Please help identify - very hard with little clues

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Hi all,
it is already more than 15 years ago when I listened before sleep on a radio to a jazz concert. It was really great and I was too lazy to get up and note down the band and album. I did not remember when I woke up.

It was a live jazz concert from a US club, the artist should be quite well known, because the moderator talket about him and his band for quite some time. And it was supposed to be a kind of cult recording. The name was something like John Smith Trio (or band) and the whole concert over one hour was one large improvisation on famous tunes and melodies, but in a very jazzy style, even kind of hard to guess. I remember melodies like Imperial March from Star Wars, Ride of Valkyries, My Fair Lady and many others everyone knows.

Any tips appreciated! Someone must know this record🙂
 
Do you know the series Married with Children?

Hmm hmm him. I am in a similar situation as Al Bundy...

All in all, I think there are not many CDs like that - and if yes, I'd go through all tips posted🙂
 
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Thanks, but this is not it. If I remember correctly, there was no piano, only drums, bass, guitar and maybe(?) saxophone. It was also faster.

The name of this CD is exactly how I would expect it to sound.

But this sounds nice as well, I will seek them on Google music.
 
I found Randy Waldman Trio in the process as well and I am enjoying the music. I put his "Flight of the Bumblebee" on my audio test track list.

I have searched youtube and audio streaming sites, I found quite some interesting music as e.g. Andrew Allen Trio ("Cantina band" is on my list as well🙂.

The live recording I am trying to find was almost kind of musical quiz - try to guess which well-known tune are we playing right now🙂 If I remember correctly, there were always variations, not the original themes. And it was around 1 hour of continuous playing, not song after song. There is a very low chance I will find this particular recording...
 
I actually found Marcus Schinkel Trio using the Spotify Radio function while listening to Andrew Allen Trio. I found a lot of interesting music - I already thought this was it. Maybe one day I will find the album I am searching for. Marcus Schinkel Trio Spotify Radio will be my next step🙂
 
I discovered a band that is really close to what I am looking for. The bad plus.

My random shuffle played a song from their album Give. I really like how that sounded, so I played the whole album and will be playing the others as well. There are melodies that sound familiar, but not enough to ring a bell for me. But I saw they do crazy covers as well. Anyway, these guys could definitely play a concert like I described in the original post...so if these remind you some other band, please write the name here so that the search can continue🙂
 
Meanwhile, I found a similar style live album - but from 2011, that is clearly too new. It is "Uplift" from Monty Alexander - I discovered it at Spotify. In that record, motives like "Santa Claus is coming to town", The Flintstones theme or William Tell Overture are heard. The recording I am looking for was a bit more wild in variations on the motives, which were sometimes hard to identify. Maybe this will ring a bell? I am currently going through his live recordings from around 2000, but I am almost sure it was not this artist, but the style is becoming pretty close. Like a mix of Monty Alexander and The Bad Plus🙂

Also, any information like top 5 or 10 of best US jazz clubs where live recordings are frequently made (or were made around 2000) or even how this jazz subgenre might be called for Google/Spotify search, etc. would be really appreciated.
 
I did not connect the dots until just now, but is it possible you are looking for "Farmers Market - Tails of the Unexpected" ?!
Farmers Market is a Jazz band from Trondheim (Norway) that are heavily influenced by the Balkan note variations and play style.
They are ridiculously skilled musicians, fantastic music!
 
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