The most historically significant release PME has ever undertaken, The Lost Chicago Tapes is a four-album set of fifty classic Jazz tunes. Recorded over several weeks in late 1962 on the North side of Chicago, this amazing set shows us what the Jazz and Blues scene was really like, firsthand. The recording is mono, and was produced and mastered by Mark Patterson and Craig Patterson of PME, carefully recreating the experience of being in a nightclub, crowd noise and all, listening to three of the most prominent musicians of the era. Available on EVERY streaming system, and available as hi-res download on Bandcamp. Four bonus videos have also been produced, and are available on YouTube!

"Contains some of the finest Johnny Smith on record. It is easily recommended"
--Scott Yanow, Los Angeles Jazz Scene

This is one of Johnny Smith’s last live performances, recorded on December 18th, 1971, and his final gig ever at his favorite haunt, Shaner's, in Denver. It was captured on tape by Dick Patterson, bass player for the Neil Bridge Trio, Johnny's go-to live combo. This gig took place right at the time Johnny had decided to hang up his professional playing, feeling that maintaining the level of perfection he demanded of himself had simply become too onerous. He would be more happy, he reasoned, running his music store in Colorado Springs, and being with his family. When asked years later whether he had regretted this decision, he simply said “Not for a second.”

The quartet plays in front of a live audience, but has the fun and sparkle of a casual get-together. The four had been friends for quite some time, and enjoyed playing together more than a typical session. Though there are no second takes here, there is still a sense of experimentation, with endings cued by Johnny and followed by the band, sometimes resulting in chuckles and wrapup riffs that wouldn’t be common in a studio setting. This is truly a fun evening, and the audience knows it.

Join us in welcoming Johnny as he lays down the smoke with the Neil Bridge Trio, featuring Neil on piano, Dick Patterson on bass, and Derryl Goes on drums. It was an unforget- table evening of ballads, uptempo soloing, and a true Masterclass in guitar technique. -Mark and Craig Patterson

Recorded ca. 1974 by Dick Patterson, likely at The Lost Knight Lounge, Boulder, CO.

In any music, there is elegant balance to be found between the familiar and the surprise. An improvised line, or unexpected turns in an arrangement, bring a listener the joy of again “discovering” a familiar song.

The interplay of familiarity is plain to hear in Spike Robinson’s working group of the early-mid 1970s. The group were good friends, and, in playing their repertoire a lot together, achieved a certain relaxed freedom of melodicism, interplay, and swing. The surprises of improvisation are strangely easier to find when the setting is comfortable.

Because record companies did not offer Spike the chance to record with this group at the time, our father decided to document what they played live. The setup was familiar: they used the club during off-hours for a quiet setting to record (sometimes you can hear a person working in the background).

The performances were like their sets. Three sets of music were recorded in an afternoon; everything was first takes, with no stopping or editing. The order presented here is just as they played it.

The resulting interplay of the group flows in a way that is difficult to achieve in a recording studio with time pressures. Spike sounds musically at home, wearing comfortable slippers, perhaps at his melodic best. Dale’s musical choices have an ideal and subtle logic; Dick and Derryl’s swing connects magnetically. Most of all, the group speaks in an unburdened voice, from the bebop flow of “Groovin’ High” to the lyricism of “Everything Happens to Me.”.

We hope you enjoy hearing this genuine piece of the “sound of surprise” this well-loved quartet created.

Mark and Craig Patterson