involving, and in those moments when Clayton-Thomas keeps his instincts in check, the material does recapture and expand on the best components of the original group's sound."

Track listing

Disc One
#"Spinning Wheel" (

David Clayton-Thomas David Clayton-Thomas (born David Henry Thomsett, 13 September 1941) is a Grammy Award-winning Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the American band Blood, Sweat & Tears. Clayton-Thomas began his musi ...

) – 6:02 #"I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know" (

Al Kooper Al Kooper (born Alan Peter Kuperschmidt; February 5, 1944) is an American songwriter, record producer, and musician. Throughout much of the 1960s and 1970s he was a prolific studio musician, including playing organ on the Bob Dylan song " Like ...

) – 8:54 #"Lucretia Mac Evil" (David Clayton-Thomas) – 7:08 #"

And When I Die "And When I Die" is a song written by American singer and songwriter Laura Nyro. It was first recorded by the folk group Peter, Paul and Mary in 1966. Nyro released her own version on her debut album '' More Than a New Discovery'' in February 1967 ...

" (

Laura Nyro Laura Nyro ( ; born Laura Nigro; October 18, 1947 – April 8, 1997) was an American songwriter and singer. She achieved critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums ''Eli and the Thirteenth Confession'' (1968) and ''Ne ...

) – 2:10 #"One Room Country Shack" (

John Lee Hooker John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues that he develo ...

) – 6:57 #"And When I Die (Reprise)" (Laura Nyro) – 3:07 #"(I Can Recall) Spain" (

Chick Corea Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain (instrumental), Spain", "500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba" ...

) – 9:01 Disc Two #"Hi-De-Ho" (

Gerry Goffin Gerald Goffin (February 11, 1939 – June 19, 2014) was an American lyricist. Collaborating initially with his first wife, Carole King, he co-wrote many international pop hits of the early and mid-1960s, including the US No.1 hits " Will You L ...

Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer-songwriter and musician renowned for her extensive contributions to popular music. She wrote or co-wrote 118 songs that charted on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billbo ...

) – 6:33 #"Unit Seven" (Sam Jones) – 11:07 #"Life" (

Allen Toussaint Allen Richard Toussaint (; January 14, 1938 – November 10, 2015) was an American musician, songwriter, arranger, and record producer. He was an influential figure in New Orleans rhythm and blues from the 1950s to the end of the century, descr ...

) – 5:15 #"Mean Ole World" (Jerry LaCroix) – 9:39 #"Ride Captain Ride" (Carlos Pinera, Franke Konte) – 6:59 #"You've Made Me So Very Happy" ( Berry Gordy Jr.,

Brenda Holloway Brenda Holloway (born June 26, 1946) is an American soul singer who was a recording artist for Motown Records during the 1960s. Her best-known recordings are the hits " Every Little Bit Hurts", " When I'm Gone", and " You've Made Me So Very H ...

, Frank Wilson,

Patrice Holloway Patrice Yvonne Holloway (March 23, 1951 – October 3, 2006) was an American soul and bubblegum pop singer-songwriter, best known as a member of the musical trios Josie and the Pussycats, The Ikettes, and The Blackberries. Career Patrice Yv ...

) – 6:06

Personnel

– lead vocals *

Bobby Colomby Robert Wayne Colomby (born December 20, 1944) is a jazz-fusion drummer, record producer and television presenter. He is best known as an original member of the group Blood, Sweat & Tears, which he co-founded in 1967. He has also played with many ...

- drums, backing vocals *

Dave Bargeron David Wayne Bargeron (September 6, 1942 – January 18, 2025) was an American trombonist and tuba player who was a member of the jazz-rock group Blood, Sweat & Tears. Life and career Bargeron was born on September 6, 1942. He was lead trombon ...

- trombone, tuba, percussion, backing vocals *

Larry Willis Lawrence Elliott Willis (December 20, 1942 – September 29, 2019) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He performed in a wide range of styles, including jazz fusion, Afro-Cuban jazz, bebop, and avant-garde. Willis was born in New York Ci ...

– keyboards, backing vocals *Bill Tillman – saxophone, flute, backing vocals *Anthony Klatka - trumpet, backing vocals *Joe Giorgianni – trumpet, backing vocals *

- guitar, backing vocals at Schaeffer Music Festival; City Hall Plaza *

Georg Wadenius Georg "Jojje" Wadenius (born 4 May 1945) is a Swedish multi-instrumentalist, singer, and composer who was particularly active during the 1970s and 1980s as a studio and session guitarist and bassist, as well as for a series of albums of childre ...

– guitar, backing vocals at the National Arts Centre *

- guitar, backing vocals at Monterey Jazz Festival *

Ron McClure Ron McClure (born November 22, 1941) is an American jazz bassist. Early life McClure was born in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. He started on piano at age five, and later played accordion and bass. McClure studied privately with Joseph I ...

– bass *

Don Alias Charles "Don" Alias (December 25, 1939 – March 28, 2006) was an American jazz percussionist. Alias was best known for playing congas and other hand drums. He was also a capable drum kit performer. He played drums on the song "Miles Runs the V ...

- percussion, Backing vocals

Production notes

Jimmy Ienner Jimmy Ienner ( ; born ) is an American music producer, best known for producing albums for such artists as Bay City Rollers, The Raspberries and Three Dog Night. Biography He went to Stamford (Connecticut) High School and graduated in 1963. ...

– Executive Producer *

– Producer *Recorded at the following locations: :July 5, 1975 – Schaeffer Music Festival in New York City :July 20, 1975 – City Hall Plaza in Boston :August 11, 12, 1975 – National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Ontario :September 21, 1975 – Monterey Jazz Festival in Monterey, California Digitally remastered by Mark Wilder at Sony Music Studios, New York

References

{{Blood, Sweat & Tears Blood, Sweat & Tears albums 1991 live albums Columbia Records live albums Albums produced by Bobby Colomby Albums produced by Jimmy Ienner Albums recorded at the Monterey Jazz Festival