ISSUE 131 SPRING 2014UK £3.25

THE JAZZ RAGCURTIS STIGERS

2 3THE JAZZ RAG

CONTENTS

CURTIS STIGERS (PAGE 10)THE AMERICAN SINGER/SONGWRITER/SAXOPHONIST TALKSOF HIS VARIED CAREER IN MUSIC AHEAD OF THE RELEASE OFHIS LATEST CONCORD ALBUM, HOORAY FOR LOVEAND HISAPPEARANCES AT CHELTENHAM AND RONNIE SCOTT'S.

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4 NEWS

5 UPCOMING EVENTS

7 LETTERS

8 HAPPY 100TH BIRTHDAY!SCOTT YANOW on jazz musicians bornin 1914.

12 RETRIEVING THE MEMORIESSinger/collector/producer CHRIS ELLIS looks back.

15 MIDEM (PART 2)

16 JAZZ FESTIVALS

20 JAZZ ARCHIVE/COMPETITIONS

21 CD REVIEWS

29 BOOK REVIEWS

32 BEGINNING TO CD LIGHT

THE JAZZ RAG

UPFRONTBBC YOUNG MUSICIAN JAZZ AWARDOn March 8 the final of the first BBC Young Musician Jazz Award took place at theRoyal Welsh College of Music and Drama. The five finalists were three saxophonists(Sean Payne, Tom Smith and Alexander Bone), atrumpeter, Jake Labazzi, and a double bassist,Freddie Jensen, all aged between 13 and 18. Theyperformed with the Gwilym Simcock Trio and thejudging panel consisted of Django Bates, TrishClowes, Julian Joseph and Jason Yarde. The winnerwas 17-year-old Alexander Bone from Darlington.He started playing saxophone at the age of six,taught by his father, but began jazz piano at an evenearlier age. He plays in several groups including bigbands and jazz quartets and is in his first year of ‘A’Level study.

The BBC Young Musician Jazz Final will bebroadcast on BBC Four on May 23.

four UEL students and providesthem with £500 each towardsequipment or studio time.Applications are now open on

www.uel.ac.uk/alumni/annualfunda

wards/

FUNDRAISERS FORNJAThe National Jazz Archive isholding a series of concerts fromMay to October to raise fundsfor its work and in particular theHeritage Lottery Fund projectThe Story of British Jazz. Founderand Lifelong Patron of theArchive, Digby Fairweather, said,‘We are deeply grateful to somany friends of the Archive forgiving their services for theseconcerts absolutely free.’Most of the concerts aregrouped together on a Fridayevening and Saturday afternoonat Loughton Methodist Church,starting with the Gresty-WhiteRagtimers (May 30) and KennyBall’s Jazzmen led by Keith Ball(31). A one-off with Paul Jonesand Friends follows on July 18 atChingford Assembly Hall, the‘friends’ being an A Team ofBritish blues stars. On September5 and 6 it’s back to the usualarrangement, with An Eveningwith Liane Carroll followed byJohn Altman’s All Star Jazz Party,the saxophonist and filmcomposer with an eclectic set ofguests. Finally the Great BritishJazz Band is reunited after morethan 10 years under theleadership of Digby Fairweather,including original members BruceAdams, Dave Shepherd, RoyWilliams, Brian Dee and LenSkeat (October 24) beforeDigby’s Half Dozen and ValWiseman present Jazz Goes to the

Movies (25).Tel.: 020 8502 4701

www.nationalJazzarchive.org.uk

TIPITINA FESTIVALSBack on the festival circuit,Tipitina can be heard at theSolihull Jazz Festival (May 24),Newcastle-under-Lyme Jazz andBlues Festival (25-26), SwanseaInternational Jazz Festival (June21) and Burton Agnes JazzFestival (29). Before that there isa Bank Holiday celebration at theGrand, Clitheroe, on theafternoon of May 5, as part of theRibble Valley Jazz Festival, withTipitina joined by the One VoiceChoir from Manchester.Tel.: 0121 454 7020

UPCOMING

EVENTS

Highlight of the programme atthe Cinnamon Club, Altrincham,is the appearance of doubleMOBO winning saxophonistYolanDa Brown on May 22.Other jazz-related events includethe monthly gigs by the club’sresident Swing band, DominicHalpin & the Honey B’s (May 2,June 6, July 4), the Paul Farr Band(May 8), the Ben Cox Band (9),Snake Davis: The Suspicions (June13), Charlie Cooper (27) and theKyla Brox Trio (July 10).Tel.: 0161 926 8992

www.thecinnamonclub.net

Shortly after the retirement ofToots Thielemans, another legendof European jazz has announcedthat his next tour will be his last.At the age of 86, pianist MartialSolal will make his farewell tourduring Summer 2013 and season2014-2015.

Serious is touring the Jazz atLincoln Center Orchestra withWynton Marsalis playing The Best

of Blue Note Records. The tourbegins at Harrogate Festival (June

20), followed by the CornExchange, Cambridge (21), theAnvil, Basingstoke (22),Bridgewater Hall, Manchester(23), Symphony Hall, Birmingham(24), Colston Hall, Bristol (26)and Usher Hall, Edinburgh (27).www.serious.org.uk/jalc

May gigs at Cambridge ModernJazz at Hidden Rooms in JesusLane start with multi-instrumentalist CharlotteGlasson and her Quintet (4). Thegroup is completed by a fine line-up of Mark Bassey, ChrisSpedding, Mick Hutton and SamGlasson. On May 8 CambridgeConneXions present Vesperados,a local acoustic jazz quartet withplenty of percussion. FinallyMemphis-bornsinger/keyboardist/composerCharlie Wood brings his trio(Dudley Phillips, Nic France) tothe Hidden Rooms (22).Tel.: 01223 514777

www.cambridgejazz.org

Tuesday Jazz and Swing atWilmslow Conservative Club hassome interesting musicalcombinations in the comingmonths: for instance, singer LeeGibson joins trumpeter DaveBrowning and the Vinnie ParkerTrio on May 13, the reeds of JohnHallam and Amy Roberts aresupported by the Tom KincaidTrio on May 27 and Zoe Kyoti,Alan Barnes and Dave Turnerappear as a trio on June 10. TheJulie Edwards/Kevin DeardenQuartet returns on May 20 andboth Brownfield/Byrne groupsput in an appearance: the Hot Sixon April 29 and the Bop Six onJuly 22. Meanwhile CheadleHulme Conservative Clubcontinues to host the SinatraSwingers on the first Thursday ofthe month.Tel.: 01625 528336

www.facebook.com/grahambrookjazz

Denise and Tony Lawrencecontinue their series of ever-popular jazz weekends. TheCliffeside Hotel Jazz Weekend(June 20-23) at Bournemouthpresents nightly jazz sessionswith the John Maddock Jazzmen,the Pedigree Jazz Band (ChrisWalker and Roger Marks) andthe Denise Lawrence Band withRon Drake. The 2014 SummerJazz Weekend at the LangstoneCliff Hotel, Dawlish Warren (July4-6) is one night shorter, but is amore packed programme, withlunch-time sessions and a line-upof the Mike Cox New Orleans AllStars, Steve Graham’s RiverboatFour, the Dart Valley Stompersand Denise Lawrence’s WestCountry Jazz with Ron Drake.Tel. (Bournemouth): 01202 208632

www.cliffesidebournemouth.co.uk

(Dawlish) 01626 868000

www.langstone-hotel.co.uk/jazz

The 33rd Jazz sous les Pommiersat Coutances in the Manchedepartment of Normandy runsfrom May 24 to 31, withheadliners including Dr John,Laurent de Wilde, Dianne Reeves,Monty Alexander, Snarky Puppyand Mathias Eick.www.jazzsouslespommiers.com

The 54th Jazz a Juan (July 11-20)is the latest incarnation of thecelebrated festival at AntibesJuan-les-Pins. This year’s bill is, asusual, packed with big names,though in truth a few are only onthe fringes of jazz: among manyothers, The Family Stone, GeorgeBenson, Jamie Cullum, thePreservation Hall Jazz Band,Stacey Kent, Chick Corea/StanleyClarke, Booker T. Jones, JossStone, Gregory Porter and StevieWonder!

4 5THE JAZZ RAG

30 YEARS OFPLYMOUTH JAZZCelebrating Plymouth Jazz Club’s30th anniversary, the club willhold a special Jazz on a Summer’sEvening on July 19, with RichardLeach’s 7 Stars of Jazz and theGreat Western Jazz Company.Starting at 6.00 pm in the GreatBarn at Buckland Abbey, theevent includes a hog roast and aPimm’s tent, in addition to 5hours of jazz for dancing orlistening. The club’s regularRiverboat Shuffle leavesCommercial Wharf at theBarbican, Plymouth, on August 11and the regular club meetings arefortnightly on Sunday evenings atthe Royal British Legion Club,Crownhill. Next up areJazzacadabra (May 4), followed bythe Great Western Jazz Company(18), Billy Thompson Gypsy Stylewith Karen Street (June 1), NewOrleans Heat (15) and – the 30thAnniversary Founder’s Gig – theTony Harris Quartet with MartinDale (July 6).Tel.: 01752 721179

www.plymouth-jazz-club.org.uk

JUMP AND JIVE ATBLACKPOOLNorbreck Castle Hotel,Blackpool, is the venue for fourdays of hot music and swingdance from November 21 to 24.As well as live performancesfrom a first-class bill of the SwingCommanders, theRevolutionaires, King Pleasureand the Biscuit Boys and theFabulous Boogie Boys, Jump JiveSwing features dance tuition fromG.I. Jive and music from DJ IanHartley.Tel.: 01305 750797

www.ventureawaymusicweekends.co.uk

REMI HARRIS DATESGuitarist Remi Harris brings hisown personal take on gypsy jazzto Keswick for a pre-festivalconcert on May 4, followed bygigs at the Chase Hotel,Nuneaton (9), Conquest Theatre,Bromyard (17), the Newcastle-under-Lyme Jazz and BluesFestival (23-26), MAC,Birmingham (30), Warwick ArtsCentre (June 5), the Harp,Albrighton (10), Leominster (19),Swansea International JazzFestival (21), Botanical Gardens,Birmingham (22), Upton JazzFestival (28 – lunch), AssemblyRooms, Presteigne (28 – evening),Housmans, Church Stretton (July2) and Hollycroft Park, Hinckley(5).Tel.: 0121 454 7020

www.remiharris.co.uk

JAZZ SERVICES TOURSTwo upcoming tours have beenannounced with Jazz Servicessupport. Pianist Rob Terry takeshis trio on a six-date tour of theEnglish Midlands, from the Ploughinn, Swindon (April 6) to theHolywell Music Room, Oxford(April 24) via the Big Bang,Oxford, Gumbles Jazz Club,Stafford, Chesterfield Jazz Cluband Cotswold Cricket Museum.Trumpeter Nick Malcolm and hisquartet range further, thoughwith a bias towards the SouthWest and Wales. The quartetbegins in London with the SECollective (May 20) and, beforefinishing at Shrewsbury Jazz (June7), has a tight schedule, with gigsat Swing Unlimited,Bournemouth, the Queen’sHead, Monmouth, Colston Hall,Bristol (foyer), St. Ives Jazz Club,Jazz @ Dempsey’s, Cardiff,Pepper’s Aberjazz Club,Fishguard, the Bebop Club,

Bristol, Milestones Jazz Club,Lowestoft, and the Vortex,London.www.jazzservices.org.uk

VIVA VERDI!The Royal Albert Hall’s newrestaurant, Verdi – Italian Kitchen,has a plentiful selection of jazzand allied music on Fridayevenings and Saturday and Sundaylunch-times. Pianist Alex Huttonplays the restaurant every Fridayevening in May and a selection ofbands takes the Saturday at noonslot, with three weeks of Django-influenced groups: Club Royale(May 3), Note Noire Quartet(10) and Rythme Futur (17). TheFoBo Jug Band resumes theSaturday lunch-time gigs on June28. These are all free, but theSunday Brunch sessions arepaying events, including the priceof the meal. Music tends moretowards the Latin: MusicaParadiso (May 11), La TipicaFlamenco (25), London TangoQuartet (June 8) and TangoVolcano (July 13), though the JohnMartin Quartet ups the jazzquota on June 29. Meanwhile theRAH’s Elgar Room hosts late-night jazz: the Basin StreetBrawlers (May 15), SarahGillespie with The Life of Bessie

Smith (29), Hailey Tuck – AnAmerican in Paris (June 12) andBalagan Cafe Band (19).Tel.: 020 7589 8212

www.royalalberthall.com

KING PLEASURE ONTOURKing Pleasure and the BiscuitBoys resume their Europeantravels with visits to EnkhuizenJazz Festival (May 24-25) and JazzAscona (June 27). UK dates forthe band include ChippingNorton Theatre (May 9). TheatreSevern, Shrewsbury (16), the Old

Brown Jug, Newcastle-under-Lyme (23), Beccles Public Hall(31), Moochers, Stourbridge (June21) and Burton Agnes JazzFestival (28).Tel.: 0121 454 7020

www.kingpleasureandthebiscuitboys.com

WEDNESDAYS ATCONCORDEThe great American saxistHouston Person (7) kicks off theMay programme at Eastleigh’sConcorde Club. The WednesdayJazz programme follows up withPete Long’s re-creation of BennyGoodman and Glenn Miller atCarnegie Hall 1939 (14), MartinWheatley’s Arcadians (21), MikeSanchez and his Band (28) andRico’s Hot Rhythm with EnricoTomasso leading the likes ofSpats Langham and Alistair Allen(June 4). June 11 is a ‘no jazz’night, but normal service resumeswith the Swing Commanders (18)and Saxophone Madness withDerek Nash and Alan Barnes(25). The Sunday evening NewOrleans Jazz for Dancing isinterrupted by Bank Holidays andother events, so there are onlyfive dates for May/June: NewOrleans Heat (May 11), the BigBear Stompers with Judy Eames(18), Sussex Jazz Kings (June 8),Colin Kingwell’s Jazz Bandits (15)and the Savannah Jazz Band (22).Tel.: 023 8061 3989

www.theconcordeclub.com

YOLANDA BROWNAWARD AT UELDouble MOBO Award winner,YolanDa Brown has launched amusic award to support final yearstudents of BSc Music Technologyor BA Music Production andCulture at the University of EastLondon. The YolanDa BrownMusic Award is available to up to

NEWS NEWS/UPCOMING EVENTS

THE JAZZ RAG

Enrico Tomasso

Rythme Futur

Lincoln Center Orchestra

YolanDa Brown

The great South Africantrumpeter Hugh Masakelacelebrates his 75th birthday bytouring with his full band. The UKand Ireland dates come in twoshort bursts: the Norfolk andNorwich Festival (May 21) andHay Festival (26), then theNational Concert Hall, Dublin(October 21), CanterburyFestival (22) and the Barbican,London (27).www.serious.org.uk

Through May and June SwindonJazz presents jazz every week onSunday afternoons at the PloughInn and on Tuesday evenings atBaker Street, plus twice a monthon Thursday evenings at thePrince of Wales in Shrivenham –all free admission. The Ploughprogramme consists of duo andtrio performances by the likes ofLouise Parker (May 25), AndersOlinder (June 1), Dave Newton(8) and John Pearce (29). For the

most part Tuesday is quartets,with Ian Bateman (May 13) andKevin Figes (June 24) among theleaders, but June 10 is anexception, with the KentwoodJazz Choir. Thursday is again duosand trios, from Bex Latin Jazz Trio(May 8) to the Erica Lyons Duo(June 26).Tel.: 01793 522156 (Plough)

01793 978011 (Baker Street)

01793 782268 (Prince of Wales).

6 7THE JAZZ RAG THE JAZZ RAG

UPCOMING EVENTS/LETTERS

Dear Jazz Rag

I read with great interest Ron Simpson's article in the Jazz Rag

(issue 130, Winter 2014) Swing for the 21st Century? I am a hugefan of electroswing and, conversely, it is how I discovered jazz. I’vefollowed the releases of Nick Hollywood’s three albums avidlyand attended many of the White Mink events (which are superb).

I hope that electroswing can be welcomed within the jazzcommunity as it brings with it many thousands of youngsters, asI’m sure you will have seen at the various events - something jazzI feel needs very much!

A great article which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Sam FieldhouseNational Jazz Archive

Dear Jazz Rag

If memory serves mecorrectly, it was in the earlydays of the Swinging Jazz Partythat I first met John Bune andDick Laurie (see obituary, Jazz

Rag 130) at the Putney pubwhere Dick was entertainingthe clientele. We got intoconversation about the Partyand subsequently I was invitedto visit John at home inFareham whenever I was inthe area. I managed to getthere when I had a day offfrom tennis (Hard CourtChamps at West Hants ClubBournemouth) and was royallyreceived with tea andhomemade cake by John andhis wife. He showed me thegreat number of CDs in hisgarage and generously offeredany copies I would like to take.I suggested that it might be anidea for me to take as many aspossible to sell at the nextparty but, to my surprise hewas not interested in myproposition. What anunforgettable day it was - sucha lovely man......and the Zephyrrecords are all sitting on myshelves with the occasionalwell earned airing - BRAFFPLAYS WIMBLEDON -soundsjust right don't you think ?

Thomas BaronFormerly of Swinging JazzParty, Blackpool

8 9THE JAZZ RAG THE JAZZ RAG

HAPPY 100TH BIRTHDAY! HAPPY 100TH BIRTHDAY!

Back in 1914, the year thatWorld War I began, jazzwas virtually unknown to

most people. The music, whichwas still two years away fromactually being called ‘jazz’, hadbeen around in the Southern partof the United States, mostnotably New Orleans, for nearly20 years. However it was virtuallyunknown elsewhere. While JellyRoll Morton was already playingin Los Angeles and Chicago andthe Original Creole Orchestra(led by bassist Bill Johnson andfeaturing cornetist FreddieKeppard) began to tour as avaudeville act in the North, themusic had yet to make an impactwith the general public. Ragtimeand ragtime-oriented pop musicwas still the rage in the UnitedStates and jazz would not debuton records for another threeyears.

However by the time the 17 mencovered in this article began tomature, jazz was everywhere asthe swinging big bands dominatedthe pop charts. Unlike HerbJeffries, who sang with the 1940Duke Ellington Orchestra andcelebrated his 100th birthday lastyear (pity that he is no longersinging), none of these 17 are stillaround. However, their legacieswill always be a part of themusic’s history.

One could put together a ratherunusual all-star band from theseartists, with three trumpets, onetrombone, just one reed, a singer,an arranger, and even a jazz criticplus one’s pick of four pianists,two bassists and threedrummers.

Erskine Hawkins, who was billedas ‘The 20th Century Gabriel’,was an exciting trumpeter whoseoutbursts in the upper register ofhis horn gave him his title. Hebegan playing trumpet when hewas 13, attended the AlabamaState Teachers College, andbecame leader of the collegeband, the ‘Bama State Collegians.The nucleus of the band turnedprofessional in 1934 and as theErskine Hawkins Orchestra, theywere quite successful for 20years. The orchestra, which alsofeatured Dud Bascomb onmiddle-register trumpet, eitherPaul Bascomb or Julian Dash ontenor, baritonist Haywood Henryand pianist Avery Parrish, was aswinging outfit that delighteddancers and listeners alike. Theyhad three major hits in Tuxedo

Junction (before Glenn Miller‘sversion topped his), After Hours

and Tippin’ In. After the orchestrabroke up in 1953, Hawkinsremained active with smallgroups including leading a band atthe Concord Resort Hotel inupstate New York from 1967until his death in 1993.

Ziggy Elman became famousplaying with Benny Goodman andbeing featured on his hit And The

Angels Sing. He was born as HarryAaron Finkelman and wasoriginally a trombonist with AlexBartha’s band with whom herecorded. After switchinginstruments, Elman was amember of Goodman’s fabledtrumpet section with HarryJames and Chris Griffin. Ziggywould certainly have becomemore famous if the phenomenalJames had not becomeGoodman’s main trumpet soloist.However Elman had his featuresand he was an important part ofthe Tommy Dorsey Orchestraduring 1940-47. UnfortunatelyZiggy Elman started his own bigband too late for the swing eraand, due to a heart attack, hiscareer was virtually over by thetime he was 42 in 1956.

A mellow-toned swingtrumpeter, Harold ‘Shorty’ Bakerstarted his career playing onriverboats in the Midwest. Heworked with the big bands ofDon Redman, Teddy Wilson andAndy Kirk. Baker married Mary

Lou Williams who was Kirk’spianist and arranger but themarriage did not last. He foundhis greatest fame while withDuke Ellington’s orchestra. Hefirst played with Ellington for afew months in 1938, was withhim in 1943 before serving in themilitary and was back with Dukeduring 1946-51, 1957-59 and1962. Baker was also part ofJohnny Hodges’ combo during1954-55. His lyrical style foundhim taking what used to beArthur Whetsol’s role withEllington. Before retiring in 1964,Shorty Baker led a quartet in theJonah Jones tradition at theMetropole and the Embers.

While Erskine Hawkins, ZiggyElman and Shorty Baker wouldform an excellent trumpetsection, Ward Kimball would havehad his work cut out for him asthe 1914 group’s onlytrombonist. A part-time musician,Kimball was an importantanimator for Walt Disney films inthe 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s. He andsome of his fellow animators,artists, writers and techniciansused to have lunchtime Dixielandjam sessions at Disney before itturned into a band. During 1949-69 the Firehouse Five Plus Tworecorded regularly for GoodTime Jazz. Their music may nothave been innovative but thepopular group (dressed infiremen uniforms) played spiritedDixieland that delightedaudiences.

There seems to have only beenone significant reed player whowas born in 1914, Tex Beneke. Hehad a rather odd career. A decenttenor-saxophonist, Beneke wasone of the stars of the GlennMiller Orchestra during 1938-42,taking short rhythmic solos andsinging in a genial and friendlymanner, becoming best knownfor his vocal on Chattanooga Choo

Choo. He served in the Navyduring 1943-44 and, upon hisdischarge, led the first GlennMiller ghost band during 1946-50,reportedly getting boredcontinually playing the Miller hits.But ironically when he went outon his own, he was unable toescape from the shadow ofGlenn Miller. Beneke spent hislast 50 years playing many of the

same songs that he had helpedmake famous during his fouryears with Miller, never growingas a musician or singer.

The four pianists in this mythicalband have little in common otherthan their birth year. Billy Kylehad a distinctive light touch whenhe was with the John KirbySextet. Although he tended to bevery predictable during his longperiod with the Louis ArmstrongAll-Stars, not varying his soloseven with the passing of years, hewas fun to hear anyway. GraemeBell was less known for his pianoplaying than for his leadership ofhis significant Australian revivalband, playing trad jazz not only inAustralia but in Europe andfortunately making many finerecordings. Billy Tipton was anobscure swing player who playedin the Midwest and the PacificNorthwest, cutting two little-known albums in 1957. It was notuntil after Tipton’s death that itwas revealed that thejourneyman male pianist wasactually a female in disguise,hiding her identity from virtuallyeveryone. Tipton apparently feltthat it would be easier to work inthe jazz world of the time as amale, but that was quite asacrifice!

The other pianist is Sun Ra, whowas always much more than justa piano player. Because Ra’sinfatuation with ancient Egyptand science fiction was reflectedin his inscrutable philosophy, hisband’s often-outlandish costumesand in his music, it was easy towrite him off. Sun Ra often didnot make it easy for others tofigure him out, releasing many ofhis sessions on his Saturn labelwithout recording dates orpersonnel listings so one couldnot figure out just how ahead ofhis time was. However Ra was asuperior keyboardist whoexperimented with electrickeyboards by the mid-1950s, wasa pioneer in the avant-garde, andloved in his later years toalternate free improvisations withcolourful revivals of FletcherHenderson arrangements.

The two bassists from 1914 bothhad long careers. Bob Haggartwas associated with Bob

HAPPY 100TH BIRTHDAY!SCOTT YANOW reviews the Class of 1914, jazz musicians who would have been 100 this year.

Crosby’s Bobcats and big bandfor quite a few years, and heteamed up with trumpeter YankLawson in both the Lawson-Haggart Band and the World’sGreatest Jazz Band. In addition tohis playing in Dixieland and swingsettings, Haggart was a skilledarranger and a composer wholeft us South Rampart Street

Parade, What’s New and Big Noise

From Winnetka.

Slam Stewart gave us the uniquesound of a bassist humming along(an octave higher) with hisbowed bass during solos.Whether with Slim Gaillard (asSlim and Slam), Benny Goodman,the Art Tatum Trio or late in lifewith the Newport All-Stars, SlamStewart displayed a timeless andwitty style.

Few drummers were asimportant to jazz’s evolution asKenny Clarke while being sofrequently overlooked. In theearly 1940s he moved the time-keeping role of the drums fromthe bass drum (Gene Krupa) orthe hi-hat (Jo Jones) to the ridecymbal. Rather than just statingthe beat, he played unusualaccents (called ‘bombs’) on thesnare and bass drums thatpushed soloists and ensembles.This became the established wayof playing drums in a bebopsetting as opposed to with aswing band. Clarke had alreadyestablished himself in the swingworld playing with Edgar Hayes,Roy Eldridge and Sidney Bechet.His work as the house drummerat Minton’s Playhouse solidified

the new way of playing drums.But because he spent much of1943-45 serving in the Army, andMax Roach rose to prominenceduring this time, Clarke lost hischance to be part of many classicCharlie Parker and DizzyGillespie recordings. He had along and productive career,including being an originalmember of the Modern JazzQuartet and co-leading a notablebig band with pianist FrancyBoland during his many yearsliving in Europe, but KennyClarke rarely received therecognition he deserved.

Also born in 1914 were LeeYoung and Barrett Deems. Young,who was Lester’s youngerbrother, was a solid swingdrummer who worked with FatsWaller, Benny Goodman, LionelHampton and Nat King Cole.However he spent much of hislife behind the scenes as an A&Rman for record labels, a studiomusician, and a record producer.Barrett Deems, who in the early1950s was billed as ‘the world’sfastest drummer’, worked withMuggsy Spanier and late in life ledhis own big band in Chicago. Heis best remembered for his longperiod in the 1950s as thedrummer with the LouisArmstrong All-Stars.

The singer for the 1914 band isBilly Eckstine, who would also bethe perfect bandleader. While hisinfluential baritone voice madehim a natural in the 1950s and‘60s on ballads and middle-of-the-road pop music, Eckstine willbe always be a hero in the jazzworld. After coming toprominence with the Earl Hinesbig band, in 1944 Eckstine formeda bop-oriented big band thatincluded Charlie Parker, DizzyGillespie, Art Blakey and many ofthe other upcoming bop players.After a year it was clear that hisorchestra was not going to be acommercial success and that hecould have a much more lucrativecareer as a single. Eckstine dug inhis heels and kept the big bandtogether for another two years,featuring such young greats asDexter Gordon, Gene Ammons,Fats Navarro, and Miles Davisbefore finally being forced to giveup.

Arranger for this orchestrawould be Eddie Sauter. While theSauter-Finegan Orchestra in the1950s (which he co-led with

fellow arranger Bill Finegan) hadsome success, the lack ofrestraint hurt their music.However when Sauter waswriting for bands led by RedNorvo, Artie Shaw and BennyGoodman, his adventurous chartswere tailored to specific sidemenand were magnificent. His 1961album with Stan Getz, Focus, is aclassic. It would be intriguing tohear him blend together TexBeneke and Ward Kimball withthe trumpet section.

Leonard Feather was the mostimportant jazz critic of his time,having a dominant role that nojazz journalist has assumed since.He also wrote songs (includingEvil Gal Blues), played basic piano,produced many important recordsessions, helped the careers ofDinah Washington and GeorgeShearing, had a radio show, wasthe jazz writer for the Los Angeles

Times, and gave us one of the firstmajor history of jazz books, The

Encyclopedia Of Jazz. While hehad his faults (he disliked tradjazz, fusion and the avant-gardeyet wrote about them regularly),he was a major contributor tojazz. He would be the perfectcandidate to review the 1914band!

Scott Yanow, who was not

around in 1914, is the author

of 11 books on jazz and

more than 750 liner notes.

He can be contacted at

scottyanowjazz@yahoo.com.

Note by Ron Simpson

Congratulations to Scott forputting together such aworkmanlike band, with a greattrumpet section and a first-classrhythm team of Sun Ra, SlamStewart and Kenny Clarke - I'dbe inclined to keep Bob Haggarton the books, too, to sharearranging duties with EddieSauter and to feed Billy Eckstinesongs like What's New and My

Inspiration.

Being a bit worried about thethinness of the trombone andreed departments, I checked outwhat the UK could offer. Trinidad-born, Venezuela-raised CarlBarriteau came to London, playedwith Ken 'Snakehips' Johnson(also born 1914 if our bandneeds a dancer), was regularlyvoted Britain's top clarinetist andthen emigrated to Australia. If heis something of a boost to thereeds, I am afraid I had no joywith the trombones. ThoughTommy McQuater, the doyen ofbig band trumpeters, was born in1914, his great compatriot,trombonist George Chisholm,dates from 1915.

And the UK can boast onesurviving jazzman born in 1914:bassist Coleridge Goode whosecareer has spanned most thingsfrom The Goon Show (as amember of the Ray EllingtonQuartet) to free jazz (with JoeHarriott).

Erskine

Hawkins

Slam Stewart

Sun Ra

10 11THE JAZZ RAG THE JAZZ RAG

THE TWO SIDES OF CURTIS STIGERS THE TWO SIDES OF CURTIS STIGERS

On Curtis Stigers’ websiteis a not wholly serious,but factually accurate,

Frequently Asked Questionspage. It begins, ‘Is this CurtisStigers the jazz singer or CurtisStigers who sings the Sons of

Anarchy theme song or CurtisStigers the pop/soulsinger/saxophonist from the1990s?’ The answer, of course, isthat it’s all of them. I never gotround to discussing Sons of

Anarchy with Curtis (which I hadto use Wikipedia to identify as avery successful television dramaseries about bikers), but certainlythe Curtis Stigers whose eighthjazz album for Concord, Hooray

for Love, was released at the endof April is the same man who 20years ago was playing Wembleywith the likes of Elton John andEric Clapton. And, although hehas done a sort of reverse careerswitch (most singers, if theychange course at all, move fromjazz to the better paying field ofpopular music), what isinteresting is that the twostrands, at least, have been therefrom boyhood.

Growing up in Boise, Idaho, in the1970s, Curtis was in love withthe radio – and the pop musicchannels played a huge variety ofmaterial, so he found himselfresponding to performers asdiverse as Joni Mitchell and LedZeppelin, Willie Nelson andChuck Mangione. Besides theradio he owed much to the Boiseschool system which servedmusic very well, with jazz bandsin the schools. His own musicmaking had two strands: heplayed drums, crashing about torock music in the cellar, and alsostudied clarinet, later graduatingto saxophone, which led himmore in the direction of jazz. Amajor stroke of luck for theyoung Stigers was the prematureretirement to Boise of the greatjazz pianist, Gene Harris. Theword went round that he wasplaying every Tuesday in the lobbyof an old hotel in the city andholding open house, so theteenager took advantage:

‘There was alcohol being servedthere, but at 14 or 15 I could gothere because it was an openlobby. Gene Harris used to

encourage us to play – we didstock tunes like Blues Bossa andAll Blues. We probably weren’tvery good, but we wereenthusiastic and Gene waswonderful to play with – he spoiltme for other jazz pianists foryears afterwards. Much later hewas to ask me to play with himon record which was a greathonour.’

Curtis talks of early jazzinfluences on him at this time asbeing the fusion of HerbieHancock, Chick Corea andMichael Brecker, graduating tothe Dave Brubeck Quartet (whohe describes, interestingly, as‘conceptual, not too challenging’)and Miles Davis. Among singershe was lucky enough to hearregularly in Boise were the likesof Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgeraldand Bobby McFerrin, but themain influence was Mark Murphy:

‘For a year and a half I tried tosound exactly like Mark Murphy.My music teacher took some ofus to hear him in Seattle and Igot to sing for him. When I askedhim what he thought, he said,“That was great,” then verydramatically, “but throw away allmy records!” I didn’t throw themaway, of course, but I stoppedlistening to them for a while andstarted to sound more likemyself.’

When Curtis Stigers left Idahofor New York City in 1987, themajor change that came over hismusic was that he learned howto write songs. As he says,everyone was writing their ownsongs in New York at the time –he cites Elton John and JoniMitchell as two of his heroesfrom that time – , but he stilldescribes the group he had in arestaurant on the Upper WestSide as ‘a little jazz trio’, doingmaterial from Ellington, SteelyDan, Big Joe Turner and, ofcourse, Curtis Stigers. This wasnot big-time, big money, hementions riding the subway towork, but in 1991 it all turnedround.

Record producers having foundtheir way to eating on the UpperWest Side, at the age of 24Curtis Stigers was catapulted out

of obscurity with three hitsingles, two of them, I Wonder

Why and You’re All that Matters to

Me, worldwide hits, peakingaround Number 5 in the UK. Atthis point Curtis’ eclectic musicalbackground, generally such anadvantage, started causingproblems. For 2 ½ years hereckons that he and AristaRecords boss, Clive Davis, didnothing but say no to each other!The record company, notunusually, wanted more of thesame ‘blue-eyed soul middle-of-the road’ records; Curtis waslooking for something different.

Eventually the days of stadiumconcerts faded and Curtis founda new home at ConcordRecords. This was brought aboutpartly by the return to the sceneof his early mentor, Gene Harris.Harris had been lured out ofretirement in Boise by the greatbassist, Ray Brown, and wasrecording regularly on Concord.Curtis sang with him on some

tracks and through him met JohnBurk of Concord Records. Theresult of that was the release in2001 of Baby Plays Around, alreadyrecorded in the Arista years, withsuch talents as Larry Goldings,Randy Brecker and AdamNussbaum.

Larry Goldings has figured a fairamount in Curtis Stigers’Concord output, aspianist/organist/arranger, but noton Hooray for Love which featureshis working band of MatthewFries (piano), Cliff Schmitt (bass)and Keith Hall (drums), plus whatCurtis calls ‘a couple of ringers’,the fine guitarist Matt Munisteriand trumpeter John ‘Scrapper’Sneider who co-produces. The upand coming French singer CyrilleAimee, joins him for one song,the Sinatra favourite You Make me

Feel So Young.

Hooray for Love is something of aside-step in Curtis’ jazz albums.Hitherto, in between his own

THE TWO SIDES OF CURTIS STIGERSRON SIMPSON talks to CURTIS STIGERS about his multiple careers in music.

songs, he has tended to give atimeless treatment to prettymodern material: Bob Dylan,maybe, or Steve Earle, ElvisCostello or Ray Davies, MerleHaggard or Lennon andMacartney. His 2005 album, IThink it’s Going to Rain, took itstitle from a Randy Newman song.He even identifies a modern folkfeel to his previous album.

Despite a superb reading of SteveEarle’s Valentine’s Day, Hooray for

Love flips over much more intothe Great American Songbook.Regularly playing on Curtis’website is a lovely version of Love

is Here to Stay and the album alsocontains the likes of The Way You

Look Tonight, That’s All and If I Were

a Bell. And the title track, Isuggest, not having heard thatone? Not so, says Curtis, this isan original, and he accidentallystole the title from Harold Arlenand Leo Robin:

‘I wrote it a few years ago. I hadbeen through a bad timeemotionally with my divorce andI had just found a new partner. Afriend of mine sent me a nicemessage and signed off, “Hoorayfor Love”. What a great title for asong, I thought, not knowing thatHarold Arlen had thought thesame 60 years before!’

As it happens, Arlen and Robinhad stolen the title anyway –from Dorothy Fields and JimmyMcHugh who wrote the firstHooray for Love in the 1930s.What other changes will wenotice on the new album? Curtissays he wanted to set more of a1950s template to theperformances. Whereas on mostof his Concord albums, tracksstretch out to, maybe, sevenminutes and the musicians haveroom to develop solos over time,he has looked to go back to 3 or4 minute performances, withsoloists making their impact in afew bars. Most importantly, he’stried to put the songs first. He isinterested in the stories thesongs tell and not anyembellishment he can add, nochorus after chorus of scat – ‘I’mdone with showing off,’ is hisdisarming comment.

You can find all that in the afore-mentioned version of Love is Here

to Stay, emotional, butstraightforward, restrained, withplenty of space for the movinglyrics Ira Gershwin wrote after

his brother’s death. JohnSneider’s brief trumpet solorecalls the days when soloists hadto make their point in four bars.

Fortunately for UK audiences,Curtis Stigers is a frequent visitorhere, describing Ronnie Scott’s inLondon as his ‘second home’ andplaying there regularly each year.This year a flying visit to theCheltenham Jazz Festival (May 5)comes first, launching Hooray for

Love. A longer stay starts withRonnie Scott’s (June 23-28) andincludes dates at the Hop FarmMusic Festival (July 5) and theLove Supreme Festival (July 6).

My impression is that Curtiswould be happy to sing withoutcategories, without barriers – aquick trawl of Youtube finds himstill performing his 20-year-oldhits with his jazz group – but hisdate-sheet in the States placeshim in such well-known jazzvenues and festivals as Seattle’sJazz Alley, the Vail Jazz Festival andthe Blue Note Jazz Festival inNew York. Interesting, also, to seehim returning to his roots withthe second McCall Jazz Festival inIdaho.

There is no sign that CurtisStigers misses the days of

performing at Wembley Stadium– despite wry comments aboutfinding the way not to get rich –and he still sounds surprised itever happened. His enthusiasmfor the material he is recordingand performing now and the jazzmusicians he has had the chanceto work with seems genuine andunforced. And the jazz world canalways do with a stylish,unaffected, thoroughlyprofessional singer who puts thesong first – and can be relied onfor a neat saxophone phrase ortwo.

www.curtisstigers.com

12 13THE JAZZ RAG THE JAZZ RAG

RETRIEVING THE MEMORIES RETRIEVING THE MEMORIES

Arecent reissue on DigbyFairweather’s RoseCottage label, Vocal with

Hot Accomp, recorded in 1986,features the talents of Chris Ellis,described by Digby as a ‘greatjazz singer’ and, in a memorablephrase, ‘quietly incomparable’. Inhis tall narrow house just off thePrinsengracht in Amsterdam,Chris dismisses such talk, insiststhe album was just supposed tobe a private recording and claimsthat, if he’d known it would seethe public light of day, he wouldhave wanted to do re-takes onthree tracks.

What is beyond dispute is thatthis is the only album in Chris’name, though he shows up on afair number of recordings underother people’s names. The mostrecent of these is Moon Country

on Challenge from 1999. Thiscollection of Hoagy Carmichaelsongs was put together by suchold friends of Chris as DigbyFairweather, John Barnes andMartin Litton. Chris producedand sang some numbers – ‘Thatwas Digby’s doing’, he grumbles, ‘Ihadn’t sung for years and I wasn’tsupposed to sing so many.’

So how do we square the circleof a great jazz singer who hassuch limited output? Digby, onthe same liner note, thinks he hasthe answer, ‘Chris’ inbuilt senseof modesty’. Chris, predictably,has a different (and very modest)answer when asked why he neverbecame a full-time professional:

‘I didn’t think I’d got enoughtalent to go full-time. I wasn’t abad singer at all, but I had enoughexperience to know thedifference between a goodcompetent singer and somebodywho had that extra bit of magic.And I didn’t think I had that.’

What is also true is that Chris,now in his mid 80s, has worn anynumber of hats during his careerin music. One wall of the livingroom is completely covered bycarefully packaged 78s – this is aserious collector! In his time inrecording and music publishinghe has launched record labels,

thought up hit shows, puttogether various highly regardedbands and recorded two ex-BixBeiderbecke trombonists! Thefirst thing he says to me, veryemphatically, makes clear that hisinvolvement in music is wide-ranging:

‘I’ve never been totally confinedto jazz. Jazz comes Number 1 – ifsomebody said to me I couldonly have one kind of music, itwould have to be jazz. But I wasbrought up with a lot of othermusic before I even knew therewas jazz – and the fact that Icame to love jazz didn’t mean Iceased to love show music,ancient films and all the rest of it.’

As if to prove the point, hepoints proudly to the staircasewhere there is a photograph ofhim with Ginger Rogers (whomhe found delightful to record) –and, when I’m leaving, the newChallenge release that he thrustsinto my hand is a handsomelyproduced CD/DVD of Schubert’sWinterreise.

Indeed Chris’ early musicalinterests had nothing to do withjazz:

‘I’ve been singing as long as I’velived. I learnt to read from recordlabels. I had an awful lot of unclesand aunts and my mother, mysister and I lived with mygrandmother. The house we livedin had a huge cellar – it was avery old house – and it had aproper dance floor because ithad been used as a dancingacademy years before. Myyoungest uncle was permanentlypart-paralysed and had to betreated exactly like a six-foot tallbaby. One of my early jobs beforeI was three was winding thegramophone and putting recordson for Uncle Douggie – it had tobe happy – sad music wouldmake him cry. So I’d have to findTiptoe Through the Tulips orwhatever else he asked for.

‘My mother discovered very earlyon that, if it was a musical, I couldbe taken to the cinema and I’d sitthere absolutely entranced, not

wanting ice creams or to go tothe toilet, and I could come outand sing all the songs. I alwayshad a freak memory for tunesand lyrics. In later years, when Iwas getting a soundtrack albumout and they sent me the wrongstuff, I could remember all thefive songs in Top Hat, what wenton during them and so on – and Ihadn’t seen the film since 1935or 1936.’

The first encounter with jazzcame in wartime. A complicatedtale of his grandmother movingto London, followed byevacuation, meant that Chrisbecame re-acquainted after alapse of time with the pile ofrecords he had been allowed toplay – the ‘best’ ones (Carusoand that) were off limits!

‘There was a record in there thathadn’t been there before. Whereit came from I never found out.But it was a Brunswick of RedNichols and His Five Pennies:Original Dixieland One Step andImagination. When I played this,something hit me in the pit of thestomach, but this was one record– I didn’t know there wasanything else like this. Shortlyafterwards an uncle by marriagegot killed in the Air Force. Hiswidow gave me a pack of hisrecords, mainly just pre-warpops, but amongst them was BobCrosby’s Jazz Me Blues andWashington and Lee Swing. Thenby sheer luck I came across Radio

Rhythm Club – I was allowed tolisten to that, a great concession,because generally my parentshated that sort of stuff. So now Iwas finding out what this thingcalled jazz was.

‘Getting hold of records wasanother matter – the stock inrecord shops was poor becauseof the lack of shellac and whatthey’d got was the latest popsand not a lot else. They used tobuy in records for scrap – threeha’pence for a 10 inch, tuppencefor a 12 inch. One day I went intoour local record shop to get outof the rain and was chatting tothe assistant when in comes a

guy with a pile of records to sell.Before it went through the till Inoticed the top record was anAmerican Victor – I had neverseen an American Victor! – Royal

Garden Blues and Dangerous Blues

by the Original Dixieland JazzBand. I managed to walk awaywith eight records for a shillingbefore the owner got back!’

Chris Ellis as record collectorwas on his way, visiting junkshops and markets. Whatastonished me was that, 70 yearsafter the event, apart from thefew he described as of nointerest to him, he was able to gothrough the 78s he picked upthat day: bands (ODJB, OriginalMemphis Five, Boyd Senter,Benson Orchestra of Chicago,‘Thomas Waller with Morris’sHot Babies’), titles of both sidesand record labels.

The debut of Chris Ellis as apublic performer came inShrewsbury one New Year’s Eveduring the war. Heading for thelocal dance, the 16-year-old Ellisdetoured to the pub with someolder companions and arrived atthe dance with inhibitionsloosened by the unfamiliar intakeof beer:

‘At the dance was a local band,Kath Cannon and theCannonballs. She played violinand saxophone – a moot pointwhich was worse! Nothing woulddo for our group but Kath wouldplay One Meat Ball which was ahit for the Andrews Sisters at thetime. She said, “We’ve got theorchestration, we need a singer. Ifone of you wants to come upand sing it, we’ll play it.” I was the

RETRIEVING THE MEMORIESRON SIMPSON pays a visit to Amsterdam to meet CHRIS ELLIS, jazz singer, record collector,

recording executive, radio presenter and man about music, once of EMI, now of Challenge and

Retrieval Records in Amersfoort.

only one who knew all thewords, I’d had a couple of drinks,so I got pushed up behind themike. Later on Kath wanted meto do another one and said, “Findone you like.” So I got out whatwas probably the oldestorchestration, but something Iknew and liked, Ain’t Misbehavin’.The following Saturday we wentto the dance and I did the sametwo numbers. At the end of theevening Kath said to me, “Do youwant to get your dances free and10 shillings a week?”. 10 shillingsa week was half my weekly wagesand so I started singing with KathCannon – whatever I was told tosing, mostly current pop songs,but it was good practice.’

When Chris was called up forNational Service, luck intervenedand he was pulled off the draft toSingapore and seconded to theWar Office – saved by hisshorthand skills, apparently! Hearrived in London at a time whenthe jazz world was full of youngaspirants, now household names:

‘I’d already been to London tosee the last concert of GeorgeWebb’s Dixielanders. NowHumph had taken over and everySaturday I was either listening tohim at 100 Oxford Street or theCooksferry Inn. If Humph was ina really good mood, there werethree of us he might let sing withthe band. There was “BunnyBum” (George Melly), there wasBeryl Bryden, but I didn’t getmuch of a chance because Berylwould push her way inanywhere!’

Back in Shrewsbury Kath hadretired and Chris sang for a timewith the band led by EstherBennett, her son Denis doing thefirst arrangements of standardsactually tailored to Chris’ singing!Then Mike Farren arrived intown to work on the Shrewsbury

Chronicle. Mike was a Bix-styletrumpeter and the two of themformed a traditional jazz band,the Magnolia Jazz Band, which didpretty well locally with Chris incharge of management andrepertoire as well as vocals.

The move to London came in1960 at the age of 30. He was‘bored out of his head’ running adistribution depot for ice creamand he was no longer involvedwith the Magnolia Jazz Band, soShrewsbury had gone sour forhim:

‘Mike Farren died very suddenly,very young, some sort of blooddisease. It was a great shock!Apart from being a very goodtrumpeter, he was a very nice guyand it knocked the stuffing out ofme. And I packed it in – thetrombone player took the bandover and kept it running forabout 30 years!’

Determined to get a career inmusic, Chris wrote to the majorrecord companies and eventuallyreceived a job offer from EMI, butwhat a job! Chris describes it asa gopher: he became a 30-year-old office boy. The pay was lessthan he was getting with Lyonsand he had to findaccommodation in Londoninstead of living at home. In asentence Chris repeats manytimes in our conversation,‘Everyone said, “You’re mad.”’

In his 20 years at EMI beforebeing made redundant, Chrisprogressed through variousdepartments before being handedtwo hot potatoes, World RecordClub and Music for Pleasure,which had already been turneddown by more senior figures.

The bargain Music for Pleasurelabel was the result of theChairman’s enthusiasm for a rackjob label of the sort he had seenin the States; in other words, acollection of LPs that could fill arack and go anywhere, notnecessarily in record shops. Inthose far-off times records, oddly,were mostly sold in recordshops, not mail order (WRC) orat filling stations (MFP). As anaside, Chris reckons that there isnow just one record shop left inthe city of Amsterdam.

With severe limits on budget andrepertoire, Chris had to rely oningenious stratagems to makeMFP viable. Sadly jazz had littlepart to play in them: in theseyears his main involvement in jazzfor EMI was the Parlophone JazzSeries which he was permitted todo so long as he did it in his owntime (Sundays), spent very littleand continued to make money onother things.

Chris’ breakthrough at MFP camewhen he was allowed to makenew recordings: £1,000 budgetfor each album, no stars, reducedroyalties (if any) for theperformers. The answer herealised was genre recordings,

music identified by type, no starsneeded:

‘One day I discovered that ourPress Officer, Sid Gillingham,played Hawaiian guitar and had aHawaiian band as a hobby. Wewent into Abbey Road on aSunday and knocked off 12tracks. It was our first millionseller! Sid Gillingham wasn’t aname to sell records, the BeachBoys were high in the charts, so Iput “Waikiki” in front – WaikikiBeach Boys! We had three millionsellers before that bubble burst!’

Cashing in on the popularity ofZorba the Greek became possiblewhen Chris found a Greekrestaurant in Charlotte Streetwith a bouzouki player. Thestories of Chris’ coups andducking and diving for MFP flowthick and fast, but these were notenough to save him fromredundancy in 1980, though, aftera spell free-lancing, he foundhimself being headhunted by EMI– the Publishing Department thistime – for a further stint. In theseyears Chris was running severalcareers simultaneously. He did acouple of series of his own radioshow, Before the Rock Set In, andregularly depped for legendarybroadcaster Alan Dell on The Big

Band Sound and Dance Band Days.

When he first came to London,Chris had decided, withcustomary modesty, to lie low asa singer. Chance, of course,stepped in. One regular featureof Chris’ reminiscences is thenumber of people who heregards himself lucky to have metas friends and musicians –recording executives are the onlyclass of people to make himwaspish – and, when he firstcame to EMI, he encounteredNeville Skrimshire who wasworking in publicity and wasEMI’s ‘jazz expert’. Skrim becamean important mentor and friend,introducing him to the ‘innercircle’ of jazz collectors, BrianRust, John R. T. Davies and RonJewson:

‘One day Skrim said, “I’ve got agig tonight. Come along, youmight enjoy it.” It was Alan Leatrunning it in a pub on the OldBrompton Road and it was DaveShepherd, the lovely Fred Huntand Al Wynette on trumpet. Itbecame a regular Thursday eventand one time I brought a groupof friends including a girl who

asked me if I thought they’d playat her birthday party. They didand there were some peoplethere who knew me as a singer,so I ended up doing a fewnumbers with the band – andafter that I sang regularly withthem.’

I sometimes think Chrisoverdoes the element ofserendipity, of friends whohappen to force him on to thestage. Despite his genuinemodesty I think he was probablymore strongly motivated than hesuggests. There is no doubt,however, of his gratefuladmiration for the musicians hehas worked with. One time hecomments on how lucky he hasbeen with his three regularpianists: Fred Hunt, Martin Littonand Keith Nichols. At this stage,though, it was a guitarist he reliedon in his weekly gig which ran formany years at Peter Boizot’sHamburger Heaven, again in theOld Brompton Road:

‘We had a trio with Alan Leatand, of course, Skrim. He wasn’t agreat soloist, but his time wasimmaculate – if Skrim was behindyou, you could lean back on thebeat, you were safe. Then therewould be somebody like AlWynette or John Altman. Johnwas amazing on all the reeds, butespecially on baritone sax. WhenI was singing, say, September in the

Rain, John would be behind meon baritone and he’d be quotingfrom other songs, but every songhe’d quote from would also be byHarry Warren!’

Chris is obviously particularlyproud of the work he did withDick Sudhalter when theAmerican was based for someyears in London – and onceagain, it appears, chance played amajor part:

When I was

singing, say,

September in the

Rain, John would be

behind me on

baritone and he’d

be quoting from

other songs, but

every song he’d

quote from would

also be by Harry

Warren!’

Cashing in on

the popularity

of Zorba the Greek

became possible

when Chris found a

Greek restaurant in

Charlotte Street

with a bouzouki

player.

14 15THE JAZZ RAG THE JAZZ RAG

RETRIEVING THE MEMORIES RETURN TO CANNES - MIDEM (PART 2)

RETURN TO CANNES - MIDEM (PART 2)‘Laurie Wright of Storyville

magazine rang me up and said,“There’s this American guy who’sbeen in Germany, but now he’scoming to London, and he’s avery good trumpet player, a bit inthe Bix line. I thought it would bea nice idea for you to puttogether an ad hoc band for a gigat the Lord Rookwood.” I got onto John R.T., Keith Nichols andSkrim, of course, and we playedthe gig. We all got on sobeautifully and it all went so wellthat we felt we couldn’t leave itat that.”

Laurie had originally billed theband as the Anglo-American AllStars, but, as you would imagine,Chris took against that and thename was changed to Anglo-American Alliance, known to itsmembers as ‘The Tuesday Band’because every Tuesday they gottogether at John R. T.’s studio torehearse, had a wonderful timeand occasionally got a paying gig!Highlights of their time togetherincluded meeting, playing withand recording Bill Rank, Bix’strombonist on the famous Okehsessions. Then there was EvaTaylor, 1920s blues singer andwife of pianist/songwriterClarence Williams. Finallytempted to sing a song or twoafter 20 years layoff, Eva becameso enthused that she cancelled atrip to the Continent and madeher public comeback at the LordRookwood with the Anglo-American Alliance:

‘Her voice wasn’t what it hadbeen, but, my word, she was still astar! She was singing songs shehadn’t done for years and on Red

Hot Flo (from Kokomo) which werecorded I’m actually sitting ather feet mouthing the lyrics toher, not that you’d know it fromher performance.’

The second phase of theassociation with Sudhalter beganwhen Dick went back to theStates to research his Bix bookand rang Chris one day to say hehad come across the PaulWhiteman archive at WilliamsCollege, Massachusetts, thewhole library, includingunrecorded material. The bookneeded an orchestra of 30musicians – highly unlikely, to saythe least – and Chris dismissed itas a beautiful pipe-dream untilDick rang again to say that hehad got a booking for theopening night of the Camden Jazz

Festival – and would Chris fix theBritish musicians?

The result was a sell-out concertfor the New Paul WhitemanOrchestra and further bookingsat the Queen Elizabeth Hall andFairfield Hall, a television special,radio shows and a recordingdate. There was even talk of atour of Europe until somebodydid the maths for a 30-pieceorchestra. Chris’ role in this –even more than singing andcompering the live show – wasselecting musicians based aroundsection leaders who knew theWhiteman style and phrasing –the principal violinist apparentlywas an old friend of MattyMalneck who took a similar rolewith Whiteman and was also aprolific composer/arranger. Andhow convincing was it?

‘Alan Dell rang me one day andsaid, “Come in for theprogramme, I’m doing somethingI think you’ll like.” Half waythrough The Big Band Sounds heput on the original Whitemanrecording of From Monday On

and, where it segues into thevocal, on that bridge, he cut intoour recording – one straightplaying cut – and you couldn’t tellit wasn’t the same record exceptthat it opened into stereo andthere was me instead of BingCrosby!’

At this stage in the story events

begin pointing Chris towards theNetherlands where he has nowlived for 20 years. Two years afterthe original New Paul WhitemanOrchestra concerts a radiostation in the Netherlandsapproached him for a Whitemancentenary tribute with the radiobig band. They wished to bookDick Sudhalter, but he hadreturned to the States, so Chrisgot Digby Fairweather insteadand also Danny Moss and JeannieLambe. While waiting to go on(‘I’d got a dressing room tomyself with a star on the door –the only time!’), Chris hadvisitors. One was Harry Costerwho had a label calledGrannyphone and presentedChris with two Paul WhitemanLPs as thanks for his work forParlophone. As you do, Chris saidhe should look him up next timehe came to London. The manyDutch visitors that ensuedformed the nucleus of Chris’circle of friends and workassociates in the Netherlands.

Another gig in the Netherlands,more visitors. Chris hadrecorded Keith Nichols and theMidnite Follies Orchestra and,when singer Johnny M droppedout for a while to do a show withDenis Waterman, who did Keithturn to for a gig at the North SeaJazz Festival? This time, along withluminaries of the Dutch jazzrecord scene, Chris met yetanother ex-Bix trombonist,

Spiegel Willcox with whom helater made two CDs, one with hisown Challenge label.

With more and more of his workin the Netherlands Chris movedto Amsterdam 20 years ago.Everyone said, ‘You’re mad’ asusual, but why? There are notraffic jams between Heathrowand Schiphol. He worked forsome time with TimelessRecords, especially on the ChrisBarber Collection which, in fact,was drawn from the collectionsof John R. T. Davies and ChrisEllis. Then came the next ‘you’remad’ moment, investing hissavings in the new record labelChallenge. While it hardlyrepresents the safest investmentat the present moment,Challenge is still operating andproducing quality product – andwhat more can you ask of arecord company in thesestraitened times?

Apart from CDs referred to

in the article, readers may be

interested in Dick Sudhalter:

Legacy 1967-2001

(Challenge) which includes

tracks by, among others, the

Anglo-American Alliance,

the New Paul Whiteman

Orchestra, Eva Taylor and Bill

Rank.

In Jazz Rag 130 YUE YANG

began her report on ‘the

best MIDEM for many a

year’, with 6150 international

delegates braving the

unseasonably wet weather at

Cannes for the music

industry’s most important

international event of the

year.

Now she completes her

survey of the international

music scene.

IRD International Records ofMilan, long known for their Bluesas well as Jazz releases, wererepresented by CEO SimoneVeronelli whose Midem bag wasstuffed full with an exceptionallywide range of excellentrecordings. From catalogue itemssuch as Dinah Washington andJohn Coltrane to Danishsongstress Katrine Madsen, U.S.bopper Jerry Bergonzi, Detroittenorman J.D. Allen and a wholebunch of great blues recordingsincluding Magic Sam, Billy Branchand Shawn Holt - son of thelegendary Magic Slim and nowleader of his Dad’s band, TheTeardrops. As well as distributingan impressive roster of labels,IRD have their own imprint‘Appaloosa Records’ with a veryinteresting current releasefeaturing singer and guitaristGreg Trooper with a hefty bandon Incident On Willow Street.

Formed in 1952, Copenhagen-based Storyville Records areEurope’s oldest independent jazzlabel and that’s someachievement. Not resting on theirlaurels they were active at Midemin the form of Director MonaGranager bearing the high qualityjazz releases the jazz world hascome to expect from this label. In2010 Jazzhus Montmartre re-opened in their original premisesin Copenhagen where so manyleading jazz players graced thatstage between 1959 and itsclosure in 1976, with the firmresolve to re-establish itsreputation as one of Europe’sleading jazz clubs. Unsurprisngly,Storyville has entered acollaboration to record a seriesof live sessions at the famousclub. The first releases to belaunched at Midem, both entitledLive At Montreux are impressive,the first featuring Eddie Gomez

and Carsten Dahl and the secondThe Nikolaj Bentzon Trio. Othernew Storyville releases on paradeincluded The Eleventh Hour bySigurdur Flosason CopenhagenQuartet and Here’s To Love bysinger Clara Vuust.

Midem ever-present HolgerPeterson of Edmonton, Canada’sStony Plain Records was clearlydelighted at the label beingnamed by The Blues Foundation,as the 2014 recipient of TheKeeping the Blues Alive Award, sowell done that man. Holger wasat Midem with an armful ofgoodies including the impressiveRory Block release Avalon whereshe eloquently tributes the workof Mississippi John Hurt, the 4threlease in her Mentor Series [SonHouse, Mississippi FredMcDowell and Reverend GaryDavis were her previoussubjects]. Lovely stuff. Over afour decade career, there’s not alot that guitarist Amos Garretthasn’t done. He’s appeared onover 150 recordings by otherpeople including Paul Butterfield,Bonnie Raitt, Maria Muldaur,Emmylou Harris and BobbyCharles. Now he’s got a jazzrelease on Stony Plain with hisTrio. Spread The Love is theseventh Ronnie Earl and TheBroadcasters Stony Plain album –and it’s a cracking mix of down-home rocking blues from the ex-Roomful of Blues guitar man. Incontrast, Monkeyjunk’s All

Frequencies release is their labeldebut. Out of Ottawa,Monkeyjunk deliver solid bluesand boogie convincingly, despitenot carrying a bass guitarist, citingas precedents that Hound DogTaylor didn’t and neither didLittle Walter on occasion.

Lithuanian singer GiedreKilciauskiene and pianist AndrejPolevikov charmed Birminghamaudiences at the 2013 JazzFestival, and here they were atMidem with their impressiveQuartet album Jazz Miniatures

and seemingly garnering muchinterest at the Lithuania stand.Also playing Brum’s jazz fest lastyear were the quaintly namedSheep Got Waxed, a fiery andvery original guitar, saxophone,drums trio whose in-your-facejazz punk, invariably played atnear-impossible tempos instantlypolarised opinion. This time, I’m

on the side of the musicanarchists, I loved them and wasdelighted to see them featuredon the excellent Note Lithuania

sampler CD.

Just along from Lithuania, inMidem terms that is, was theCzech Republic stand wheremuch of the activity was basedaround Czech Dreams, whereCzech music of all styles is beingenergetically promoted Europe-wide, kicking off at Midem. Muchof the jazz activity was centredaround Ondrej Havelka and hisMelody Makers. Andrej is a loose-limbed hokum tap dancer whoalso takes on the mantle ofcrooner in front of his 16 piecevintage swing band. Thedemonstration film is fascinating,full of good humour, tightarrangements, some fiery soloistsre-creating 1920s big band swingwith remarkable authenticity anda clear understanding andaffection for the music. They’reset to play London this summer,so watch this space. FollowingMidem, Czech Dreams haveagreed to support theappearance of Jazzband VelkeLosiny at BirminghamInternational Jazz & Blues Festivalin July.

Blues-rooted Black and TanRecords from Holland camearmed with an impressivecollection flying under the flagKeeping Living Music Alive acommendable ambition. Theyhave 39 CD releases to date,look out for Tangled Eye, RoscoeChenier, Boo Boo Davis andmore.

Midem regular Richard Chalk ofTopcat Records from Dallas,Texas had an unusual offering inan album of Tom Jobin melodiesperformed by Alex RossiQuartet, a lyrical harmonicavirtuoso unashamedly waving theToots Thielemans flag. Recordedin Belgium, mixed in Brazil andmastered in Nashville it is abeautifully crafted piece of musicand worth seeking out. I hadpreviously known of Rossi as ablues player – so this wassomething of a surprise. Topcatare celebrating their 20th year,with a double CD of what we’vecome to expect from them, andthat’s the Blues. 20th Anniversary

Blues Extravaganza is 40 tracks of

rough and rocking down homeblues including tracks fromMuddy Waters, Big Walter,Hollywood Fats, Johnny Nicholas,an occasional pop-up guitar fromlabel boss Richard Chalk and –surprisingly – a spot on a PhilGuy track for the above-mentioned Alex Rossi onharmonica.

Canadian singer and guitaristMatt Anderson is no stranger toour shores having played UK clubtours, but his upcomingWeightless album on True NorthRecords is a real eye-opener.Strong songs, beefy Joe Cocker-influenced vocals and a distinctiveLeon Russell-style sixties feel of aproduction. Matt wasrepresented at Midem by TrueNorth President Geoff Kulawick.

Berlin-based Blackbird Musicmade its Midem debut with acatalogue of jazz and bluesrecordings, many of thememanating from the companyowned-studio of the same name,operated by musician, producerand industry veteran AndreasHommelsheim. He also fronts thejazz/rock/blues fusion combo B3on their Back to My Roots CD. Astandout album for me is theirNo Man’s Land album by Dutchsinger Qeaux Qeaux Joans whobears comparison with the likesof Norah Jones and AmyWinehouse and has alreadyalbum-charted in Holland. Lookout also for the gutsy HammondB3-based combo of The LuckyPeterson Band with Live at the 55

Arts Club Berlin. Photo by Ron Simpson

Jazzband Velke Losiny

16 17THE JAZZ RAG THE JAZZ RAG

THE CHANGING WORLD OF JAZZ FESTIVALS THE CHANGING WORLD OF JAZZ FESTIVALS

SWANSEA – A NEW

FESTIVAL IN

TOWN!

The inaugural SwanseaInternational Jazz Festival (June20-22) has developed fromSwansea Jazzland which organiserDavid Cottle has been runningfor 16 years. Though, as headmits, the ‘international’element is fairly limited – theonly all-American band is JeffLorber Fusion – the line-up forthe first Swansea festival isimpressive and varied.

A unifying feature is the SwanseaWaterfront, with three mainvenues – all compact at around200 capacity: the Dylan ThomasTheatre, the Dylan ThomasCentre and the NationalWaterfront Museum. In additioneight further venues in the area

stage some 30 free events overthe three days.

This is a particularly appropriateyear for a new arts venture inSwansea – Dylan Thomas’centenary – and his name figuresfreely in the festival venues, butDavid has resisted the temptationto forge some spurious linkbetween the jazz festival and thegreat South Walian poet. Insteadhe has put together a packedprogramme from (roughly)midday to late on all three days,with many of Britain’s finest inthe line-up.

The first event is aimed firmly atthe next generation. Musiciansfrom the area’s schools will bebrought together for a big bandworkshop led by Alan Barnes andBruce Adams, culminating in ashort concert by the SouthWales Schools Big Band. Bruce

and Alan are also takinginstrumental workshops thefollowing day, as is David’sbrother, Laurence Cottle, onSunday. All three figure on theconcert programme, too, Bruceand Alan in their quintet,Laurence as part of the bands ofNigel Hitchcock and ClaireMartin.

The above gives a flavour of the

calibre of British musiciansinvolved. A further sample comesup with such varied names thePete Allen Jazz Band, HuwWarren, Remi Harris, the MidlandYouth Jazz Orchestra, SimonSpillett and Tipitina before thefestival ends in a burst of jazzfunk from Protect the Beat andShakatak.

www.sijf.co.uk

TITLEY RETURNS

Titley Jazz Festival (July 25-27) isa fairly new festival, but hit itsstride early to become anestablished part of the jazz scene.Maybe this had something to dowith the fact that David Masterssaw it as a successor to the sadlydeparted Appleby Jazz Festival,not an Appleby clone, but afestival that would fill thatparticular gap. Starting out at theformer Titley Junction railwaystation in Herefordshire, thefestival soon moved over theborder to the Rodd, an artscentre in woodland nearPresteigne in Powys. Theopposite to the sort of festivalthat takes over a town centre,Titley emphasises on-site parkingand camping!

The Titley mission statement tellsus that ‘the overriding ambitionof the festival is to present thecream of British modern jazz’ andit does that by means of 14 2-hour concerts following eachother in rapid succession on asingle performing area. Thegroups are a mix of regulargroups and ad hoc arrangements,the same musicians recurring indifferent settings. The Titley JazzSextet which plays the finalconcert sums up the sort ofmusicians associated with thefestival: Alan Barnes, Don Weller,Art Themen, David Newton,Andrew Cleyndert and SteveBrown.

With such names as Peter King,Dave Green, Jim Mullen, AnitaWardell and Steve Waterman on

the bill, it’s obvious that Titleygoes for musicians of provenquality: the ‘modern’ tag doesn’timply booking the latest, possiblytemporary sensation. However,David Masters’ programmingmakes more than a nod in thedirection of the rising generation.One very sad omission from thisyear’s programme is the late StanTracey who was scheduled topresent a Duke Ellington tribute.Instead the festival will open withthe Brownfield/Byrne QuintetPlays Ellington, the almost-localyoung group augmented by Titleyveteran Alan Barnes, and Sundayafternoon features the NationalYouth Jazz Orchestra Plays DukeEllington and Count Basie.

Even the ‘modern’ tag is notinviolable in the interests of

freshness and variety. On the finalevening Enrico Tomasso presentSalute to Satch, with RobertFowler, Adrian Fry, CraigMilverton, Dave Green andBobby Worth.

www.titleyjazz.com

LE TOUR DE JAZZ

Burton Agnes Jazz and BluesFestival is regularly known for itsfriendly atmosphere and elegantsetting in and around theElizabethan mansion in EastYorkshire. This year an addedbonus, together with an attractiveprogramme of jazz and blues, isits status as an official fringeevent for Le Grand Depart, thestart of the Tour de France,which this year takes place in

Yorkshire. The festival (June 27-29) features Le Mini Depart, withtoddlers’ cycle races! And, to adda little je ne sais quoi to thefestival, Djangologie recalls themusic of the most famous Frenchjazzman.On the musical side themost interesting project isWatching the Detectives, PaulBaxter’s Give a Little Love JazzBand playing music associatedwith Columbo and SherlockHolmes, featuring that eminentHolmesian Alan Barnes. Through

the weekend other jazz and bluesbands appearing include, amongothers, King Pleasure and theBiscuit Boys, Tipitina, theAlligators, the Lemon Monkeysand Ben Beattie’s After MidnightBand, with festival organiserSimon Cunliffe-Lister guesting onsax.

www.burtonagnes.com/Jazz_Festival

BRECON AT 30

Brecon Jazz celebrates its 30thanniversary on August 7 to 10, inresplendent shape after thetroubles of recent years. Theheadline acts are universallyimpressive – and very varied –and the festival is delighted towelcome the return of theCaptain’s Walk, one of theoutdoor venues synonymouswith the festival. The Captain’sWalk apparently owes its nameto the presence of Frenchprisoners of war in the

Napoleonic Wars, but its presentfunction is more mundane - atown-centre car park! PabloJanczur, director of Brecon Jazzoperator Orchard, said, ‘Since wetook over in 2012 we’ve beenlooking for an opportunity tobring back the iconic venue ofthe Captain’s Walk in the middleof town, where fans and localscan expect a real partyatmosphere with some hightempo, high quality music at whatwe believe is a reasonable cost.’

The Captain’s Walk programmecovers big band and party musicon the Saturday and Sunday ofthe festival, with a special dayticket for strollers. With theaward-winning Beats & Pieces BigBand and the Dennis RollinsVelocity Trio there will be plentyof exciting music on offer, butsome of the quirkier outfits catchthe eye. The Township Cometsare a London-based group playingSouth African township jazz, ledby Chris Batchelor and AdamGlasser and featuring Jason Yardeand, guesting with them atBrecon, Pinise Saul, the ‘Queen of

African Jazz’. Most intriguing of allis the acclaimed brass band fromthe impossible nation ofKikiristan, Imperial Kikiristan,highly popular throughoutWestern Europe in the days oftheir exile!

Perhaps the nicest storyconnected with the Captain’sWalk is the return of MikeHarries’ Root Doctors. On its30th birthday the festival isentitled to look back a bit and, ina former guise, the bandrepresented home-grown Welshtalent at Brecon Jazz ’84.

The other major concerts are fartoo numerous to list, but a brieftrawl through the programmethrows up three times AcademyAward winner Burt Bacharach ina solitary Thursday concert in theMarket Hall. From Fridayonwards the pace quickens. Theappearance of the anarchic 21-piece big band, Loose Tubes, atthe Market Hall is anotherreason for nostalgia, the bandhaving first appeared at Brecon in1985. Other Friday highlights areWarren Vache and Alan Barnes at

the Theatr Brycheiniog andGerman pianist Michael Wollnywith his trio on the ChapterStage at the Cathedral.

Saturday almost producesoverload, with double MOBOwinner and Mercury Prizenominee Laura Mvula at theMarket Hall and appearances byFapy Lapertin, Penguin Cafe, DonWeller and David Newton, andMarius Neset among others.Particularly appropriate is that,on the same day as a Tribute toStan Tracey (led by his son Clark)at the Theatr, Huw Warren’s Do

Not Go Gentle into that Good Night

forms a centenary tribute toDylan Thomas – whose Under

Milk Wood, of course, inspiredpossibly Stan Tracey’s mostfamous work.

The final day brings GregoryPorter into the Market Hall, withsuch varied UK favourites as theBig Chris Barber Band (Theatr),Polar Bear (Christ College) andRemi Harris’ Gypsy Jazz Project(Guildhall).

www.breconjazz.com

UPTON 2014-STYLE

One of the greatest challengesfor a successful and wellestablished jazz festival is to makeenough changes to stay ahead ofthe game and also stay sufficientlythe same to please the loyalsupporters. The latest to gothrough a transformation whilsttrying to retain what has made itso popular is the InternationalUpton-upon-Severn Jazz Festivalwhich makes its 29th appearanceon the jazz calendar from June 27to 29.

One major change occurred lastyear and was enforced. The rivermeadows having disastrouslyflooded the year before, theFestival retreated to higherground and the town centre. Thisyear the process has been takena stage further. As well as venuesin the town centre, a newdedicated in-town festival fieldwill accommodate marquees,stalls, music, bars and camping.

Branding has undergone severalsmall changes. Though apparentlythe organisers have not used theterm ‘Oliver Cromwell JazzFestival’ for many years, it hasbeen there on the mast-head

until recent times. Now it isreplaced by the slogan JIVE –SWING – DANCE, though theold user-friendly ‘Down by theRiverside’ remains, even thoughless true literally these days.

The biggest change, however, isthe appointment of MusicDirector, Rachel Hayward, vibesand banjo player, seven years MDat Bude Jazz Festival. LastSeptember the news broke that‘Sir’ Alan Buckley, founder andlong-time director at Upton, hadbeen, in some versions, sacked –or perhaps, declined to apply forhis old job when required to doso by the council of management.The instant appointment ofRachel and Festival ChairmanDavid Harrison meant that thefocus could shift fromexplanations and counter-explanations to providing anexcellent festival for 2014.

Rachel’s own musical taste seemslikely to chime with that of manyof our readers. Asked who herfavourite old-school jazz musicianis, she comes up with FreddieGreen and Lionel Hampton andmentions Benny Carter’swonderful album, Further

Definitions, as her current in-car

listening. She favours JamieBrownfield as one of the bestnew talents and lists off such gigsas the Keith Nichols Band, AlanBarnes with John Hallam, theDavid Newton Trio and JazzConnection from theNetherlands as must-see eventsat this year’s Upton. Herunmissable concerts range fromthe darkly comic cafe and cabaretworld of Moscow Drug Club toSammy Rimington’s InternationalJazz Band, via Mellow Tone’sTribute to Billie Holiday.

Asked what she achieved atBude, Rachel replies, ‘We justimproved the musicianship overthe years, added a bit morevariety without losing the classicflavour of the festival.’ Thiscertainly seems to be what’sgoing on at Upton, with plenty ofold favourites alongside suchnewcomers as the explosiveBrass Volcanoes to lead theparades. European bands atUpton this year includeShreveport Rhythm fromGermany and Storeyville JazzBand from the Netherlands, withsinger Sally Night from theUnited States and a great varietyof British bands, from theBateman Brothers Jazz Band to

the Craig Milverton Trio, from theRemi Harris Trio to DebbieArthurs’ Sweet Rhythm – plusthe MD’s own Rachel’s Dream.

The biggest single innovation,however, takes us back to JIVE –SWING – DANCE. A dedicateddance marquee will feature ex-UK Lindy Hop champions Jamesand Bridget Hamilton, with musicprovided by Steve Steinhaus’Swing Band, Jazz Connection, theSwing Commanders and others.Dance classes are scheduled forSaturday and Sunday mornings.

Clearly the many devotees ofUpton will find it recognisably thesame, improved by the sort offreshening up that can benecessary after 29 years!

www.uptonjazz.co.uk

THE CHANGING WORLD OF JAZZ FESTIVALSHuw Warren

Jamie

Brownfield

Laura Mvula

Alan Barnes

Stan Tracey

BIRMINGHAM

AVOIDS BRAZIL

Over the decades only WorldCups have moved theBirmingham Jazz Festival from thefirst weekend in July – and thisyear is no exception. So thefootball-loving jazz public of theMidlands can relax: the 30thBirmingham International Jazzand Blues Festival runs from July18 to 27.

The vast majority of the near-200events are free admission, withmuseums, churchyards and villagegreens supplementing the moreconventional venues such asshopping centres, bars andrestaurants. The programmeincludes an even higher thanusual tally of first-time bands andmusicians and any number offringe events from a festivalwhere all that is predictable isthe variety.

The ‘international’ tag is justifiedby some enterprising booking ofless than familiar names. Thisyear’s roster includes severalbands/musicians who have madean impact on the Birminghampublic in previous years. Two of2013’s big successes were thePotato Head Jazz Band fromGranada, Spain, and Lithuaniansinger Giedre Kilciauskiene. TheBudapest Ragtime Band, JazzBand Velke Losiny from theCzech Republic and the NewOrleans Jump Band from theCosta del Sol are long-timefavourites. Newcomers toBirmingham include (fromEurope) the Bratislava HotSerenaders from Slovakia andSaxitude, a street band fromLuxembourg, and (from the USA)the University of South FloridaJazztet and the astonishingMagnolia Sisters who present thefull range of the music of SouthWest Louisiana.

The headline Star City sessionsof the first weekend feature thePotato Head Jazz Band and twoof the strongest attractions atthe festival over the years: KingPleasure and the Biscuit Boys andVal Wiseman’s Billie Holidaytribute, Lady Sings the Blues.Standout events of the secondweekend see the inspired lunacy(and fine musicianship) of BobKerr’s Whoopee Band at HagleyRoad Village and two concerts inthe sylvan surroundings of theBotanical Gardens, with,appropriately enough, theMagnolia Sisters and the up-to-the-minute retrospect of ElectricSwing Circus, as featured in thelast issue of Jazz Rag.

As well as any number of oldfavourites (from Tipitina to RemiHarris to Bruce Adams)Birmingham festival-goers canlook forward to first-timeappearances from Americanaspecialists, the Jake Leg Jug Band

and Precious Penny Pluckers,London-based French-Algeriansinger Florence Joelle, andPacifico Blues.

www.birminghamjazzfestival.com

18 19THE JAZZ RAG THE JAZZ RAG

THE CHANGING WORLD OF JAZZ FESTIVALS THE CHANGING WORLD OF JAZZ FESTIVALS

AWARD FOR EFG

LONDON JAZZ

FESTIVAL

The collaboration of London JazzFestival, produced by Serious, andEFG International, sponsors ofthe festival, has been recognisedas one of the top fivepartnerships by the Arts &Business Awards within the BPA&B Long-term PartnershipAward, for its high standards andcommitment to new and excitingarts initiatives. The EFG LondonJazz Festival has also beenshortlisted for the 2014Parliamentary Jazz Awards.

As if to demonstrate theappropriateness of the award, onApril 10th Serious announced thefirst artists for this year’s festival,to be held on November 14 to23. With a wide-rangingprogramme of over 250 showsfeaturing established stars andpromising up-and-coming talent,the London Jazz Festival has beenacclaimed by the Guardian as ‘oneof the best jazz festivals in theworld’.

As yet, comparatively few of the250 concerts have beenannounced, but the quality isevident. The opening gala willagain be Jazz Voice, with Guy

Barker, a 40-piece orchestra andstar singers. John Surman willtake up a Surman at Seventy

residency at Kings Place withdifferent groups andprogrammes. Abdullah Ibrahimwill appear with Ekaya and hisNew Trio at the Royal FestivalHall and other top trans-Atlanticnames include Bill Frisell, SnarkyPuppy and Chucho Valdes. Incontrast Richard Pite stages twoof his successful re-creations atCadogan Hall: Benny Goodmanand Glenn Miller at Carnegie Hall1939 and The Newport JazzFestival: the 1950s.

www.efglondonjazzfestival.org.ukBANK HOLIDAY AT

SOLIHULL

The Solihull Jazz and BluesFestival has now found a formulafor success which is to berepeated in this year’s event onSpring Bank Holiday weekend,May 23 to 26. The Solihull festivalis almost two mini-festivals inone: a daytime festival fromlunch-time to early evening ontwo open air stages and eveningevents in pubs and restaurants inthe town centre.

Once again Saturday and Sundayoffer continuous jazz for the

shoppers in Mell Square and thestrollers and (hopefully)sunbathers in Jubilee Gardens.Making their Solihull debuts areFlorence Joelle, the French-Algerian singer whose CD,Stealing Flowers, was widelyacclaimed last year, and the JakeLeg Jug Band, recently recordedfor Lake Records. Regular festivalfavourites include Ricky Cool andthe In Crowd, the Broombusters,Tipitina and Becky Brine and theHot Club of Stonehouse.

The daytime events begin with aParade with Bostin Brass onSaturday morning and include

appearances by Jordan Williamsin the Touchwood Centre withBuble Live, accompanied by BrianDee.

The Solihull festival begins onFriday evening with performancesby Ricky Cool (Slug and Lettuce),the Roy Forbes Quartet(Assembly Rooms) and AlJolson’s Dog (O’Neills) andregular evening performances atO’Neills continue right throughto the Festival Afterparty withthe Broombusters on Mondayevening.

www.solihullbid.co.uk

KEEPING THE

TRADITION AT

BUDE

Last year, in Jazz Rag 125, wefeatured the changes at Bude JazzFestival, based around returningto its roots, with local peoplerunning it and a programmefirmly based in traditional jazz.Paul Mayor explained how thishad revitalised the festival whichgives rise to the conclusion thateach festival needs to know itspublic and identify its unique

selling point: one may prosper byenlarging its musical scope,another by narrowing it. The onlycertainty is that not thinkingabout what form a festival shouldtake is a recipe for disaster.

Now Bude Jazz 2014 (August 26-29) is once again fielding a strongline-up of the traditionalpersuasion. American pianist JeffBarnhart appears as co-leader ofthe Jim Fryer/Jeff Barnhart SelectSix and of Ivory & Gold, with hisflautist wife Anne. George Huxleyand John Maddocks also double

up, co-leading Reeds United aswell as their own bands. KeithNichols Hot Five and SpatsLangham are among the otherheadliners, along with theSavannah Jazz Band, DennisArmstrong and the GreatNorthern Jazz Band, RichardLeach’s 7 Stars of Jazz, JimMcIntosh’s Jazzaholics and a totalof over 20 bands.

Bude Jazz is, of course, helped bybeing in one of the most beautifulparts of the country that justhappened to be the sunniest

place in the country in 2013! Sothe strap-line for the festival’sposters is ‘Join Us in GloriousNorth Cornwall’ – well, you haveto play to your strengths!

www.jazzfestivalbude.co.uk

BUSY DAYS AT

NEWCASTLE-

UNDER-LYME

This year’s Newcastle-under-Lyme Jazz and Blues Festivalboasts an enlarged programme ofevents in pubs, bars andrestaurants throughout the towncentre. Things begin with ascattering of qualityperformances on Friday, May 23.The Remi Harris Trio plays theRoebuck Shopping Centre atlunch-time and the Old Bull’sHead in the evening and KingPleasure and the Biscuit Boysappear at the Old Brown Jug inthe evening.

The pace increases on Saturday,with 10 gigs from 12.00 onwards,but it’s on Sunday that the festivalreaches fever pitch with nearly30 gigs before subsiding to a stillsubstantial 20 on Bank HolidayMonday.

Piano/guitar duo Bob Hall andDave Peabody kick off Saturdayat the Roebuck Shopping Centreand from there on in it’s asuccession of crowd-pleasingfestival acts. The Old Brown Jugalone hosts the Roy ForbesQuartet, Matrix Club Matrix, theRemi Harris Trio, the Bill DaysonBand, Elvis Fontenot & the SugarBees and Lewis Floyd Henry,while on the bill at the Rigger are

Alix Masso/Red Spektor, the 58’sBlues Band, Peter Frampton’sEscape Committee, DirkDiggler’s Blues Revue, the AlexMcKown Blues Band, Lewis FloydHenry and the Funkbreakers.

And there are many more venues– and such bands and musiciansas the Chase Jazzmen, Steve AjaoBlues Giants, the Jake Leg JugBand, Tipitina, Ricky Cool and theIn Crowd and Becky Brine andthe Hot Club of Stonehouse.

www.newcastlejazzandblues.co.uk

John Surman

Florence Joelle

Jeff Barnhart

Remi Harris

Photo by Merlin Daleman

Giedre Kilciauskiene

THE JAZZ RAG 21THE JAZZ RAG

NIKOLAJ BENTZON TRIO

LIVE AT MONTMARTRE

Storyville 1018451 (68.47)

Nikolaj Bentzon may be a newname to many listeners, but he’sa Danish pianist who waseducated at Berklee College inBoston and was a member of theDanish Radio Big Band. Bentzonis heard here with his trio playingat a Copenhagen club in May2013. The very first track (LesMcCann’s Smile Stacey) suggeststhat Nikolaj has an impressivetechnique, as he maintains a trillin one hand while playing themelody with the other – atlightning speed. Bassist ThomasFonnesbaek and Americandrummer Winard Harper keepup the pace, and Harper playssome excellent speedy 12-barbreaks.

It is probably indicative that theopening tune is by Les McCann,as Bentzon is often as funky asMcCann. Note how the triochanges the tempo continually inSvetlana Botswana Rusticana,which opens with a quotationfrom the Beatles’ Lady Madonna!But the trio can also be relaxed,as in several other numbers -notably Frederick Loewe’s The

Heather on the Hill, which Nikolajdelivers with tenderthoughtfulness. Nikolaj even singson My Blue Heaven, although he’snot the greatest vocalist in theworld. But his trio makes up forhis vocals, with a skilfully variedset of jazz standards andoriginals.

TONY AUGARDE

RAN BLAKE

PLAYS SOLO PIANO

ESP-DISK ESP1011 (35:19)

Ran Blake, seventy-eight and stillrunning, a prominent adherent of‘third stream’ music whichendeavours to combine elementsof classical and jazz traditions, haspromoted his chosen genreassiduously over a long anddistinguished career. Hisformative studies embracedmentors ranging from OscarPeterson and Mary LouWilliamson to Gunther Schullerand George Russell. The outcomehas included piano performancesin concert halls, jazz clubs and onnumerous recordings. He is alsoan established composer andheld the professorial chair ofContemporary Improvisation atthe New England Conservatoryfor an astonishing 32 years.

The recordings here, dating from1965, show an accomplishedpianist given to contemplativeand complex improvisations anda predilection for dissonance. Heis inclined to bury his basicthemes in harmonic and rhythmicdigressions, at times positivelydismembering them and, evenwhen the melody is easilyrecognisable, it is subjected tointerjections which break thetune’s continuity.

There are occasions whenfamiliar jazz idioms emerge -running left-hand tenths worthyof Teddy Wilson, the odd funky orbebop phrase - but it rarelyswings in the conventional jazzmanner.

Standards, originals and other

jazzers’ compositions are alltreated in the same vein: dense,intense explorations. Intriguing,but I’m not sure they’re jazz.

HUGH LEDIGO

RED NORVO

FOUR CLASSIC ALBUMS

Avid Jazz AMSC1110

There is plenty of variety on this2 CD package spanning the1950's. Dancing on the Ceiling

features the Norvo Trio with TalFarlow and Jimmy Raneyalternating on guitar and RedMitchell on bass. Familiar jazzstandards played in a light anddelicate, almost chamber jazzstyle, and swinging throughout.

Red Norvo in Stereo features afourteen piece band includingplayers from the West Coastsuch as Bud Shank and BillPerkins. Most arrangements aresupplied by Eddie Sauter. HelenHumes sings on seven of theeleven tracks. The repertoireincludes familiar 'standards' aswell as some now long-forgottenpop songs.

Red Plays the Blues includes threetracks from a similar big band lineup including Helen Humes oncemore. The remaining four tracksfeature a sextet including HarryEdison and Ben Webster. Norvosounds invigorated and thesoloists perform at length makingthese some of the most satisfyingtracks of the collection.

Music to Listen to Red Norvo By

blends jazz with elements ofclassical music, with sextetfeaturing Buddy Collette on flute,Barney Kessel and Bill Smith fromthe classical world, playingclarinet.

ALAN MUSSON

ARI BROWN

GROOVE AWAKENING.

Delmark 5011 (65:27)

Brown is a fine saxophonist outof Chicago, mainly using tenorbut with occasional use ofsoprano, sometimes both at oncea la Roland Kirk, and piano onGive Thanks. The driving bandbehind him includes Ari’s brother

Kirk on piano, Yosef Ben Israel onbass, Avreeayl Ra on drums andDr. Cuz, percussion. Brown has ahuge, warm tone on tenor,hauntingly melodic in places (One

For Ken, In A Sentimental Mood)exploratory (Enka) and onlyoccasionally does he becometurgid and repetitive, noticeablyon Wayne’s Trane. There areechoes of Coltrane throughoutthe disc, but only echoes, and thetreatment of Lonnie’s Lament hasa refreshing reggae rhythm. In A

Sentimental Mood is a delight, withBrown at once exploratory andlyrical, helped by Kirk Brown’simaginative chording; there’s asuperb break by Yosef Ben Israel,who delivers some very fluentbass work.

All but one of the compositionsare by Ari Brown, and it’s anachievement to produce such avaried programme, not only inmelodic content but with suchimprovisational possibilities.

GREG MURPHY

CHRIS INGHAM QUARTET

HOAGY

Downhome Records. DOH0001

A five-star album if ever I heardone! I’ve been a huge fan ofsinger-pianist Chris Ingham eversince I first heard him in theFlanagan-Ingham Quartet severalyears ago now, and this is hisfinest showcase so far. A tributeto Hoagy Carmichael is always agood idea but this one, for me, isthe best since Bob Wilber andMaxine Sullivan recordedfourteen of the old musicmaster’s classic titles back inl969.

Ingham’s crisp, witty andtechnically flawless piano-playingis easily matched by his vocalswhich effortlessly mark him outas one of this country’s very bestjazz singers. Essaying songs asdiverse as Huggin’ and Chalkin’

and How little we know amidsixteen intelligently selected andskilfully-paced titles, each of hisinterpretations remains faithful toHoagy’s intentions, whilebetraying none of the ‘flatsy-thru- the –nose’ quality’ whichsometimes made their owner’sown (by his self-admission) alittle harder to take. Similarly

REVIEWS

20 THE JAZZ RAG THE JAZZ RAG

ARCHIVE SPREADS ITS WINGS/COMPETITIONS

The latest move of the

National Jazz Archive to gets

its message across to the

general public was an

exhibition in the Music

Library at London’s Barbican

Centre under the name All

That Jazz: The Golden Age of

British Popular Music 1919-

1950. The exhibition, which

ran until April 29th, was

relatively small – four

showcases, plus a listening

post – but very well curated,

with plenty of fascinating

material, much of it from the

collections of Jim Godbolt

and George Webb. Ron

Simpson reports on his visit.

The programme for the OriginalDixieland Jazz Band’s appearanceis there, together with LouisArmstrong’s 1932 autograph andthe issues of the Melody Maker

telling of the death of SnakehipsJohnson and the disappearance ofMajor Glenn Miller. Given theprovenance of much of thematerial, it is not surprising thatphotographs of George Webb,Humphrey Lyttelton and

assorted rhythm clubs andriverboat shuffles abound andone of the few three-dimensionalartefacts is Reg Rigden’s trumpet!

However, for me the greatest joycame from the quirky stories.Edgar Jackson is one of the greathero/villains of jazz journalism.Operating at the Melody Maker

for two decades, often reviewingrecords under the coypseudonym of Needlepoint, heattempted to impose middle-classBritish standards on this awfulwild music from America, but atleast he wrote about it andhelped to give it respectability inthis tight little island. There is agloriously dignified photograph ofEdgar Jackson dancing, his wholemusical philosophy summed up inhis pose. Better still is a letterfrom Jim Holloway to anAmerican friend complaining(very convincingly) of Jackson’sspite and pettiness – and theAmerican friend is Harry Lim ofKeynote Records, who the U.S.Mail was unable to trace invarious Chicago hotels – theenvelope is there as evidence.

Rather later Sinclair Traill’s self-importance was another veryBritish feature of the Melody

Maker (alleviated, of course, bythe likes of Max Jones) and Icouldn’t help thinking how hemust have enjoyed the concerts(there are two flyers here) whichbilled him, as ‘recitalist’, abovesuch names as the ChristieBrothers Stompers, Wally Fawkesand George Webb’s Dixielanders!

Benny Goodman’s appearance atthe London Palladium in 1949threw up all kinds of unexpectedtreats. Of course, he couldn’tbring his orchestra here, but hewas allowed to feature pianistBuddy Greco (in a sextet withBritish musicians) and a youngBelgian guitarist/harmonica playerJean Thielemans who (as TootsThielemans) announced hisretirement in March 2014! Theprogramme also tells us thatWoolf Phillips accompaniedGoodman with the SkyrocketsOrchestra, with such big namesas Kenny Baker, Pat Smuts, HarryRoche and Johnny Dankwork(sic). And there, at the listening

post, undoubtedly the oddest of afine selection of 10 CDs,including Ken ‘Snakehips’ Johnson(very obscure) and Bechet withHumph, is BG on Hi Gang! withBen Lyon, Bebe Daniels and VicOliver. He copes nobly with theunfamiliar tasks of tradingwisecracks and singing!

Every Tuesday late-opening atleast one member of staff fromthe National Jazz Archive is inattendance and Sam Fieldhousewho, as Learning and OutreachOfficer, was primarily responsiblefor the exhibition was able to tellme of the further expansion ofthe Archive’s activities, fromgreater accessibility on line toexhibitions at Keswick JazzFestival, Norwich Jazz Party andaround the libraries of Essex. Infact, as we talked on March 18th,the Archive was between twosuccessive Saturday activities: aPeter Vacher book talk and anOpen Day.

www.nationaljazzarchive.org.uk

ARCHIVE SPREADS ITS WINGS

Just answer the questions correctly and send your answers to Jazz Rag Competitions, PO Box 944, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B16 8UT. Pleasewrite the name of the relevant competition in the top left hand corner of your postcard, envelope or sheet of paper. If possible, add yourtelephone number or email as well as your address.Closing date: 6th June, 2014.

JAKE LEG JUG BAND CDLake Records have kindly supplied THREE copies of Next Stop! by the Jake Leg Jug Band, described as the ‘authentic sounds of 20s and 30sAmerica – with a twist of their own.’1. Which song, originally made famous by Gus Cannon’s Jug Stompers, became a Number 1 hit for the Rooftop Singers in 1963?2. Which singer first performed under the name of Maria D’Amato with Jim Kworkin’s Jug Band in the 1960s before changing her name on marriage to the group’s guitarist?

ATLANTIC JAZZ LEGENDSWarner Classics are providing TWO copies of a superb box set of 20albums on the Atlantic label from the 1950s and 1960s under the titleAtlantic Jazz Legends.1. Among the musicians represented is Rahsaan Roland Kirk. As a multi-instrumentalist, he played tenor sax and flute, plus which two obscure bizarrely named saxes?

2. One of the albums is John Coltrane’s first for Atlantic, his breakthrough as a leader, recorded in 1959. What is its name?

CHRIS BARBER BOOKThanks to Equinox Books we have THREE copies of Jazz Me Blues,Chris Barber's eagerly awaited autobiography.1. Who was the trumpeter with Chris Barber's band for 54 years fromthe band's formation?

2. The Barber band has gone under three names. Initially it was Chris Barber's Jazz Band, now it's the Big Chris Barber Band. What came inbetween?

SUPER PRIZES TO BE WON!

WINNERS & ANSWERS NO. 130CHRIS ELLIS CD Congratulations to: CHRISTINE REED of Ventnor, IOW; BILLCORNELL of Saffron Walden and GERHARD HOPFE ofBerlin, Germany.Retrieval Records/George Melly

ELECTRO SWING CDCongratulations to: ALAN BRINKWORTH of Redditch; MR.A. CHARLTON of Darlington and MR. MICHAEL McGRATHof Esher.Norwegian/Brighton

AVISHAI COHEN CDCongratulations to: MRS. WENDY MANTLE of Kington,Herefordshire; MR. MEL GUEST of St. Neots,Cambridgeshire, and JOHN GILL of Annitsford Bridge,Northumberland.Jacques Loussier/Chick Corea

Red Norvo

Ingham’s subtly craftedarrangements (faultlesslyachieved) pay due reference toCarmichael’s originals butregularly present delightfulmusical surprises of their own.And central to these – along witha constantly creative andsympathetic rhythm section - isthe trumpet of Paul Higgs whoseoutstanding contributionsthroughout the album display ageorgeous tone, unflagginginspiration, stylistic cognizance atits most perceptive and enviablyfaultless chops to boot!

From its musical conception toits exquisite artwork (by MartynWainwright) and stylish linernote this album is simply a peachand – should anyone ask – will behigh on my list of albums of theyear.

DIGBY FAIRWEATHER

JOE WILDER

SUCH A BEAUTIFULSOUND

Fresh Sound FSR-CD 812

(74.21)

In an interview, trumpeter JoeWilder said ‘I never played high; Iwas not that kind of player. Inever screamed’. This is whatmakes him stand out from manyother trumpet players. Like HankJones, the pianist on some ofthese tracks, Joe Wilder tends tobe low-key, understated. Hissmooth tone is never abrasive. Attimes he makes the trumpetsound as sweet as a flugelhorn orcornet (the first instrument heever played). He even takes anold warhorse like Cherokee at amoderate tempo. For many years,

Joe Wilder has been doing goodby stealth and blushing to find itfame.

This compilation CD derivesmost of its tracks from JoeWilder’s LP Joe Wilder ‘n’ Wilder

(1956) and the Pete BrownSextet’s Peter the Great (1954).Pete Brown is probably bestknown for his jump-jazz style,although he shows here that hecan encompass a variety of styles,ranging from perkiness tomellowness. On Moonlight in

Vermont, he matches Joe Wilder’stender restraint.

TONY AUGARDE

ROAN KEARSEY-LAWSON

PRESENCE IN MIND

144 Records 144CD002

(66:26)

Seven British players, eleveneventful tracks, adding up to a lotof absorbing jazz listening - yetwith no lengthy solos. This is adebut studio selection of thecompositions/arrangements of abusy and versatile musician, RoanKearsey-Lawson, who is heardprincipally on vibes, but alsomarimba, piano and drums.

The album title indicates that allthe themes have some kind ofdedication. Splendid Blues is forMilt Jackson, and naturally has anMJQ feel to it, achieved admirablyby the leader plus the keyboardof Dorian Ford, the bass of LarryBartley and the drums of DaveTrigwell. The same sound isinevitable in Bach East, but here itis augmented by the flute playingof the son of a great jazz

reedman, Duncan Lamont Junior.This fine five-piece then deliversa beautiful melody, My Love For

You, that calls for lyrics to beadded. It probably has.

At 10:37, the longest track isConcerto D'Afro. Its stunningcontents include changingtempoes, cross-rhythms, Roan onmarimba as well as supplying hisbest jazz vibes of the disc, somemasterly Ford piano, and aboveall, the young Duncan withsmooth bass clarinet and peakingon tenor to prove he's as good ashis dad. Substantial alto later onreinforces this fact.

The other two players emergeeffectively elsewhere. On thefolksy/stately Presence, GeoffMason's trombone has skilfulrichness. Ray Butcher brings hisauthority and style to Serendipity

on trumpet, and to Fondness onflugel, both in uppish vein. Bearingthe space factor in mind, I have toadd that the majestic Lullaby Of

Love and the happy Brother's

Bounce are probably myfavourites. But overall, it's a totalwinner.

LES TOMKINS

CHRIS ELLIS

VOCAL WITH HOTACCOMP

Digby Fairweather Archives, Rose

Cottage Records, RCR 005:

77.46

The opening track of Chris Ellis’1986 album sets the tone: coollyjaunty delivery of the sort ofsong you feel you should know,given lift-off by the accompanyingbass and guitar (Tiny Winters andPaul Sealey), soon to be joined bythe urbane Martin Litton andDigby Fairweather. The song (infact, totally new to me) is You

Can’t Stop Me from Dreaming byDave Franklin and Cliff Friend,best known for When My

Dreamboat Comes Home. Itdoesn’t take long to realise thatChris Ellis’ strengths lie not onlyin his nonchalantly relaxeddelivery and the ability to point alyric, but in knowing more songsthan anyone else. A particularpleasure of the album isdiscovering unknown gems of thegreat songwriters, notably Blue

Again, a lovely bit of DorothyFields and Jimmy McHugh, or

Johnny Mercer’s most bizarretitle for a love song, The Bathtub

Ran Over Again (music by MichaelCleary). The whole session ispretty much free of drama, butcommunicates beautifully thesense of enjoyment obviouslyshared by the singer and fourmusicians (note, no drummer).The CD is completed by threetracks from 1979 (an exhilaratingJeepers Creepers a highspot, withBrian Lemon and Digby teamingup splendidly and Denny Wrightin great form); two from 1984,with Pete Strange joining Digby inthe front line; and a taster forMoon Country, the 1999 HoagyCarmichael tribute, still availableon Challenge. Old Man Harlem

features Chris, his voice weightierwith the passing years, duettingwith Digby, in a brightarrangement with John Barnes onalto coming in like Pete Brown.

RON SIMPSON

PLAS JOHNSON

THIS MUST BE THEPLAS!/MOOD FOR THEBLUES

Fresh Sound FSR-CD 818

(75.00)

A rare misfire from Fresh Sound,this reissue of a brace ofJohnson’s late-1950s Capitolalbums doesn’t really qualify asjazz per se. It’s undoubtedly finemood music though with This

Must Be The Plas (ouch!) findingthe soulful tenorist aided andabetted by a crack studio sessionteam including Victor Feldmanand Howard Roberts.Occasionally there’s a glimpse ofwhat the leader might have likedto have done given the chance –the brief Parker-ish cadenza on IfI Had You is stunning – but theforeshortened nature of most ofthe music generally reins him in.It’s also ironic that on a recordso full of preaching tenor, it’s hisfew appearances on baritone thatmost grab the ear.

The second session, Mood For The

Blues, is even closer to easylistening and its unremittingatmosphere of late-nightromance makes it the ideal albumto be enjoyed in the company ofa full-bodied little number. AndI’m not talking wine here.

SIMON SPILLETT

23THE JAZZ RAG THE JAZZ RAG

ON RECORD

22

NEW RELEASE

NEXT STOP!

THE JAKE LEG JUG BAND

LACD330

The Jake Leg Jug Band bring youauthentic sounds of 1920s and30s America (Jazz, Blues, Gospeland Ragtime) – with a twist oftheir own.

The Jake Leg Jug Band is quickly growing its reputation as a lively,feel-good band and this new CD will reinforce that reputation.Recorded as part of the Vintage Recording Project.

“Every now and again a CD comes along that puts a smile onyour face, and this is one of them. The playing is exemplary and itall adds up to a fine CD” Fatea Magazine.

Follow us on FACEBOOK

Visit our on-line shop at www.fellside.com

If you would like more information and be placed on our mailinglist please send a large SAE with two second class stamps to theaddress below.

LAKE RECORDS, PO Box 40, Workington, CA14 3GJ, UK

Joe Wilder

CECIL TAYLOR

THREE CLASSIC ALBUMSPLUS

Avid Jazz AMSC1116 (79:59,

76:35)

One benefit of this survey ofTaylor’s early work is to see howfar ahead he was of hiscontemporaries. The threealbums comprise Jazz Advance

(1956), Looking Ahead! (1958) The

World of Cecil Taylor (1960) andtwo titles from Love For Sale

(1959) and there is someremarkable music to be heard.Jazz Advance is nothing short ofincredible, pointing to the free-form Taylor would later adopt;consider Monk’s Bemsha Swing

and the approaches to time,whilst Charge ‘’Em is an entirelydifferent approach to the blues.Taylor’s reconstructions of Sweet

& Lovely and You’d Be So Nice To

Come Home To are unique, addingto the melodic content anddisplaying more of Taylor’s timeexperiments.

Looking Ahead has morerefreshing explorations of theblues in Luyah, The Glorious Step,with incisive right-hand work, andWallering, a tribute to Fats Walleralso a beautifully constructedimprovisation, whilst Excursion On

A Wobbly Rail is a superb workouton Take The A Train. The World of

Cecil Taylor effectively marked acareer point where Taylorbecame increasingly free yet stillretained an interest in reshapingstandards; This Nearly Was Mine isa reshaping par excellence. It also

introduces Archie Shepp toTaylor’s world and it has to besaid that, for once, thesaxophonist seems lost as hestruggles through Air.

This is a rewarding release withso much to hear and enjoy.

GREG MURPHY

SIX CITY STOMPERS

THE FORMULA

Stunt STUCD 12172 [46.29]

Here’s a puzzle. As the note says,‘Don’t attempt to understand SixCity Stompers’. Fair enough, so Iwon’t. Piano-less for the mostpart, with alto, trumpet,trombone and guitar, all doublingsomething or another, theseassorted Danes dress themselvesup in surgical gowns and callthemselves the Sick CityPharmacy. If that means that theyapply their medicine to a varietyof materials, then so be it.

On one hand, they attacksomething like Struttin’ With Some

Barbecue with authentic verveonly for that to be contrastedwith a band-written piece ofDirty Dozens-style funk ‘n’ raplike Cream. The musicianship isslick and some of the solo playingon the reworkings of selectedclassic pieces is pertinent andevocative. Add in some HarryConnick-like vocals and a fairamount of Crescent Cityrumbustiousness, and you havequite a rich mix.

As the note says, ‘Take 1 dose 6

times daily. Do not operate heavymachinery while using thisproduct’. An acquired taste, then?Sample before taking, I suggest,and definitely avoid operatingthat heavy machinery.

PETER VACHER

ARNETT COBB

BLUES AND BALLADS

Fresh Sound FSR-CD 813

(72.24)

Part of the grand tradition ofTexas Tenor, Cobb is nowsomething of a forgotten man,but at the time of these sessionshe was undergoing something ofa personal renaissance. Afterrecovering from a horrific caraccident in the late 1950’s, hemade his comeback on a seriesof delightful sessions for Prestige,two of which receive a welcomedusting down here.

The first is the more varied ofthe two and finds Cobb groovingaway on a programme which, onBlack Velvet, includes a wonderfultribute to fellow saxophonistIllinois Jacquet (Cobb hadreplaced Jacquet as the featuredhot tenor man with LionelHampton back in the Forties).Ballads by Cobb, on the otherhand, is largely down-tempomaterial including another nod toone of his forebears, HerschelEvans, on Blue and Sentimental.Actually the album’s title is a littlemisleading as, half way throughthe record, Cobb offers anexplosive account of Sweet

Georgia Brown, the effect of whichis rather like an unexpectedalarm call.

Throughout both sessions thetenorist is accompanied byanother Texan, Red Garland, justabout to enter his period ofpost-Miles Davis obscurity. Thepianist’s subsequent neglect ismade all the more puzzling whenone hears how masterful he ishere, reading Cobb’s every moveperfectly and playing solos that afar less notably fashion-consciousthan those he’d essayed withDavis.

In summary, these are classyrecords by a class act.

SIMON SPILLETT

BJARNE ROUPÉ

LIGHT AND DARK

Stunt Records STUCD 13102

(44:44)

Roupé emerged during the’seventies in Sweden beforedefecting in 1979 to Copenhagenwhere he gained a prominentreputation. This, however, is hisfirst recording under his ownleadership in two decades. Hiswork on this 2008 disc revealsdual talents. His guitar playing isrestrained and gimmick-free. Hecreates nice lines, varying histone colours between single-notelines, octaves and chordalpassages, with unostentatiousfacility. I’d bet he numbers WesMontgomery among hisfavourites. All seven tracks are hisown compositions.

Compatriot and contemporarytenor saxophonist Tomas Frankbecame and remains one ofEurope’s foremost jazzers. Hehas a full tone, plenty oftechnique and an approachclearly drawn from the Coltraneschool, though not without apassing nod towards Getz.

Lennart Ginman is an excellentbassist providing firm rhythmicsupport whilst contributing morethan a basic walking line.Unfortunately, he is a touchunder-recorded. Aage Tangaarde’sdrumming is equally sympathetic,sometimes quite complex butnot intrusive.

The themes have a latter-day feel- long and sinuous with harmonicstructures that need somelistening to. There are someeffective tenor-guitar unisonswhich Roupé achieves withoutsacrificing the chords.

Scandinavian jazz is clearly aliveand well.

HUGH LEDIGO

MARIUS NESET

SUITE FOR THE SEVENMOUNTAINS

Calibrated CAL1073 (46:49)

This was first issued in 2008, andconstitutes Neset’s debutrecording. He leads a quartet,which he calls People Are

Machines, with Magnus Hjorth onpiano, Petter Eldh on bass anddrummer Anton Eger, with astring quartet on a seven-movement suite. It’s a heavilystructured work, with the stringquartet seeming to impose a rigidapproach, which the quartet copewith well if perhaps ratherinhibited in the music. The firstsix movements suggest an uneasycompromise between structureand improvisation, although thereare times when Neset’s tenorsoars with the strings, only tosubside after some excitingblowing.

This all changes when themusicians reach the seventhmovement, when Neset andHjorth in particular begin to cutloose. The majority of this fifteen-minute-plus movement displaysNeset’s talent for improvisation,a tour-de-force where he exploresall registers of the tenor, wellbacked by Hjorth and colleagues.This serves as an appetiser andthe listener is left wishing moreof the Suite could have displayedthis uninhibited playing!

GREG MURPHY

SPORTIELLO METZ PARROTT

IT’S A GOOD DAY

Arbors records ARCD 19431

(63:49)

Given the opportunity, this triomight well stake its claimalongside the classic small groupsof jazz. Not perhaps thegrandstanding excitement ofPeterson nor the innovativechallenges of Evans, but pianistRossano Sportiello’sconsummate musicianship, alliedto the equal talents of NickiParrott on bass and Eddie Metzon drums, creates a compelling,totally satisfying sound thattranscends the demands offashion and novelty.

If there is an underlying flavour ofbebop in Sportiello’s phrasing, itis never blatant and there is afinesse and essentially melodicquality to his work that draws onthe canon of jazz improvisation atleast since Teddy Wilson.

Ms Parrott is a seriously goodbassist who generates a swingingpulse, solos with the fluency of a

horn player and negotiates theleader’s often quite difficultarrangements with aplomb. Thather vocal abilities are also aboveaverage seems almost unfair.

Eddie Metz has been comparedwith Jake Hanna, not withoutreason. His phrasing isimpeccable, he swings with a lighttouch and solos inventively. Theresult is a cohesive sound thatembodies the essence of jazz.

The music draws on the equallytimeless repertoire of such asKern, Lerner, Gershwin, Arlen andeven Beethoven and Bach.

Sportiello says ‘…the music isintended to make you feel good!’And it does.

HUGH LEDIGO

CAMPI QUI BOOGIE!

1ST INTERNATIONALFESTIVAL OF BOOGIEWOOGIE IN BARCELONA2012.

Swing Alley Records SA023

(59.48)

Since the time of the greatmasters, Yancey, Ammons, Lewisand Johnson, boogie piano hasexpanded to incorporate othergenres and styles. The fourpianists featured on this album,while acknowledging thetraditional message of theThirties and Forties maestros, aremoving forward with their ownpersonal concepts.

The Barcelona event was the firstof its kind and was organised byone of the participants LluisColoma. The other pianists takingpart were Bob Seeley, AugustTharratts and David Giorcelli.

The twelve tracks are split intoeight solo performances, threeduets and an ‘every man forhimself’ finale.

The danger of too muchsameness is avoided by theintroduction of new materialcomposed by the individualartists. I was particularlyattracted to Coloma’s Dits de Foc

and Tharratts’ Pianosauras both ofwhich showed what could bedone with the confines of themusic.

The legendary Bob Seeley optsfor the more traditional tunes,Ammons’ Boogie Woogie Dream, St

Louis Blues and Amazing Grace,.allthree being Seeley favourites andhe is, possibly, the mostoutstanding player but all four arestrong performers and displayformidable techniques.

The nature of the music drawsnoisy appreciation from theFestival audience. It sounds asthough everyone had a good timebut, then again, that’s whatboogie woogie is all about.

JOHN MARTIN

ANDREA MOTIS & JOAN CHAMORRO QUINTET

LIVE AT JAMBOREEBARCELONA

Swit Records SWIT15 (72:22)

On this showing, Andrea Motishas an immediately identifiablevocal sound. Her musicalantecedents would, I imagineinclude Billie Holiday and, like her,she has an in-built metronomethat allows her to pull timearound, sometimes speeding upher phrases, sometimes delayingthem. She has less difficulty withEnglish diction than manycontinentals, though her extremeAmerican accent occasionallymasks her words. Often, MsMotis employs a little-girl qualityin her voice which might be a bitof an acquired taste for somepeople, although I have to say Ilike it. Her trumpet playing has itsmoments but, to my ears, neverreally feels secure, and she wiselyuses the instrument sparingly. Onalto sax, she seems more at

home - sounding, on the oneballad she plays, a little likeHodges.

The rhythm is well integrated,approaching straight-ahead swing,bossas and the obligatory shuffleon My Baby Just Cares For Me withequal assurance. Solos aregenerally good, particularly thepiano work of Ignasi Terraza,whose left-hand right-handindependence and ability to buildimprovisations to excitingclimaxes is impressive. Theinclusion of Scott Hamilton onthis session is a bonus. Ms Motisends her liner notes by saying‘Let’s continue improving.’ I guesswe should all do that..

HUGH LEDIGO

GEORGIE FAME / MADELINE BELL

SINGER

Proper PRPCD120 (53:41)

This amounts to the songcontent of a potential score for ajazz musical. It was originallyconceived in Holland 30 yearsago, in a meeting betweencomposer/arranger Steve Grayand singer/musician GeorgieFame. Together with singerMadeline Bell and Holland'sMetropole Orchestra, it wasperformed at that time. Here wehave a definitive concertrecording made in Tilburg,Holland in 2004, involving fivesongs from Georgie, five fromMadeline and two in duet, backedby the full force of the 60-piecebig band/orchestra plus the 30-piece Jody Pijper Singers.

The story, of a young girl singer'sprogress to stardom, is

25THE JAZZ RAG24 THE JAZZ RAG

ON RECORD REVIEWS

Cecil Taylor Andrea Motis and Joan Chamorro

absorbingly and entertaininglytold. It is a pity no personnel isprovided, as all the musicianscontribute superlatively.Georgie's engaging vocal personahas been consistent through theyears, and his bluesy Small Town

displays a sparkling four-piecerhythm section, probably withhimself on piano, propelling theband and chorus. Orchestralatmosphere prefaces Madeline'sentry on My Second Home, andher soulful power and style alliedto the gospel choir are reallythrilling. As per the roaring Basie-type brass and the tenor soloistbehind Georgie's take of the titlesong, Singer. A beautiful Bellballad, Learning, soars over lushstrings, and the arrangementmoves seamlessly into Georgie'sexultant Big Town, replete withsome wailing alto. The title That's

How Hit Records Are Made betraysthe age of the production.Supposedly depicting the singer'srise to public popularity, Madelineis gifted with a romping Riddle-style chart - far removed fromthe 'hit' sounds of today.

The remaining six songs are ofparallel calibre and variety, twohighlights being the Fame/Bell

collaborations. It is my opinionthat, were it feasible, after all thepop musicals permeating theWest End, this jazz musicalshould be completed and staged.

LES TOMKINS

TERRY GIBBS

FOUR CLASSIC ALBUMS

Avid AMSC 1100 (143.41)

I tend to think of vibraphoneplayers in classes: the top class(Hampton, Norvo, Jackson,Burton, Locke) and the secondclass, which includes Terry Gibbs.His playing swings and it isgenerally fluent and technicallyassured, although he tends tostick to single-note lines withouttrying to expand his vocabulary.These qualities are illustrated inthis generous Avid double albumof four LPs from 1956 to 1960.Swingin’ is mainly a showcase forGibbs, backed by some fairlyconventional big-bandarrangements. Terry Gibbs Plays

the Duke is by a small group withPete Jolly playing accordion,which blends well with the vibesand provides a kind of orchestral

accompaniment to Terry’slightning strikes. He playsmarimba and xylophone on sometracks.

In More Vibes on Velvet, the velvetybacking is provided by a saxsection arranged by drummerMel Lewis. The mostly slowishmusic is performed efficiently butwithout much fire. The LP lacksthe spark which would ignite theplaying. Things brighten up withthe final LP, Music from Cole

Porter’s Can Can. Gibbs simplyplays with a rhythm section thatprovides good support, especiallyfrom pianist Frank Strazzieri andguitarist Herb Ellis. The quintetformat gives Terry the freedomto stretch out in some shrewdbut simple arrangements.

TONY AUGARDE

NATE NAJAR TRIO

AQUARELA DO BRASIL

Candid CCD 79988 (57:49)

Given that all the great jazzguitarists for many years havebeen plugged into the mains, withmultiple results, it remains rare

for a player to opt to beunamplified. There was CharlieByrd, of course, and latterly ourown very impressive RemiHarris. Now here's another -New Yorker Nate Najar. I hadbeen aware of his skill fromhearing his 2012 Candid releaseBlues For Night People, the lattercomposed by his inspiration, thebrilliant Mr Byrd. This mixed sethad a few Latin elements, but thenew one is entirely devoted tothe music and rhythms of Brazil -not all classifiable under the'bossa nova' heading.

Nate's actual power source is asbefore - Tommy Cecil on bassand Chuck Redd on drums andvibes - with the bonus on twotracks of sublime tenor fromHarry Allen, evoking the early-'fifties Getz innovations. Eight ofthe ten tracks are thoseenchanting melodies we've heardplayed or sung under varyingtitles - four of them naturally byTom Jobim himself.

The jazz content is sometimesquestionable, when Nate simplyromps along on the tunes - mostdeservedly on what must be theworld's best-known Latin song,the title track, which, in short, isBrazil. But on the three trackswhere Chuck Redd moves on tothe vibes, and the two withAllen's tenor, the facile swing isthere in abundance. This is a veryuseful CD for getting that partygoing.

LES TOMKINS

PHRONESIS

LIFE TO EVERYTHING

Edition EDN1050 (63.28)

Phronesis (an Ancient Greekword for a type of wisdom orintelligence), was founded byDanish bassist Jasper Hoiby in2005, it also includes Britishpianist Ivo Neame and theNorwegian drummer Anton Eger.This is intense, driving music,literally propelled by Hoiby witha muscular bass sound – theopening title, Urban Control, openswith a bass statement ofconsiderable impact, beforeNeame and Eger add propulsion.Overall, the music is reminiscentof Keith Jarrett, with muchrhythmic emphasis andadventurous chord runs, much tothe approval of the audience atthis ‘live’ London recording inNovember last year.

Writing responsibilities areequally divided between thethree, but the themes are skeletal– this trio is all aboutimprovisation, whatever thetempo. If this performance has aweakness, it is the unrelentingpace, but the dexterity of themusicians is to be applauded.

GREG MURPHY

SCOTT HAMILTON QUARTET

DEAN STREET NIGHTS

Woodville wvcd141 (62:40)

Stan Getz, Zoot Sims and BillPerkins were always among myfavourite tenor players - so Icelebrate the fact that ScottHamilton is still among us, andmaintaining that tradition ofstraight-ahead, swingingsaxophone eloquence. Here'sScott luxuriating in a 35-yearresidency, the Pizza Express inLondon's Dean Street, togetherwith his regular local British

supporting trio - John Pearce onpiano, Dave Green on bass andSteve Brown on drums.

That ultra-special sound flowswarmly for three minutes on IJust Found Out About Love, JohnPearce excels, Dave does hisexpert thing, and fine fours withSteve follow. Sweet And Lovely getsa becoming Latin feel. Jitterbug

Waltz, 6/8-ing at 13:12, proves tobe an out-and-out jazz peak, withthe tenorman in full flamboyantflight either side of an out-of-time interlude with just piano.

His two ballads of the selectionhave positive personal impact forme. If I Had You is redolent with

romantic meaning. Spring Can

Really Hang You Up The Most hitsthe same spot, complete with theevocative verse. The two othervibrant vehicles are Zoot's Blues,

wherein he does summon up thespirit of that all-time great, andCherokee, second longest at 11:29and a pulsating climax to amagical Soho night.

LES TOMKINS

THE JAZZ RAG26 27THE JAZZ RAG

Terry Gibbs

ON RECORD REVIEWS

THE JAZZ RAG

ON RECORD REVIEWS

28 29THE JAZZ RAG

THE KEYNOTE

JAZZ COLLECTION

1941-1947

Fresh Sound FSR-CD 815: 11

CDs

It’s sometimes the happy lot ofthe jazz record reviewer to beassigned the very item he (orshe) would most like to receive.All too often, the opposite is thecase. Not so this time. I missed(i.e. failed to buy) the completeKeynote collection when it cameout on LP way back in 1986. NowFresh Sound, that most eclecticand wide-ranging of Spanishreissue labels (and its drivingforce, Jordi Pujol) have createdthe ultimate dream package witha box set of eleven CDsdocumenting the full Keynotejazz output, this accompanied bya superb illustrated booklet.

From its earliest beginnings in1940 in New York, Keynote hadfocussed on quality.That said, itsimportance to jazz connoisseursrests in its employment of HarryLim to produce a series of swingand bop recordings. It’s largely tohim that we owe the 62 pricelesssessions spread over theseindividual CDs. Lim was Javaneseand had arrived in New York in1936 from Batavia and was soonorganising jam sessions, beforemoving on to Chicago and NewOrleans in search of more goodmusic. He joined Keynote in 1943and concentrated on the greatestjazz musicians of the day;eventually leaving in in 1947, dueto‘professional difficulties’ withJohn Hammond, who hadbecome the label’s boss.

Lim had recorded the GeorgeHartman Dixieland band in NewOrleans in 1941 and their fourbright-and-brash sides open thecollection, trumpeter Hartmanand clarinettist ‘Bujie’ Centobiethe standouts. Thereafter, heconcentrated on New York swingstarting with the celebratedLester Young Quartet recordingsin 1943, the first to feature Prez(then back with Basie) trulyalone, sounding supremelyrelaxed and in good company.Perfect music. DinahWashington’s debut session cameto Keynote via Leonard Featherand features a Hampton sextetwith clarinettist Rudy Rutherfordworth his place. Interesting tonote that all four sides are blues

pieces by producer Feather! Asthe Down Beat review put it,‘Dinah and the boys are in thereall the way’. Quite. There followsa personal favourite of mine: RoyEldridge’s Little Jazz Ensembleteaming three trumpet masters,Emmett Berry, Joe Thomas andRoy himself, with a top rhythmsection. Just to hear their I Want

to Be Happy is to define, yes, jazzhappiness. Lim’s liking for suchdistinctive line-ups was hisproducing signature, even as CD1closes with two (from eight madefor Lim in 1944) brilliantColeman Hawkins sessions, thefirst with the on-form Eldridgeand Teddy Wilson, the secondminus Roy.

If all that were not enough, CD2opens with a Cozy Cole sessionthat includes Hawkins again andEarl Hines, plus the underratedThomas and trombonist TrummyYoung (I remember an LP reissueof these tracks with truncatedsolos; here they are fullyrestored!). Their performance ofYoung’s Thru for the Night hasalways been a hot delight, relaxedyet masterfully hip. Everyone onform. As were the Basie-ites amonth later with their KansasCity Seven/Five sides, Youngalongside his pals Clayton, theidiosyncratic Wells, Jones andBasie (as ‘Prince Charming’).Pliant, hard-swinging andirresistibly creative. The CharlieShavers quintet (with Hines andaltoist Tab Smith) has a hard actto follow. The Hodges-like Smithsounds slightly cheesy andShavers is a tad too florid for mytaste. Another of Lim’simaginative line-ups is next, billedas Coleman Hawkins and his SaxEnsemble: that’s Smith again, plusHawk, Don Byas and HarryCarney. Carney impresses asdoes the Hawk-inspired Byas,drummer Sid Catlett the kicker.

There’s more Hawk on CD3 butthe prize goes to Benny Morton’sTrombone Choir, another Limspecial, with Vic Dickenson,Claude Jones and the quirky BillHarris, this sounding moreexciting than the all-sax group.Multi-trombone outfits arecommonplace now: this was thefirst to record. Gloriously too, ason Once In A While. Fellowtrombonist Lawrence Brownturns up with the non-Lim RexStewart Big Eight, its fouroriginals arranged by BrickFleagle, and sufficiently individual

to be worth their place. Stewart’sevocative Swamp Mist has a Mood

Indigo feel, with Carney playingbass-clarinet. Trumpet ace JonahJones partners the excitableShavers in The Keynoters withtenorist Budd Johnson soundingPrez-like and energetic, but it’sthe indefatigable JohnnyGuarnieri on piano who shineshere as he does so oftenelsewhere. CD4 starts well withthe wheezy altoist Pete Brown’sAll-Stars, Lim favourite JoeThomas stately on trumpet, MiltHinton and drummer J.C.Heardswinging like the proverbial. Amore modern note is injectedwith Red Norvo’s all-stars withdry-toned clarinettist AaronSachs and Wilson again, theirSeven Come Eleven picking upcheerfully from where Hamp andBG left off. Guitarist RemoPalmieri scores here. More goodthings follow with bassist BillyTaylor’s Big Eight with JohnnyHodges’s sole appearance onKeynote, sumptuous as ever andCarney’s lively Carney-Val in

Rhythm with the forceful EmmettBerry and shouty trombonistVernon Brown justifying thatterrible pun. Jonah Jones lines upnext with a cohort of hisCalloway colleagues, trombonistTyree Glenn’s ripe tones to thefore. Final cuts here come fromtraditionalist George Hartmanpitched in with some NewYorkers.

Half-way through CD5 therealisation dawns that Lim andcompany had recorded no lessthan seventeen sessions in1944.So much for the stresses ofwar-time! This has more Norvoand Hawk, and Shavers and thena peach of a session: GeorgeWettling’s loose-limbed NewYorkers, with Hawkins, JoeThomas and the impeccable JackTeagarden, Herman Chittison onpiano, on Too Marvellous for Words.

And so it was. A morecontemporary sound follows astrumpeter Howard McGhee andChubby Jackson’s Herman mateszip through Northwest Passage,composer Ralph Burns on pianobefore Cozy Cole rounds upanother Herman-ite ShortyRogers for his session.

Talking of zipping through, we’lltake CDs 6 to 11 on the run asspace closes in, pausing only tocommend Barney Bigard (withThomas and Guanieri) and a rareouting by pianist HoraceHenderson (brother of Fletcher)with the recently-deceased EddieBert on trombone. ClarinettistIrving Fazola pops up on CD7,Babe Russin on CD 8, with labelproducer Eric Bernay favouringestablished white players like BudFreeman on Volume 8, echoed byLim on CD9 with Red Rodney’sBeboppers as his label swan-song.

Forgive the breathless tone ofthis over-view, but what with 243sides spread over 62 sessions anda booklet running to 124 photo-packed pages, there’s enoughmeat here for a book-lengthstudy. And why not, for this label(and its producers) provided awindow on a long-gone worldwhen the music’s greatestpractitioners were at one in theirdesire to create memorablemusic? Fresh Sound see this boxset as a homage to the visionaryLim and rightly so. Don’t do as Idid and wait for thirty years foranother reissue to come along.Beg, borrow or steal the loot, butbuy now.

PETER VACHER

*It should be noted that this box setonly contains the original Keynoteissued takes; earlier compilationsincluded alternative takes and part-takes, often revealing significantchanges in individual solos etc.

JAZZ ME BLUES: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OFCHRIS BARBER

CHRIS BARBER WITH ALYNSHIPTON

Equinox Publishing, hardback,

978 1 84553088 4, £19.95

Jazz Me Blues can certainly bedescribed as ‘long-awaited’, byeager Chris Barber fans, but alsoby Chris himself and Alyn Shiptonwho first discussed the project in1982! The question is, ‘Is it worththe wait?’ Overall the answer isundoubtedly yes because welearn all sorts of things about aremarkable career expressed in asimple readable style, butcompared to what it could havebeen the result is disappointing.

As someone who knows areasonable amount about ChrisBarber’s career – and, indeed,recognised his account of someevents nearly word for word withan interview I did – I was stillamazed at his range of activitiesand the numbers of the great andgood he has been associatedwith. We all know about theAmerican stars he brought overand toured, from Muddy Watersto Ray Nance, but on the pagetheir quantity boggles the mind –and the amount of successfultouring his band did in the Statestook me by surprise, as did therevelation that he nearly took EdHall on as a permanent bandmember. His association withHarold Pendleton led tolaunching the Marquee Club andwith it many illustrious careers inblues and rock. The likes of EricClapton, George Harrison andVan Morrison figure in his story,

as, thanks to his interest in motorracing, do Graham Hill, ColinChapman and many others.

One reason why some of Chris’major achievements wereunfamiliar to me is that much ofhis career has been away fromthese shores, especially inGermany. For instance, he writeswith pride of the Concerto forJazz Trombone and Orchestrathat Richard Hill wrote for himwhich was performed in EastBerlin in 1986 and 1988, but hasnever been performed in Britain.

One of the points British readerswill instantly turn to is the breachwith Ken Colyer. In fact Chriswrites with unfailing respect ofKen’s playing, only criticising hisinarticulate leadership, andsuggests that conflict of musicalinterests was not the cause ofKen leaving the band. Simply BillColyer took too much on himselfwhen he decided to sack therhythm section of a band thatwas a co-operative organisation,not really Ken Colyer’s Band.

However, there are severalproblems with Jazz Me Blues. Fora start it is only 147 pages long(plus discography and index, bothgood, as far as I checked) andChris Barber is far from the bestat prioritising what is mostimportant. He makes nothing ofhis private life. His parents soundfascinating. Both decidedly left-leaning, his father was apparentlyoffered both a knighthood andthe post of Chancellor of theExchequer in Attlee’sgovernment while his motherbecame Mayor of Canterbury.Ottilie Patterson’s parents –Latvian and Irish – are similarlyinteresting, but both sets receive

scant attention. Of Chris’ fourwives, only Ottilie gets more thana met-wed-divorced mention.

So the attention should be firmlyon his musical career – and so itis, to a point. After charting theband’s progress to the formationof the Jazz and Blues Band, hegets distracted and the Big ChrisBarber Band is afforded 5 pagesfor its dozen years of existence.The cars he has owned and racedreceive a 10-page chapter, withprices paid and registrationnumbers duly recorded.

Two impressions persist: of aplanned longer book started longago that has been rushed to afinish and of Alyn Shipton findingChris’ anecdotal style toorandom to translate into abalanced narrative. But,unsatisfactory as it is, the Barberautobiography is more thanwelcome – and the photographsare often quirkily interesting.

RON SIMPSON

MR. B - THE MUSIC & LIFE OF BILLY ECKSTINE

CARY GINELL

Hal Leonard Books, paperback,

978-1-4584-1980-4, $18.99

US author Ginell is a prolificwriter on jazz, an earlier study ofCannonball Adderley in this HalLeonard Jazz Biography Serieshaving earned him a high degreeof praise. Now comes thisaccount of the life of a significantAfrican-American jazz figurewhose vocal appeal (and goodlooks) enabled him to cross-overinto lucrative mainstreampopularity. Surprisingly, perhaps,this is the first Eckstine biographyand happily for the reader, it is awell-made and carefullyresearched over-view of Mr. B’slife. The prose style is plain-Jane,no flights of fancy nor over-muchtedious detail but enough tomake the story run and quite astory it is.

Significantly, Ginell has earned theco-operation of family Eckstein(the original spelling of his name)and Ed Eckstein, one of Mr. B’sfive sons, and a former President

of Mercury Records, contributesa warm Foreword. The Ecksteinantecedents were whiteimmigrants from Germany withBilly’s grand-father the first tomarry across the colour-line andGinell has been diligent intracking down appropriatecensus details and family lineages,these culminating in WilliamClarence Eckstein Jr.’s birth onJuly 8, 1914 in Pittsburgh, thenAmerica’s eighth largest city. Theyoungster showed an earlyinterest in music and following amove to Washington began toappear in local shows and to singwith local bands. Ginelldocuments these moves and theconfining setbacks that arose inthose segregated times crisplybut of more moment to Rag

readers will be his encapsulationof B’s time with Earl Hines (thisgenerating his great hits Jelly, Jelly

and Stormy Monday Blues) and hissubsequent championing ofbebop via his own star-studdedorchestra. Hugely successful asthis was, he chose nonetheless tomove into more popular waterswith MGM Records, making hitrecords and building animpressive reputation as a topclub and theatre performer.

It’s also clear that he hankered toparlay his good looks into aviable Hollywood movie career.Sadly this never happened, due inpart due to an unfortunate pressphoto that showed adoring whitegirls pressed against him.Thereafter, Eckstine continued asa Las Vegas favourite without everfinding the further hit records orreceiving the film calls (althoughmany were mooted) that histalents and personalitywarranted. While never short ofwell-paid engagements, the lastperiod of his life seems to havebeen a disappointment to him,carrying a sense of treadingwater rather than the triumphantconclusion to a great career. Heappears to have remained ajazzman at heart and seemsalways to have regretteddistancing himself from the jazzworld. The many illustrations,though quite small, are wellreproduced on art paper andvaluable. Eckstine died in 1993.He was 78.

PETER VACHER

BOOK REVIEWSChris Barber

Lester Young

30 31THE JAZZ RAG THE JAZZ RAG

IN PRINT

GUEST REVIEWER

DIGBY

FAIRWEATHER

ALL THIS AND SLOWLY DETERIORATING FAST

JIM GODBOLT.

Proper Music Publishing,

hardback (with CD),

0956121284, £12.69

A book no larger than theaverage CD cover (with a CD foradded value) is not the kind ofjazz publication that turns up ona reviewer’s desk every day. Butthis is exactly what you get withthe typically (and quitewonderfully) titled All this and

slowly deteriorating fast, the self-written final testament fromcritic, author, commentator andagent, the late Jim Godbolt, whodied at the age of 90 on January10th 2013.

The book’s subtitle, ‘Memoirs ofa Geriatric Jazz Buff’, says a gooddeal about Jim’s outwardly-presented view of both himselfand the world. The surface-imagethat he chose to display to us –hasty, impatient and monosyllabic,quick to ill-humour and resentfulof critique both public andotherwise – sometimes masked aman whose love of jazz infusedhis soul, lit up his private days andnights and carried him through alife which sometimes bouncedhim unmercifully on the waves ofpopular music fashion. But I didknow Jim as well as most – andbetter than some. And in my view(as well as those of closer friendsdown the decades, including thatbenign beacon of gentleperception, Ron Rubin) he had -like Revivalist compadres JamesAsman, George Webb, GeorgeMelly and some few others -heard the pure call of NewOrleans jazz as it re-surfaced inBritain after the war, andunflinchingly determined totraverse the musical paths of thenext sixty years of the music as a

faithful (if regularly querulous)disciple. But as he affirms on thecover of his last-ever memoirshere: ‘in this book I hope toshow the funny side of myactivities and accord (my jazzassociates) the pleasure theyhave given me both on a personallevel and from their musicmaking’.

The result is a happy, constantlydisarming and fully updatedautobiography, offering warm andfresh personal recollections of hisyears as a manager (forpersonalities as diverse asbandleader Ambrose, MickMulligan and George Melly andthe Swinging Blue Jeans) alongwith new insights into hiscontributions to British jazzautobiography and history. These,as we know, include his definitiveHistory of Jazz in Britain l919-50

(wisely republished by Northwayin 2005) and its accompanying 4CD set of 100 sides; issued (likethe volume under review) byProper Music, and incorporatinga 12000 word booklet by Jim thatcould, in other circumstances,have deservedly won him aGrammy. His twenty-six years aseditor of Jazz at Ronnie Scott’s -the club’s one-time housemagazine and known almostuniversally as ‘JARS’ – producedin due time his Jazz Farrago

(Hampstead Press, 2008), a vividdocument of a vital – ifoccasionally perilous - period inthe club’s history which clearlyillustrates that Jim himself wascapable of allowing himself to betaken less than seriously whereappropriate. Looking back overdelightful books such as these –as well as his irresistible World of

Jazz in Printed Ephemera and

Collectibles (Studio Editions, l990)- I’m re-struck both by theirintrinsically British character (nobad thing) and equally theirauthor’s obvious affection withthe older worlds of Ambrose,Roy Fox, the Savoy Orpheans andtheir contemporaries; an outréworld which, to his and ouradvantage, separated Jim frommany of his contemporarycommentators. My copy of World

of Jazz is kindly dedicated ‘to Dig– a kindred spirit indeed!’ and Itreasure both book andsentiment.

There are, of course, one or twobloopers and spelling errorsdespite the fine work of editorMatthew Wright but they really

don’t detract from this utterlydelightful volume. Itsaccompanying CD, compiled bythe equally admirable MikePointon (beginning with I heard

the voice of a pork chop by BenCurry from l928 and concludingfifteen tracks later withEllington’s Dance of the Floradores)again offers a sly yet revealingview of the author and hispersonal perspectives on life andmusic. In short All this and slowly

deteriorating fast is a compact yetexquisite memorial to the life ofa central figure in Britain’s jazzculture, a tiny but permanentmonument more valuable thanany stone.

LOUIS ARMSTRONG,MASTER OF MODERNISM

THOMAS BROTHERS

W. W. Norton & Co., hardback,

978 0 393 06582 4, £25.00

Not so long ago it was stillpossible for a writer to attemptto cover all jazz history in a bookof manageable size. Now it seemsthat the life and music of just oneman, Louis Armstrong, can’t becontained within one volume. In2011 Ricky Ricardi’s acclaimedWhat a Wonderful World

concentrated on his later yearsand now Thomas Brothers’second volume (following Louis

Armstrong’s New Orleans) detailsthe years from the early 1920s tothe early 1930s. I have only seenan advance reading copy and amnot sure if the official length of720 pages is accurate: in myedition 465 pages of main textare followed by over 100 pagesof discography, bibliography andnotes – and the index has yet tobe added!

So the first thing to be said aboutLouis Armstrong, Master of

Modernism is that it is long, toolong! Apart from beingencumbered by prodigiousknowledge that leads him intominute analysis, Thomas Brothersdoes tend to repeat himself andcan hardly resist the temptationto summarise: for instance thefinal 12 page section, rather thana climax to the narrative, issimply recapitulation.

The second thing to be said isthat it really is a valuable book.It’s useful to be reminded how

much of an innovator Armstrongwas in the 1920s, thoughBrothers’ division of hisachievement into his ‘firstmodern style’ and ‘secondmodern style’ is tiresome, as ishis discovery that Louis’ musicalartistry is based on the ‘fixed andvariable’ model. But Brothers hasmuch to tell us. For much of theChicago period he sensiblyreverses the commonapprehension of Louis’ work. Imust confess that I have tendedto look on this time as the era ofthe Hot Five and Hot Seven andnot pay too much attention to,for instance, Erskine Tate and hisVendome Orchestra. Brothersforegrounds the importance ofhis dancehall and theatre work –and also emphasises the extentto which Armstrong was aschooled musician well versed inplaying classical solos. Conversely,though he sometimes gets intounhelpful speculation aboutattitudes to race, he has much tosay on the subject that is veryrevealing – although a muchmore harmless manifestation ofracism that many others, I wastaken with the idea that blackmusicians on Shuffle Along learnedall the music because the whiteaudiences didn’t like to think theycould read music. Brothers’account of the manifestations ofracism on Louis’ return visit toNew Orleans is also particularlyrevealing. On the other hand, hecan be lazy in acceptingstereotypes: his presentation ofFletcher Henderson as an unjazzyacademic purveying dance musicto the talented tenth of middle-class black America has sometruth in it and fits his theme well,but is monotonous and unsubtle.

On the other hand – and Master

of Modernism frequentlysummons up those four littlewords – the research ismagnificent and the use ofprimary and secondary sourcesin the text exemplary, forexample, the comments of DavePeyton of the Chicago Defender

(of whom I was aware only in ageneralised way), the aspiringmiddle-class jazz-hating lover ofclassical music who finds itimpossible to resist LouisArmstrong. On the strength ofthe advance copy, the illustrationsare only adequate; on the otherhand, it’s well edited and fairlypriced.

RON SIMPSON

33THE JAZZ RAG

According to Wikipedia,Oscar Peterson made15 albums in 1959, so it’s

no surprise that Norman Granzwas always on the lookout fordifferent themes for recordings. Itdoes, however, mean thatOSCAR PETERSON

SECOND SET: THREE

CLASSIC ALBUMS PLUS

(Avid AMSC 1109: 2 CDs, 157.36)is to an extent limited by thematerial. Swinging Brass (1959)finds Russell Garcia supplying theextra heft Peterson doesn’t needand My Fair Lady (1958) tendstowards the routine, though Porgy

and Bess (1959) is decidedlymore distinctive and packs moreemotional clout. But it’s only onthe ‘plus’ tracks that thePeterson trio is heard at itsexhilarating best: three 1952tracks from JATP and half analbum from the 1956 Stratford,Ontario, Shakespeare Festival,Peterson in prodigious formsupported by the magnificent RayBrown and superb guitar fromBarney Kessel and Herb Ellisrespectively. Oscar Petersonalso shows up with BenWebster on DURING THISTIME (MIG 80212: 71.25),recorded in Hanover in 1972when Webster had only monthsto live. There is no sign of this onthe CD, with Webster rompingthrough Cotton Tail and otherEllington favourites. His balladtreatments are less breathy thanof yore, but I guess the addededginess is a modest concessionto moving with the times. On theexcellent accompanying DVD(plenty of good close-ups),

Webster shows his age, sittingdown to play, but the wholeperformance radiates energy.Peterson, as always, has asurprising ability for such adominant player to adjust toanother musician’s style andrepertoire. A very different pianogreat, Herbie Hancock, burston the scene at the age of 22 in1962, with TAKIN’ OFF(Essential Jazz Classics EJC55630: 68.40), highlyauthoritative, though in a stylemore in the hard bop mainstreamthan his later recordings. Thealbum consisted of six originals,beginning with a definingperformance of Watermelon Man,and the CD is completed bythree alternative takes and anattractive, but overlong and fairlyconventional, trio treatment ofthe Burke-Van Heusen gem, Like

Someone in Love, live in St. Louis in1961. For Takin’ Off Alfred Lionand Blue Note provided theiryoung star with a terrific quintet,including Dexter Gordon and themarvellous Freddie Hubbard. Atthe same time RCA Victorassembled a stellar seven-piecefor an outstanding 19-year-oldvibes player on his second albumunder his own name: WHO IS

GARY BURTON? (EJC 55627:78.20). Burton’s distinctivepianistic style is effectively inplace here and he has theconfidence to allow his sidementheir share of the glory. Anoutstanding track is My Funny

Valentine with Tommy Flanagan’sdelicate statement of the versefollowed by Clark Terry’sbeautiful treatment of the main

melody – enhanced by Burton’sevocative harmonies. A mystery isthe presence of Chris Swansen,billed on the current release asplaying valve trombone and in theoriginal sleeve note as an extrapercussionist! But who is ChrisSwansen? Trawling the internetreveals him as a multi-instrumentalist who laterspecialised in synthesisers – veryhelpful! Certainly he composedtwo of the tunes here, butthey’re none too memorable. TheCD is completed by the quintettracks from Joe Morello’s It’sAbout Time (Burton and PhilWoods given space to stretchout) and a complete LP, Subtle

Swing, by Nashville guitarist andElvis sideman Hank Garland withthe then 17-year-old Burton.Back at Blue Note,REMEMBERING GRANT

GREEN (EJC 55626: 68.57) from1961 is joyously simple – andsimply joyous. The guitarist sticksto classy standards (Berlin,Gershwins, Kern-Hammerstein,Dietz-Schwartz, etc.) anddecorates them with airyimprovisations. The sparse soundof Green’s single lines and piano-less accompaniment from theadmirable Wilbur Ware and AlHarewood gives the whole thinga delightful lightness. The CD iscompleted by two unused tracksand two takes of Woody ‘n’ You

with a quartet (Sonny Clark onpiano) from the same year. At theother end of the experiencescale, BG IN HI-FI (EJC 55625:76.34) from 1954 is one of thebest Benny Goodman

recordings of the 1950s. With noregular big band through theperiod – and sometimes no smallgroup, either – his jazz didn’tgrow organically and the problemwith re-creations of his 1930sand early 1940s material iscomparison with the first timeround. But here that’s noproblem. The big band assembledfor the recordings is a crackoutfit, with redoubtablecornermen from the 1930s suchas Chris Griffin, Vernon Brownand Hymie Schertzer, TeddyWilson’s natural successor MelPowell and a young trumpet starRuby Braff – and Neal Hefti’s onhand to throw a few newarrangements into theHenderson mix. Small groupsessions feature Powell and

either Braff or Charlie Shavers.Bonus tracks include overspillfrom the original sessions andfour trio versions of 30sstandards, also recorded in 1954.On the experimental side Avid’s‘Classic Albums’ series brings ustwo sadly short-lived multi-instrumentalists. Roland Kirk’sFOUR CLASSIC ALBUMS

(AMSC 1111: 2 CDs, 146.17)covers 1960-1962 and includeshis two most famous earlyalbums: We Free Kings (with itsunforgettable flute version in 6/8of the Christmas carol) andDomino. Of the earlier albumsIntroducing Roland Kirk benefitsfrom the crisp trumpet of IraSullivan and Kirk’s Work gets arhythm and blues feel from thepresence of Brother Jack McDuff.It’s difficult to sum up the appealof Roland Kirk: the seriousness ofhis work accompanied bywhistles and sirens, thestraightahead blues-based tenorsax alongside the two-at-onceplaying of strangely namedmilitary saxophones, the bizarremusical textures and thehumming along with the flute.Getting on for 40 years after hisdeath, Kirk remains anexhilarating presence. EricDolphy’s FOUR CLASSIC

ALBUMS (AMSC 1112: 2 CDs,159.55) lives up its name,commencing with Dolphy’s firstalbum as leader, Outward Bound

from 1960. G.W. sets outDolphy’s avant garde credentialsin its explosive opening, but thereis much more to him than that: asensitive and technically perfecttreatment on flute of Rodgersand Hart’s Glad to be Unhappy,for instance. Freddie Hubbard’strumpet crackles with intent andJaki Byard, George Tucker andRoy Haynes form the first of foursuperb rhythm sections on theCDs. Eric Dolphy helped definethe role in jazz for flute and bassclarinet as well as playing high-intensity alto sax – and Out There

finds him experimenting with thejazz line-up. In a piano-lessquartet, the wonderful RonCarter joins him on cello, sharingmelody lines with Dolphy’s altoor duetting with GeorgeDuvivier’s bass. The final two LPsare less unusual, but a finereminder of Dolphy’s associationwith the supremely talentedBooker Little who died shortly

THE JAZZ RAG

after the celebrated live sessionfrom the Five Spot in 1961.MANCHESTER CONCERT

(In Crowd 996692: 2 CDs,129.58) by Miles Davis is full offine music despite certainoddities. It’s billed as the‘complete’ 1960 concert fromthe Free Trade Hall, but is madeup from two concerts (the sameevening, I think) totalling less than100 minutes. Furthermore,Walkin’ cuts out part way through– ‘complete’? Matias Rinar’s notedwells on Coltrane’s quitting thegroup on an earlier tour and howSonny Stitt is not Trane! WithSonny Stitt on tenor and alto, it’strue that the quintet takes on aless experimental, more bebop-aligned feel, with Miles lessinclined to introspection, but it’snone the worse for that, with aformidable rhythm team(Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambersand Jimmy Cobb) in great form.The ‘filler’ tracks come f rom St.Louis in 1963, with an equallymagnificent rhythm section(Herbie Hancock, Ron Carterand Tony Williams) supportingMiles and another saxist Rinarseems determined to play downas a stopgap, the excellentGeorge Coleman. Ahmad

Jamal’s THE COMPLETE

1961 ALHAMBRA

PERFORMANCES (EJC55629: 2CDs, 151.22) bringstogether 2 LPs, Ahmad Jamal’s

Alhambra and All of You, and addsin some unused tracks and a1958 studio session. Theperformances feature his classicearly trio, with Vernel Fournierand Israel Crosby, soon to diesadly early. Remarkably AhmadJamal has been lauded as themost influential figure in jazz afterCharlie Parker and dismissed as acocktail pianist. I find neitherview tenable. What is certain isthat his lyrical, melodicallyinventive, often witty versions ofa superb set of standards, withCrosby and Fournier givingempathetic support, areunfailingly enjoyable.

The oddest of the new releases isvery appealing in a decidedlyGallic way. ORLIE (Laborie LJ23:48.23) features on the cover twovery intellectual-looking andrather wild young people and thisis a fair representation of thealbum. Gregoire Gensse playspiano and ‘objets’ (meaning hefinds things to hit or scrape),Elodie Pasquier plays clarinetand bass clarinet, between themthey compose all the pieces,some with such quirky titles asPresque Rien (87 seconds mostlyof pinging and clanking). Gensse,to my ears clearly classicallytrained, can move fromimpressionist Debussy-ishmelody to discordant percussiveattacks on the keyboard. SimilarlyPasquier, from mellifluous moodcreation to squawks andscreeches. I can’t pretend it willregularly be on my CD player, buton occasional hearing thefreshness and originality are atonic. I didn’t get so muchpleasure out of CRAVINGCOFFEE (Losen Records LOS127-2: 42.44) by Rita Lovise,though this, too, scores heavilyfor originality and variety. It verymuch reflects the talents andintentions of Rita LoviseHaugseggen, singer, composerand producer of the album. Thereare songs in both English andNorwegian and I found the firsttwo heavy going, withportentously poetic lyrics (‘Fallenvultures enhance my flaws’) andover-dramatic delivery, whetherwhispered or declamatory. Prettypowerful, I guess, and there isstrong support from pianist BjornAndor Drage and tenor saxistHenning Gravrok, but for methings only started to look upwith track 3, Arer av kull,Norwegian lyrics and anattractive melody very well sung.The titles on Ben van Gelder’sREPRISE (Pirouet PIT 3074:43.56) are a bit of a give-away:Crystalline, Evocation, Into Air it

Disappears. Van Gelder’scompositions and his alto sax

improvisations are introspectiveand atmospheric, elusivelymelodic, not strongly rhythmic.His group includes vibes andrhythm section, all rather self-effacing, though highly-ratedtenor saxist Mark Turner guestson two tracks. Of the newreleases the most straightforwardis an attractive live set (at thePloughboy, Saltash) from RogerMarks’ Cornish Armada:

DRIFTING AND

DREAMING (Leap FrogRecords LF 9692: 64.39). TheCornish Armada takes on arather more traditional colouring(banjo and sousaphone, forexample) than Roger’s mainArmada Jazz Band, but the set isby no means predictable. Apartfrom the leader’s gruffly fluenttrombone, Graham Trevarton –by turns forthright and delicateon trumpet and cornet –impresses and the tune selectionis first class. Following on thebold decision not to use anynumbers of the Armada’srepertoire, the likes of San, East

Coast Trot and the title trackcome up fresh. Beer Barrel Polka isa bit corny, to be true, but otheroff-the-wall choices such asHappy Days are Here Again and

Auf Wiedersehen Sweetheart workwell.

DELMARK 60 YEARS OF

JAZZ (DE 916: 67.31) is richwith the variety of output of theChicago-based label. Thecontrasts are there in theopening two tracks, Josh Berman& his Gang with an avant-gardeapproach to Sugar (2011) andDewey Jackson belting out ahappy-go-lucky version of That’s a

Plenty from 1952, with DonEwell’s mighty piano covering thelack of a bass. Tenor saxists figureto great effect on this sampler,from a previously unissued takeof Lockjaw Davis on Lover from1947 to Ira Sullivan’s lyrical Along

Came Betty in 2011, via SonnyStitt and (my personal favourite)Red Holloway. The collection isoddly balanced between the earlydays and the 21st century –nothing in between – and onlythe broad-minded will enjoy boththe tensions of Kahil el’ ZabarsRitual Trio with violinist Billy Bangand the Fat Babies doing the Bixthing (excellent cornetist AndySchumm), but what’s wrong withbroad-mindedness?

BEGINNING TO CD LIGHT BEGINNING TO CD LIGHT

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RON SIMPSON’S ROUND-UP OF RECENT CDSGrant Green

Rita Lovise

Eric Dolphy

35THE JAZZ RAG34 THE JAZZ RAG