This may have been a small step for Van at the time, but it comes across as a giant leap for Vankind 30 plus years later. Recorded at the Montreaux Jazz Festival in 1980, here is a clip with top notch sound of Van at a late career peak– Common One had just come out– backed by an amazing band. Not only does Pee Wee Ellis grace the tune with a beautiful solo, but Mark Isham joins in on trumpet, and my personal favorite of Van’s legion of backing guitarists, John Platania, paints the tune in autumn colors with lines of delightful counterpoint.
