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a. Rising (aka Mizrab) (Gabor Szabo) - edit/fade

Live at the Lighthouse; Hermosa Beach, California: October 28, 1974
Richard Thompson (el-p]; Gabor Szabo (g); Dave Parlato (el-b); Bob Morin (d).

b. Rising (aka Mizrab) (Gabor Szabo) -  edit/fade
c. My Foolish Heart (V. Young/N. Washington) - edit

[Gabor Szabo interviewed at KBCA [KKGO] radio by Jim Gosa -- re: recent trip to Hungary, growing up in Hungary.]

prob. KBCA [KKGO] Radio studios; Los Angeles, California: c. late 1974
Gabor Szabo [g].

d. My Foolish Heart (V. Young/N. Washington) - edit

[Interview with jazz critic Leonard Feather.]
[Gabor Szabo shown in small airplane as it takes off.]

e. Thirteen (from MIZRAB) (edit)

[Animation by Lawrence Bock.]
[Interview with Memory Lane owner.]

unknown location: c. late 1974
Gabor Szabo (g); unknown (b).

f. Song For My Father (Horace Silver) - edit

[Still shown of Gabor Szabo's SPELLBINDER cover painting.]
[Still shown of Gabor Szabo's self-portrait painting.]
[Still shown of poster, "Joe Merlino Trio at the Desert Sands."]
[Alicia Szabo's voiceover -- re: first hearing/meeting Gabor Szabo. Alicia at el-p with Gabor.]

Live at Gabor Szabo's home; Hollywood, California: c. late 1974
Richard Thompson (el-p); Gabor Szabo (g).

g. Walking Shoes (Richard Thompson/Gabor Szabo) - edit
h. (unknown title) - edit
i. (unknown title) - edit

[Interview with keyboard player Richard Thompson -- re: working with Gabor Szabo.]

j. Thirteen (from MIZRAB) - edit

Live at Gabor Szabo's home; Hollywood, California: c. late 1974
Gabor Szabo (g); unknown (el-b).

k. Sombrero Sam (Charles Lloyd) - brief intro only
l. My Foolish Heart (V. Young/N. Washington) - edit
m. (unknown title) - edit
n. Rambler (Wolfgang Melz) - edit

Live at the Lighthouse; Hermosa Beach, California: October 28, 1974
Richard Thompson (el-p); Gabor Szabo (g); Dave Parlato (el-b); Bob Morin (d).

o. Rambler (Wolfgang Melz) - edit

[Alicia and Gabor Szabo shown at home together.]
[Gabor Szabo shown painting with Alicia Szabo voiceover.]

Live at Gabor Szabo's home; Hollywood, California: c. late 1974
Gabor Szabo, Jimmy Stewart (g); Louis Kabok (?) (b).

p. Rising (aka Mizrab) (Gabor Szabo) - edit

[Gabor Szabo, with his young son, Blaise, at the el-p.]
[Richard Thompson enters, plays a waltz at the el-p while Gabor dances with Blaise in his arms.]

Live at Gabor Szabo's home; Hollywood, California: c. late 1974
Tony Ortega (ts); Richard Thompson (el-p); Gabor Szabo, Jimmy Stewart (g); Dave Parlato (el-b); Louis Kabok (b); Bob Morin (d); Mayuto (perc).

q. Rising (aka Mizrab) (Gabor Szabo) - edit

r. Somewhere I Belong (from 1969) (Gabor Szabo) - edit

[Gabor Szabo driving in Los Angeles at night with voiceover followed by Lawrence Bock's animation.]

Live at the Lighthouse; Hermosa Beach, California: October 28, 1974
Richard Thompson (el-p); Gabor Szabo (g); Dave Parlato (el-b); Bob Morin (d).

s. Rambler (Wolfgang Melz) - edit
t. Comin' Back (C. Otis/G. Szabo) - edit

Live at Gabor Szabo's home; Hollywood, California: poss. c. 1975
George Cables (el-p); Gabor Szabo (g); Louis Johnson (b).

u. Time (aka Alicia) (Gabor Szabo) - edit/fade

Note: Produced, written, directed, edited and animated by Lawrence Bock. Photographs by David Fahey.

Issues: None.

This fascinating thirty-minute documentary film would have provided a rare opportunity for jazz fans to explore the musical life of Gabor Szabo. Filmed by University of Southern California student Larry Bock at the guitarist's Hollywood home and in performance at the famed Lighthouse club in Hermosa Beach during late 1974 and early 1975, RISING was fraught with production difficulties that prevented completion of the film until 1977. Bock, who wrote, directed, edited and animated the film, was left with only one 16-millimeter print and, thus, not able to catalog his thesis project at the USC student film archives and, ultimately, the film was never released.

RISING is, however, a lovingly assembled work that allows Szabo to talk about his music and shows the guitarist performing in a variety of interesting aggregates. Scenes shot with Charles Lloyd and Bob James were not included to keep the film at thirty minutes. But RISING does provide the one and only opportunity to briefly witness Szabo's often lauded, though never-recorded Perfect Circle group featuring reedman Tony Ortega.

The narrative avoids biographical chronicling in favor of the guitarist's creative beliefs and the musical ideals to which he aspires. Several familiar Szabo pieces are featured. But it is the standard "My Foolish Heart" (a favorite Szabo sketchpad) and originals "Mizrab" and "Thirteen" which stand out. A most pleasant surprise, though, is hearing Szabo on a few bars of Horace Silver's "Song For My Father" accompanied only by bass. So many musical moments, though, are explored in the film's half hour that it is not possible to hear Szabo or his various groups explore any one performance with any great detail.

Bock, who today is a feature-film editor (BILL AND TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE, THE SANTA CLAUSE) offers an exceptional portrait of Gabor Szabo in RISING as a jazz celebrity and a musician who's passionate about his art. Unfortunately, this valuable document can only be appreciated by what is known about it.