Eric Clapton, Marcus Miller, David Sanborn, Joe Sample, Steve Gadd Legends ( Montreux 1997)

The opportunity to hear Eric Clapton stretch out in an unusual (for him) setting and in the company of musicians the likes of which he rarely plays with is the principal attraction of Legends Live at Montreux, recorded in 1997 during the Swiss city s annual jazz festival. Clapton is joined by some superb musicians here (pianist Joe Sample, saxophonist David Sanborn, bassist Marcus Miller, and drummer Steve Gadd); but he is clearly the guy the crowd came to see, and as always, he delivers a passel of passionate, stinging solos. But although some of the repertoire has clearly been tailored for him (there are several straight blues numbers, along with the inevitable Layla ), he s a bit out of his element. Not that this is by any means a jazz concert; notwithstanding the jazz chops of the other players, the bulk of the nearly twohour set consists of funky, R Bbased grooves, requiring Clapton to play some intricate rhythm figures and ensemble lines, all of which he does well (he s es