I've always liked band intros on live albums because they give the
players their due and, quite often, end an album on an upbeat or warm
note. My favorite band intro is on the "Scratch" album by The Crusaders. During "Way Back Home," trombonist Wayne Henderson tells the audience, "I want to tell you who's playing for you--individually, though..." With the audience's approval, he introduces Max Bennett, Larry Carlton, Wilton Felder, Stix Hooper, and Joe Sample, expressing his appreciation for the musician and/or a mention of each artist's hometown or nickname. Joe Sample's keyboard underscores the intros, and after Henderson says, "...We got one more--me, Wayne Henderson, trombone...," the rest of the band joins in just in time for Felder's saxophone solo. The Crusaders finish "Way Back Home" with an appropriate concert-ending keyboard flourish from Sample. I imagine the audience at The Roxy the night the concert was recorded must have gone home glowing as much as the musicians.
Decades ago, I used to think that live albums were, at best, a compromise. I thought, "Even if a live album contains good versions of a band's tunes, they're likely to be imperfect and marred by crowd noise." What I didn't see then but definitely acknowledge now is that a strong live performance can be even better than a studio album. Instead of a technically perfect, patched-together-from-multiple-takes studio edit, you get an honest picture of how the band played on a particular night, solos that weren't on the original recording, and a glimpse of the band's humanity and appreciation for its audience. Not a bad combination of benefits for the money you shell out...
