That’s Eddie Harris and Les McCann performing “Compared To What” at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland in June of 1969. People who don’t know who’s who often assume that Eddie Harris is the piano player, because he’s the star of the show in this video. But Eddie Harris is the saxophone player. It’s his trio, so he gets top billing. Les McCann is the guy pounding the horse teeth and singing. The song had a little revival when Scorsese put it in the soundtrack to Casino. It’s not listed on the Soundtrack album, but it’s in the movie. The video also features Benny Bailey on trumpet, Leroy Vinnegar on bass, and Donald Dean playing drums. I remembered Leroy Vinnegar’s name from his tenure in the Jazz Crusaders, but if you look at his Wiki page, he played with an amazing list of jazz artists beside them. He’s even playing on a Van Morrison record somewhere.

I rather enjoy the song’s generally disaffected outlook. Then again, the topics broached in the song are 55 years in the rear view mirror. Still, generally disaffected is about the only way to get through this life. If you’re not generally generally disaffected, I don’t think you’re paying enough attention.