Live from Studio 1

*** UNRELEASED JAZZ-FUNK FROM 1982 ***

Columbus, Ohio was a test market for cable and public access cable television in 1980. One time our band was playing an outdoor concert in a downtown park and I saw television cameras pointed in our direction. I couldn't resist talking to the people handling the cameras and was introduced to the man in charge of All-American Cablevision, Craig Schneider. He invited the band to do a concert in their TV studio.

By the time that actually happened, Randy Mather had gone on the road with Woody Herman. I'm pretty sure he recommended Paul Maslin to take his place. Paul learned our whole book in two weeks. I thought that was incredible!

When we got to the studio the day of the taping, one of the band members told me Jeanette Williams wouldn't be with us on the show. She already had an obligation for that day. We played the entire show live with no stopping and no retakes. For public access shows they didn't want to have to stop and start taping if they could avoid it.

They kept the master tapes for only two or three weeks at most for a quick rerun. Then they would reuse the master tape for another show unless you bought the master. By the time I learned this it was already too late to buy the master they'd made of our outdoor show.

As the studio was looking for volunteers I soon found myself behind the camera, then directing shows. I even wrote and directed three episodes of a comedy show I called Looney.

Little did I know Seeds of Fulfillment was in its last days. When it ended, Paul said he knew some musicians in the Chicago area, and asked if I would like to go along. I said yes. It was 1982.

All-American Cablevision and Seeds of Fulfillment, by David Drazin (February 2019)