Cuppa Joe works wonders: 
Over to Rome this week for a 1996 concert from the Roma Villa Cellimontana Festival in August featuring three Baritone sax players: Nick Brignola, Ronnie Cuber and Gary Smulyan. Supported by Riccardo Fassi on piano, Massimo Moriconi on bass and Giampaolo Ascolese on drum and preserved for posterity by RAI Radio (and chatty announcers).
Gary Smulyan (born in 1956 and still with us), in addition to performing and recording in support of a myriad of people began to accumulate a discography as a leader. At this point in his career he has at least 10 recordings out under his own name. Meanwhile he continues to play with wide variety of artists – each presenting him with an opportunity to fully express himself. In addition to his work on Monday nights with the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Smulyan remains close with Lovano, working with him in his nine-piece Nonet; then there is the exhilarating and liberating Dave Holland Octet and the seminal bassist’s Big Band. Beyond that, Smulyan has also enjoyed stints in the cooperative Three Baritone Saxophone Band as well as working with powerhouse tenor saxophonist George Coleman in his octet and the Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band that, similar to the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, is comprised of some of the world’s best players.
Nick Brignola, born in 1936 and died in 2002, performed and released albums with many famous and well- established musicians. He recorded the album Baritone Madness with one of his idols, bebop heavyweight Pepper Adams. He released several tribute albums with an equally stunning cast of musicians paying respect to Gerry Mulligan and Lee Morgan. He played an integral role in the three-baritone sax band, which also played tribute to Mulligan. He recorded two incredible sets at the Sweet-Basil Lounge in New York city with Randy Brecker and Claudio Roditi, and played alongside fellow baritone sax player Ronnie Cuber on the album Baritone Explosion with Rein DeGraff.
Ronnie Cuber – (December 25, 1941 – October 7, 2022) played in Latin, pop, rock, and blues sessions. In addition to his primary instrument, baritone sax, he played tenor sax, soprano sax, clarinet, and flute, the latter on an album by Eddie Palmieri as well as on his own recordings. As a leader, Cuber was known for hard bop and Latin jazz. As a side man, he had played with B. B. King, Paul Simon, and Eric Clapton.[1] Cuber can be heard on Freeze Frame by the J. Geils Band, and one of his most spirited performances is on Dr. Lonnie Smith’s 1970 Blue Note album Drives. He was also a member of the Saturday Night Live Band. Ronnie Cuber played with Frank Zappa on the live album Zappa in New York, which was recorded in 1976. He was a member of the Mingus Big Band from its inception in the early 1990 until his death. He was an off-screen musician for the movie Across the Universe.
Dive in and dig the weekend.