StLJN Audio Archive: Eddie Fisher - The Promise

Today's Audio Archive post revisits a rare session from guitarist Eddie Fisher, the East St. Louis native who's best known for the jazz/funk albums The Next One Hundred Years and The Third Cup. Fisher, who died in 2007, never really achieved major stardom, but has become something a cult figure over the past ten years, thanks in large part to DJs and crate diggers who discovered his music and spread the word.

Perhaps the most obscure item in his catalog, The Promise (pictured) was issued only on vinyl in 1985 on Fisher's own Nentu label. It apparently never made it to CD, and has been out of print for years.

Although both One Hundred Years and Third Cup have been reissued recently, and Fisher's final release 42nd Street still is available on CD Baby and iTunes, the prospects for The Promise re-emerging seem dimmer. So it's a pleasure to be able to point you toward a quality rip of this obscure gem, as furnished by the music sharing blog 4 Brothers Weekly.

With a sound that's essentially an updated and smoothed-out version of the sort of groove-oriented music found on Fisher's most famous albums, The Promise features seven of his original compositions: "Cruising," "Making Love," "Urban Nights," "I Feel Good," "The Promise," "Colors" (co-written with pianist James Mathews) and "The Jam."

You can download a copy of The Promise here.

The StLJN Audio Archive links only to recordings that are out-of-print or that never have been commercially available. The purpose of the Audio Archive is to encourage discussion, appreciation and knowledge of St. Louis jazz artists, and we urge you to support them (or their estates) by purchasing authorized recordings and merchandise and, whenever possible, attending live performances.

(Edited 3/31/12 to fix a bit of redundancy.)