HEADING HEADING

THE JAZZ RAGISSUE 123 AUTUMN 2012

UK £2.752012 BRITISH JAZZ AWARDS:THE NOMINATIONS

Jamie Brownfield by Merlin Daleman

2 3THE JAZZ RAG

CONTENTS

UPFRONTIT’S VOTING TIME AGAIN!2012 is the 26th year of the British Jazz Awards, the ‘Jazz Oscars’, and October 12th isthe closing date for voting. Highly valued by jazz musicians for many reasons – not leastthe long list of illustrious names on the roster of a quarter-century of awards –, theawards pay tribute to the many wonderful players, singers and bands whom we tend totake for granted.

This issue's cover photograph features one of the musicians chosen by theNomination Panel, but, as the article on pages 18-19 emphasises, there are manyexcellent musicians not on the list of nominations and the voting system allows, evenencourages, votes from outside the panel’s choices.

The British Jazz Awards will be celebrated in a presentation at Eastleigh’s ConcordeClub on October 22nd, always a first-class event with superb jazz from a group of thewinners. The voting system is by no means confined to Jazz Rag, but our readers alwaysplay an important part in the process. So the Jazz Awards once again rely on yourvotes, whether by mail or on line!

JAMIE BROWNFIELDPHOTOGRAPHED BY MERLIN DALEMAN AT THIS YEAR'SBIRMINGHAM INTERNATIONAL JAZZ AND BLUES FESTIVAL. JAMIE ISONE OF THE NOMINATIONS FOR RISING STAR IN THE BRITISH JAZZAWARDS (PAGES 18-19).

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4 NEWS

5 UPCOMING EVENTS

6 WHERE DID IT ALL START?RON SIMPSON ON EUROPEAN JAZZ BANDS AND THEIR ORIGINS

9 JAZZ IN THE MOVIESANDREW PATRICK ON JAZZ FILMS

11 SOUTHPORT MELODIC JAZZ/JAZZ:BODY AND SOUL

12 DANNY POLO

14 TEN DAYS IN LONDONTHE LONDON JAZZ FESTIVAL

16 WHAT IS THIS THING CALLED BOP?THE SECOND PART OF SCOTT YANOW’S STUDY OF LATE 1940S BIG BANDS

20 REVIEW SECTION

32 BEGINNING TO CD LIGHT

34 COMPETITIONS / NEWS OF THE NEWS

THE JAZZ RAG

AMERICANSIN LONDON

JAZZ ON FILM

NEW RELEASESFROM UPBEAT JAZZ

URDVD251 THE BIG CHRIS BARBER BAND DVDLive on the Isle of Wight Fantastic live concert recording of The Big Chris Barber Band.18 tracks running 90 minutes – not to be missed!URCD249 THE LONDON SWING ORCHESTRAThe Roaring Twenties 25th Anniversary recording from Graham Dalby and theorchestra (formerly The Grahamophones) 20 terrific tracks.

URCD214 Jubilee Concert 1981 1st Half URCD212 The Last Tour – 2002 his last recording URCD218 Jubilee Concert 1981 2nd HalfURCD200 This Yere De Story – BBC broadcast - his life in words & music1994

Complete track listings and personnel online. All CDsavailable from good record shops – distributed by RSK –or online together with the full Upbeat Jazz catalogue at

www.upbeatmailorder.co.uk

Upbeat Mail Order also stocks many third party labelsincluding Lake, 504, PEK, Jasmine, Proper, JSP, Frog and

Raymer Sound and many more….

For a Free Catalogue call 0844 669 6295

URCD242 SISTER ROSETTA THARPE – TheQueen of Hot Gospel Includes previously unreleased recordings includingher own wedding! A great rarity!November 2012 is the 10th Anniversary ofthe passing of Lonnie Donegan and we have fiveterrific albums of Lonnie’s great music for you to choosefrom:

THE 2012 BRITISH JAZZ AWARDSPRESENTATION AND PERFORMANCE

Monday 22nd OctoberDoors open 7pm

Awards Presentation from 8:30pm.Tickets £20. Inclusive dinner and admission, £44.

CONCORDE CLUBStoneham Lane, Eastleigh, Hampshire SO50 9HP

Tickets available online www.theconcordeclub.comOr telephone 02380 613989

and the local Felpham in Focuswrote in glowing terms about theperformance by the Julian MarcStringle Quartet, full of suchwords as ‘fantastic’, ‘superb’ and‘exceptional’ – it’s great to seejazz finding such favour in a leafyEnglish village! The pre-Christmasprogramme will do thatreputation no harm. Mike Piggottand Steve Green (violin andguitar in Hot Club style) appearon October 3, followed by OneFoot in the Grave (Paul Eshelby,Phil Phillips, Roy Babbington andBobby Worth) on November 7and a real coup in December.Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen areappearing in two Xmas Specials(14 and 21), a remarkable doubleevent for a village hall club (andvery reasonably priced). The NewYear starts well, too, with Two forthe Price of One, saxophonists JoFooks and Vasilis Xenopouloswith the Roy Hilton Trio onJanuary 2.Tel.: 01243 584932www.jazzatthevillage.org.uk

CELEBRATION OFJOAN MORRELLCambridge Modern Jazz Club isstaging a major event tocelebrate the life and work ofJoan Morrell on October 14.Joan, who died in November2011, established CMJC in 1972and made it a major venue fornew, experimental, even obscureacts many of whom went on tointernational renown. For thistribute to her work CambridgeModern Jazz is taking over thewhole of Hidden Rooms in JesusLane for a three-partperformance from 5.00 pm tolate. The John Turville Trio kicksthings off, followed at 6.45 byGareth Williams and Dave Greenwith Salute to Bill Evans, and thenfrom 8.30 ‘The Quintet’, an all-star line-up of Art Themen, JimMullen, John Donaldson, MickHutton and Nic France. Tel.: 01223 514777www.cambridgejazz.org

UPCOMINGEVENTS

The Howard Assembly Room atthe Grand Theatre, Leeds, thoughrun by Opera North, embraces avery wide musical culture, fromflamenco to Congolese funk, withone outstanding jazzperformance lined up for Autumn2012: Jack De Johnette celebrateshis 70th birthday by touring with

a quintet including Don Byronand plays Leeds on November14. Another excellent jazz eventis the Tommy Evans Orchestrawith his suite The Green Seagull(November 10).Tel.: 0844 848 2700www.operanorth.co.uk

Autumn gigs for King Pleasureand the Biscuit Boys includeLoughborough Town Hall(October 4), the Platform,Morecambe (5), Marsden JazzFestival (12), Royal Spa Centre,Leamington Spa (18), SwindonArts Centre (20), Charcot,France (November 9), OtleyCourthouse (10), Ronnie Scott’s,London (December 8) and theMill Arts Centre (16).Tel.: 0121 454 7020www.kingpleasureandthebiscuitboys.com

The Cherry Tree in Belchamp StPaul, Suffolk, stages jazz everytwo weeks with the Roger OdellTrio and singer Larraine Odell,plus top-class guests: CameronPierre (October 14), Tina May(28), Alan Barnes (November 11)and Julian Siegel (25).Tel.: 01787 237653www.jazz-nights.com

Graham Brook’s Monday NightJazz and Swing at the WilmslowConservative Club specialises intwo guest musicians accompaniedby one of several excellentresident trios: pairings includeEnrico Tomasso and RosieHarrison (October 15), GregAbate and Bruce Adams(November 12), Amy Robertsand Mike Hall (December 10)and – just a duo, this one – AlanBarnes and Dave Newton (17).Another highlight is theappearance of Lee Gibson onOctober 29 and visiting bandsinclude the Les Bolger JazzGuitar Ensemble, a six-pieceincluding four guitars, onOctober 8, and theBrownfield/Byrne Hot Six(November 19).Tel.: 01625 528336www.myspace.com/grahambrookjazz

Tipitina appear at the WhiteSwan, Harborne, on October 25in the second last-Thursday-in-the-month session, to befollowed by 52 Skidoo onNovember 29.Tel.: 0121 454 2359 (White Swan)0121 454 7020 (Tipitina)

Early 2013 weekend jazz breaksorganised by Tony and DeniseLawrence include a Weekend Jazz

Festival at the Trouville Hotel inSandown on the Isle of Wight(February 22-25) and JazzWeekend at the Wessex Hotel,Bournemouth (March 8-11). Stillto come in 2012 are a differentIsle of Wight venue, the ShanklinHotel (October 19-22), theMetropole Hotel, LlandrindodWells (November 2-4) and theMercure Castle Hotel, Windsor(November 9-12).www.jazzbreaks.comFor further information on 2013events emailinfo@trouvillehotel.co.uk/www.forestdalehotels.com/wessex

Jazz on a Sunday at MayfieldSports Centre, Castleton,Rochdale, every fortnight onSunday evenings, continues withPapa Pider’s Jazz Band fromSweden (October 14), theMillennium Eagle Jazz Band (28),Dave Mott’s Jazz Classics(November 11), the CheshireCats (25), Chris Pearce’sFrenchman Street Jazz Band(December 2) and New OrleansHeat (16) before an extraChristmas show with the JazzGentlemen (December 23).Tel.: 0161 740 3714

The Stafford Jazz Society meetsat Stafford Rangers FC everySunday lunch-time, featuring suchbands as the Old Fashioned LoveBand with SJS President Mel Hillon trumpet (October 14), thenewly-formed Phoenix Jazzmenwith the likes of Pete Ainge andTerry McGrath (28) and IanRoyle’s Coffin Dodgers Jazz Bandwhose name hints at theirelement of comedy (November18). Special extended concertsare the SJS Anniversary Concert(Jeff Milner’s Delta Friends –October 21) and the ChristmasConcert (Fire Hose 1 DixielandJazz Band – December 16).Tel.: 01785 226950www.staffordjazz.org

Headliners at Marsden JazzFestival (October 12-14) includeKing Pleasure and the BiscuitBoys, Gilad Atzmon and theOrient House Ensemble,Tommaso Starace Quartet andDennis Rollins’ Velocity Trio.Tel.: 0845 5194415www.marsdenjazzfestival.com

The William ShakespeareJazz’n’Swing Festival at theStratford Holiday Inn (November24-26) has John Petters’ usualpacked programme. The 29musicians taking part include AlanGresty, Mike Cotton, AllenBeechey, Ian Bateman, TrevorWhiting, John Crocker, KeithNichols, Jim Douglas, DaveMoorwood, Annie Hawkins andColin Bowden. The Jazz Lectureby John Petters is on Early BlackNew Orleans Jazz and there aretributes to Muggsy Spanier, KidOry, Sidney Bechet, LouisArmstrong and many others.Tel.: 01406 365731www.traditional-jazz.com

Val Wiseman’s acclaimed BillieHoliday show, Lady Sings the Blues,plays the Landmark Arts Centre,Teddington, on November 10.Tel.: 0121 454 7020

The 26th Teignmouth Jazz andBlues Festival (November 16-18)is staging over 25 mainperformances, plus lectures,workshops and an ever increasingfringe. The festival ranges fromtraditional to cutting edge jazzand takes a new direction thisyear by heading the bill with jazzfusion in the form of EduardoNiebla. International artistsinclude Greg Abate, playing twogigs, one of them with AlanBarnes, and the festival alsofeatures Partikel, Swingology,Mike Outram, Craig Milverton,Zoe Schwartz and many others.www.teignmouthjazz.org

4 5THE JAZZ RAG

BIG DAY AT HALFMOONOctober 7 will be a splendid dayfor Dick Laurie, the Elastic Bandand the Half Moon in Putney. Theband is celebrating its 29thbirthday and the 20th anniversaryof its tenure at the Half Moonand a special guest appearance byJohn Barnes – one of his firstmajor excursions since his severestroke – should add mightily tothe festivities.

However, all has not been well onthe Elastic Band/Half Moon front.As Jazz Rag goes to press, allSunday jazz at the Half Moon hasbeen cancelled for September byorder of the new manager. This isnot necessarily a permanentthing, but it seems an odd andrather alarming action. Anyonewishing to support the ElasticBand in securing its position atthe Half Moon could write to theManager, The Half Moon, 93Lower Richmond Road, Putney,SW15 1EU or emailhalfmoon@geronimo-inns.co.uk.Tel.: 020 8780 1939 (Dick Laurie)

LARGE STEPS FORJAZZJazz Steps, organisers and co-ordinators of jazz events in andnear Nottingham, offer anenlarged programme thisAutumn. The regular Thursdayconcerts at the BoningtonTheatre in Arnold continue: theGary Boyle Quartet (October 4),the Jay Phelps Quartet (11), theBasil Hodge Quartet (November1), Partikel (15) and Neil Yates’Five Countries Trio (22). Theoccasional concerts at theDjanogly Theatre at the LakesideArts Centre include MarilynCrispell/Eddie Prevost/HarrisonSmith (November 6). In addition

the Space, NottinghamContemporary, is the venue forChristine Tobin (October 18) andJan Kopinski: Mirrors (25). Anenterprising monthly series ofLive at the Libraries featuresconcerts in Mansfield Library(Sunday lunch-time), thenSouthwell and Worksop Libraries(Monday and Tuesday evenings).The Corey Mwamba Trio(October 14-16), the NicolaFarnon Trio (November 11-13)and the Nottingham Youth JazzOrchestra (December 9-11) arethe next to appear. Finally theGrand Final of the NottinghamInternational Jazz PianoCompetition takes place in theNottingham Albert Hall onOctober 7.www.jazzsteps.co.uk

CONCORDE JAZZEastleigh’s Concorde Club, whichis hosting October’s British JazzAwards presentation, has its usualexcellent jazz programme inaddition. The Concorde offers allkinds of show, from rock tributesto an evening with Gazza, but jazzoccupies Sunday (New OrleansJazz for Dancing) and Wednesdaynights. The Wednesdayprogramme includes BuddyGreco and Lezlie Anders(October 3), the SwingCommanders (10), DigbyFairweather’s Half Dozen (17),Tenor Madness, a tribute to SpikeRobinson headed by Derek Nashand Alan Barnes (24), SammyRimington’s International Bandwith Cuff Billett (31), Peter CaterBig Band in a tribute to BuddyRich (November 7) and PeterWhite and his Band (14).Tel. 023 8061 3989www.theconcordeclub.com

JJJ ACADEMYThe new Julian Joseph JazzAcademy, presented by HMDTMusic and due to open in January2013, offers young people a greatopportunity to work with topjazz musicians to develop theircreative talents and performanceskills. The academy will operate atweekends and is aimed atexperienced instrumentalists andvocalists aged 12 to 19 who havea good ear and knowledge ofscales and a real interest in jazzand in improvisation. Three TasterDays have been arranged toenable those interested to workwith Julian Joseph and enjoy aperformance by his quartet.Following the opener at theBarbican on September 30,further Taster Days follow at theWAC Performing Arts and MediaCollege (October 20 – 2-6 pm)and the World HeartbeatAcademy (November 11 – 10am-4 pm).Tel.: 020 8820 7410www.hmdt.org.uk

JAZZ AT THE PALACEJazz at the Palace is Southend’s2nd International Jazz Festivalstaged at the Park Inn Palace onOctober 19 to 21. Patron SirMichael Parkinson takes an activepart in the proceedings, hostingthe first night concert with theLondon Jazz Sinfonia arrangedand conducted by John Janssonwith guest Jacqui Dankworth andthen taking part in An Afternoonwith our Patron on Saturday wherehe is joined by Digby Fairweatherand Laurie Holloway. Also onSaturday are selections from theJazz on the Pier concert withTina May and Digby Fairweatherand the Dankworth Dynasty

Continued with Alec and EmilyDankworth. On Sunday co-hostDigby Fairweather interviewsrecord producer Ken Barnes inBing Crosby Remembered and theother co-host Alan Barnes joinsBruce Adams for Basie’s Back.And, of course, there’s Jazz in theFestival Bar on Saturday andSunday.Tel.: 01702 339565www.visitsouthend.co.uk

DORKING JAZZWatermill Jazz in Dorkingpresents its annual concert at theMenuhin Hall on SaturdayOctober 6. Claire Martin and SirRichard Rodney Bennett team upfor another of their composertributes: Out of this World, thesongs of Harold Arlen. Theregular programme at the FriendsLife Social Club every Thursday isfull of new and original groupsand projects. BLINQ (4) is a vocalsuper-group with Liane Carroll,Ian Shaw, MOBO nomineeNatalie Williams and Los Angeles-born Brendan Reilly, accompaniedby Gwilym Simcock. The NikkiIles Trio (11) features newsaxophone voice Josh Arcoleo ontenor and the Matt Wates Sextet(18) is followed by the SowetoKinch Trio with his latest project,a double album called The Legendof Mike Smith, based on the SevenDeadly Sins.Tel.: 07415 815784www.watermilljazz.co.uk

JAZZ AT THE VILLAGETop drummer Bobby Worthreports great progress with Jazzat the Village, monthly jazz atFelpham Village Hall. Sell-outs areso common that the club canadvertise ‘Pre-booking essential’

NEWS NEWS / UPCOMING EVENTS

THE JAZZ RAG

JanKopinski

Jack DeJohnette

Kenny Ball

6 7THE JAZZ RAG THE JAZZ RAG

WHERE DID IT ALL START? WHERE DID IT ALL START?

At many festivals in the UKsome of the mostinteresting, imaginative

and robust traditional jazz comesfrom bands from mainlandEurope. Various immediatelydisprovable observations cometo mind based on interviews atthis year’s BirminghamInternational Jazz and BluesFestival and memories ofEuropean bands appearing inBirmingham and elsewhere inyears past.

The golden age of territorybands in the UK was long agoand the bands’ names alluded totheir cities of origin, the Saintsfrom Manchester being the mostnotable exception among theMerseysippi, Avon Cities,Yorkshire, Clyde Valley, SecondCity and the rest. Few boasted of

their village or small town – yes, Iknow the recent Devonianphenomenon, the FantabulousSheepwash Playboys, doesn’t fithistorically or geographically! Butregional pride seems more of aconstant in Central Europe.

Bands also seem more likely tohave their origins in aneducational establishment and, asa corollary to this, are sometimesastonishingly young compared tothe common run of UK bands.

Most traditional jazz bands willbe in some way derivative whichcan be as positive as it isnegative: there’s plenty of goodjazz derived and adapted fromexcellent models. Do thecontinental bands draw theirinspiration from a different well?More often the material skips the

revivalist period and goes back togrand old classic jazz orDixieland favourites. More often,too, the early giants of jazz arevenerated: the name LouisArmstrong occurs inconversation time and again andJoe Muranyi, a decent clarinettistborn in the States of Hungarianparents, was treated by theMiskolc Dixieland Band as anicon because he spent time inArmstrong’s All Stars. (TheMiskolc Band, veterans of manyBirmingham festivals, generally fitpretty well into my tenuoushypothesis. Miskolc is not smalland boasts an opera festival aswell as a jazz festival, but at lessthan 170,000 inhabitants and inthe far North East of Hungaryit’s not a major metropolis – andnote the band’s local pride andidentification with Dixieland.)

Above all I wanted to find outhow jazz got to the young peoplewho originally formed thesebands: what experience of jazz doyou have in a small village on theeastern edge of a CentralEuropean country when perhapsyou have a government thatregards jazz as a product of thedecadent West?

The Teens Jazzband Velke Losinyfrom the Czech Republic neverhad the problem of governmentdiscouragement directly, butthere are many remarkablefeatures of their story. By nowregulars at Birmingham, the bandis energetic, skilled anddisciplined, with no musicianabove 25 and no tune below 70!The commitment and drive oftheir playing endears them to theBirmingham crowds and, despitea somewhat awed initial reactionto the fine concert hall atBirmingham University’s BarberInstitute, they became as much athome there as on the pub circuit.The Teens Jazzband also has aunique selling point: IvaChomiszakova, extraordinarypianist with a left hand like apower drill, bandleader, singer ofclassic 1930s songs and Ph. Dstudent in Czech Literature. It’sIva who tells me how the bandstarted nearly 10 years ago.

How many jazz bands would youexpect to be based in a smalltown of 2832 inhabitants 188kilometres from the capital,Prague? The answer, remarkably,is two. Iva points to a long-standing tradition of jazz in the

town, with the Old Time JazzBand (‘they were our teachers’)being founded in 1957 and stillplaying, though obviously notwith the same people. Ivadescribes them as ‘amateurs, justlike we are’, meaning semi-professionals with other jobs,though in the case of her bandmany are still students. However,there was a further influence onthe Teens Jazzband which derivesfrom an even more youthfulband:

‘When I and my brother, thetrumpet player, moved to VelkeLosiny, I was 14 and my brotherwas 9 years old, and there was ateacher in our school who likedjazz and he founded his own band– and that was the beginning ofour playing. We founded theTeens Jazzband a few years afterthis. We still call ourselves TeensJazzband and we wait for our10th anniversary to give us a newname. People know us as TeensJazzband and, if we change thename, maybe it will be aproblem.’

To begin with the Teens Jazzbandconsisted of eight people(including double bass and tuba).Three of the originals are still inthe band which is now a sextetwith piano, banjo/guitar anddrums as the rhythm section. Theproblems of having a drummer inthe construction industryemerged a week before the bandplayed Birmingham when heinjured his hand, but thetemporary return to the HotFive rhythm section only boostedthe ferocious drive of piano andbanjo. At the outset we aretalking extreme youth, with atrumpeter of 11 years old leadingthe front-line of the TeensJazzband. Maybe starting at such aformative age has something todo with the discipline andfreedom from ego in such bandsas Teens – or indeed SpicyAdvice, another youthful bandfrom Vasteras in Sweden whichhas graced several BirminghamFestivals.

At a Teens Jazzband concert thenumbers are meticulously – andvery briefly – announced and thecomposers’ names tend to be thelikes of Louis Armstrong, JellyRoll Morton and Sidney Bechet.This chimes with Iva’s story ofthe band’s early years, with theOld Time Jazz Band asinspiration, a remarkable

schoolteacher as organiser andno jazz concerts in the area. Ivacites Louis Armstrong LPs as aninfluence and after that Britishtraditional bands Chris Barber,Kenny Ball and Rod Mason.Having relied on her father’s LPcollection, Iva delighted in thearrival of Youtube. The respect forthe past shows in anotherelement of the band’s repertoire.Their current CD is of the songsof Annette Hanshaw with PetraErnyei as guest vocalist:

‘We hold traditional tributes tojazz players, we try to findtraditional players and musicianswho have an anniversary.’ (Isurmised it was AnnetteHanshaw’s centenary, but Ivainforms me they were celebratingher 110th anniversary, heraccepted birthdate having beenmoved from 1910 to 1901.Somehow those pert little ‘That’salls’ at the end of songs fittedbetter with a teenager!)

So does the existence of twobands in a town of less than3,000 people mean thattraditional jazz is very popular inMoravia? Apparently not!

‘Traditional jazz is not so popularin the Czech Republic. Modernjazz is much more popular, just asin Poland. We play all over theCzech Republic, often 200 or 300kilometres from our home town,because most of the festivals arein the West of the CzechRepublic and we are in the East.Last year we were in France at aninternational youth music festivalin Belfort. We also played inGermany last year.’

So Teens Jazzband has a footholdon the international festivalscene, but not so much as theBudapest Ragtime Orchestra,founded much earlier (1980) andwith an impressive record ofseven visits to the United States,including three Sacramento JazzJamborees, and regularappearances at plenty of top UKfestivals (Upton, Swanage,obviously Birmingham).

Bassist and leader Ferenc Gayersimplifies the reasons for theband’s formation: students at theBudapest Academy saw the filmThe Sting, with Scott Joplin’s ragsorchestrated by the late MarvinHamlisch, and were inspired tostart a ragtime band. Ferencexplains a rather ambiguous

attitude by the government inSoviet-influenced days: ‘In the Communist era it was notso easy to hear jazz music. In the1990s it was much easier totravel abroad and hear jazz. Butamong the Middle EuropeanCommunist countries Hungaryhad the first music academy forjazz. I studied there myself. Manyuniversity students played jazzeven before the change fromCommunism.’

The founders of the BudapestRagtime Band were half jazzstudents and half classical whichhas helped the exhilarating mix ofstyles the band employs: fromragtime to zany selections fromthe opera to jump and jive LouisJordan-style to whistles and bellsand standing on your head.Ferenc, however, is in no doubtthat ragtime is the core of theirmusic and that comedy iscomedy, but music is paramount:

‘It’s too much to play ragtime for2 hours - too much caviar! Weplay traditional jazz and SpikeJones arrangements. We havebeen to Upton-on-Severn Festivalfour times and there was a bandthere that played Spike Jonesstyle – Bob Kerr and theWhoopee Band. The musiccomes first – the quality of themusic is the most importantthing, more important than thecomedy and the jokes.’

Ferenc was not one of thefounder members: he joined theband 25 years ago and becameleader four years later. Of thefounder members only oneremains, but according to Ferenconly the members change, notthe style. Of course changes inpersonnel make some smallchanges, but the core remains thesame. Ferenc believes it isimportant to play in your ownstyle and no one can doubt thatthe Budapest Ragtime Band doesthat.

The one remaining originalmember is original in more waysthan one. Jozsef Szeki is aclassically trained percussionist,specialising in xylophone; he alsosings in a rough blues and comicidiom, stands on his head,demands audience participationand, according to Ferenc, ‘has avery intellectual humour’.

But what was the jazz situation

RON SIMPSON looks at the origins of traditional jazz bands insome of the more obscure (and, alternatively, most glamorous)parts of Europe.

WHERE DID ITALL START?

Budapest Ragtime Band

Jazzband Velke Losiny

Photo by Merlin Daleman

Photo by Merlin Daleman

Les Zauto Stompers

8 9THE JAZZ RAG THE JAZZ RAG

WHERE DID IT ALL START? JAZZ IN THE MOVIES

When you think of theall time list of jazzgreats - and that list is

both long and illustrious - then itwould be a reasonably safe bet toassume that one of the all timekings of jazz, Louis Armstrong,would feature somewhere nearthe top.

So it should be for me, but in mycase that statement comes with aconfession. The Louie I grew upworshipping (and the clue is inthe spelling) was not the late andgreat Satchmo but the true 'kingof the swingers', the legendaryKing Louie as voiced by LouisPrima and immortalised in onememorable song from the Disneyanimated film The Jungle Book in1967. I do have an excuse in thatI was about ten years old whenthat wonderful character firstindelibly seared its way into mypsyche, but the inescapable fact isthat whenever I think of KingLouie it is that simian 'jungle VIP'that springs to mind and thatcrazy infectious song that drownsout all other pretenders to thecrown.

However, for me that is thewhole point and the main thrustof this very personal articleabout the seismic and oftenunder-appreciated contributionthat jazz has made to the movieindustry. Jazz is not a science; itcannot and should not bedispassionately analysed ordissected to understand its core.Indeed those that might take thisapproach have already missed thepoint and I feel sad for them. Jazz,for me, is a central foundation ofwhat comprises my quality of life,along with film whoserelationship with jazz is thecentral theme of these randommusings and football which ismost definitely not!

I make no claim to be a jazzexpert and have no musical talentwhatsoever, but growing up as Idid in a musical family - my Dad isthe musician John Patrick and mystep-mum the singer BrendaScott - it would have beensurprising if I had not beentouched by music in some lastingway. I have been, and given mypassion for film and my goodfortune at being able to earn a

decent living from it, the collisionof those two art forms whichhave so much in common withone another has alwaysinterested and moved me.They are both relatively recentadditions to the cultural worldand grew up alongside each otherin the early years of thetwentieth century. Surely it ismore serendipity thancoincidence that the very firsttalking picture was The JazzSinger made in 1927. Film hasnever been afraid to push themargins of public entertainmentand often existed - or gave theimpression of existing - in theever so slightly murky margins ofrespectable society. I suggest thesame can be said of jazz and it isoften that air of being a touchrebellious, subversive even, thatgives both film and jazz theirunique and hugely attractiveallure.

Film grew up in the fair groundsand carnivals of over a centuryago whereas jazz at that time wasassociated with the shadowyworld of the gambling joint orspeakeasy, so is it any wonderthat such beginnings haveresulted in an affinity betweenthese two great art forms that, atits best, can be quite magical?

And yet it is hard to avoid theconclusion that this is not amarriage of equals and that filmhas been rather better served byjazz than jazz has by film. By this Iam not referring to films aboutjazz or its practitioners. Indeedfilm has also not been especiallysuccessful in turning out filmsabout film with a few honourableexceptions - The Player and Singin’In The Rain being to my mind chiefamong them. Perhaps this isdown to the fact that the storiesbehind the images and the musicare all too often less intrinsicallygripping than the art form thatinspired them.

As I have previously stated, I amno expert and I am sure most ofyou reading this far would agree.BUT - and this is the point - youdon't have to be to enjoy andoften luxuriate in the sound ofjazz as it subtly enhances yourenjoyment of a film and yourappreciation of its ambience.

Indeed, in some instances it canbecome the one element thatmakes seeing a pretty ordinaryfilm that bit more extra ordinary.I am sure there are a fewexamples of 'ordinary jazz' in'ordinary movies' and of 'ordinaryjazz' in 'extra ordinary movies'.However, they can beremembered only for their rarityand are therefore generally notremembered at all.

But if you flip that particularartistic coin and consider thehugely positive and oftenmemorable impact that great jazzand its influences have made tothe film experience then theexamples that spring to mind areboth plentiful and often iconic.Iconic not just from the point ofview of the great film composersfor the silver screen that havetheir roots planted deep in jazz(John Barry, John Williams, LaloSchifrin and Dave Grusin to namebut a few) but also because ofthe range and quality of the filmstheir work has graced. There maybe few great movies about jazzbut many movies have been made

great because of jazz.Would Frank Sinatra have reallywon his only acting Oscar for TheMan With The Golden Arm if themagnificent Elmer Bernsteinscore hadn't ensured the filmcaptured the mood of the timeso evocatively? Would Anatomy OfA Murder have been remotely ascool without its note-perfectDuke Ellington score? Can wereally imagine the classicNewman & Redford vehicle TheSting without the ragtime of ScottJoplin so beautifully played by thegreat and sadly recently lamentedMarvin Hamlisch? Would quite somany people have accepted Beauand Jeff Bridges as The FabulousBaker Boys without the excellenceof Dave Grusin's score? Andwould Clint Eastwood have beenquite such a critically acclaimeddirector without the jazzinfluences that have suffused somany of his films right from hisdebut feature Play Misty For Me in1971?

These films comprise a far moresubstantial audio visual feast andwhenever you come across one

ByANDREW PATRICK, media consultant and former Chief Executive, British Film Commission

JAZZ IN THE MOVIES JAZZ ON FILM

like in the 1980s when theBudapest Ragtime Band came onthe scene? Ferenc mentions onefairly successful Dixieland band,but interestingly enough the onlynames he ventures are two moremodern-styled guitarists, GaborSzabo and Attila Zoller, who builtmuch of their reputation workingabroad in the United States.

Is it purely an impression I haveformed or are bands frommainland Europe more likely toput on a show withoutcompromising the music? TheBudapest Ragtime Band certainlydo, as do Les Zauto Stompers –or, to give them their full name,Les Zauto Stompers Jass Band,with ‘de Paris’ added whenthey’re playing abroad. In factthey don’t come from Paris andno one could fail to notice theirFrench origins. The tricolour inthe sousaphone is a giveaway, buttheir music equally betrays theGallic origins.

‘What is French-style jazz?’,leader/sousaphonist/singer Jean-Michel François asks me, ratherunfairly, since the band’s websiterefers several times to the‘French Touch’. I could havementioned the fact that his vocalstyle hints towards MauriceChevalier at times or thecharming (or comic) French lyricsto such standards as Lazy Riverand Sweet Georgia Brown, butabove all I think French-style jazzis the sort of jazz that needsFrench words to describe it: élan,éclat, insouciance, plus the oddItalian borrowing such as brio.

Les Zauto Stompers is a fairlynew band, but one formed from

players with great experience inother bands. The band wasformed in 2004 from musicianswho already knew each otherwell. Jean-Michel knew andworked with trumpeter GillesNaudet, for instance, for 30 years,often playing together in thesame bands. The long-standingfriendships are one of thefeatures of the band: all live neareach other 30 kilometres fromParis, in the countryside, but witheasy access to the capital for gigsat such clubs as Le Petit Journal.

Originally Les Zauto Stompersconsisted of trumpet/cornet,clarinet/saxes, sousaphone andbanjo. After a few years the bandadded a drummer and about fouryears ago Jens Kromer took overfrom Bruno Minisini on reeds,though Bruno still sometimesplays with the band, usually onbaritone sax with Jens playingclarinet. The absence oftrombone is deliberate, thoughone is often added for outdoorperformance. The unusual line-upis further emphasised by GillesNaudet’s use of the pockettrumpet which he describes ashis ‘trademark’. (‘I wish I couldhave a pocket sousaphone’,comments Jean-Michel – butthere would be no room for theelaborate decorations!) Thisarticle began by wondering howmusicians in more remote partsof Europe found their way tojazz. In Paris there is no shortageof influences, surely! I preparemyself for a long list, but Jean-Michel surprises me:

‘I think we are not influenced byanyone. We play the music as wefeel it. The most important thing

is not to make a concert, but tohave a good relationship with theaudience. We play the repertoire,of course, but we are happy torespond to the audience: theycome to see us, sometimes theypay to see us, and the first thingis we must give them pleasure.’

Of course the remark about lackof influences needs qualifying.When Les Zauto Stompers wereformed, they may well havesimply followed their own path,but the prime influences on themusicians were many yearsbefore when they started playingjazz. The rest of the comment isone that could be equally appliedto the Budapest Ragtime Bandand several other Continentalbands that regard themselves asentertainers, while respecting themusic – soon Jean-Michel istalking about showing respect toLouis Armstrong when playing hismusic. (My favouriteannouncement of the festivalcame when Les Zauto wereplaying a pub called the Sacks ofPotatoes: ‘In 1927 LouisArmstrong wrote Potato HeadBlues. Tonight, as a tribute to thisplace, we will play it for the firsttime.’) The style is difficult to pindown: though Jean-Michel uses‘Dixieland’ freely, he prefers ‘oldstyle’, but regularly he returns tothe importance of the audience,not the precise style of themusic:

‘I do not do it in England becausemy English is not good enough,but in French I will explain to theaudience that, when we rehearse,we have the same swing, but it isnot the same as when we are inconcert with an audience. If a

concert is successful, it’s not justbecause of the musicians, butbecause of the audience. For us itis not just a concert, it’s a show.When we are on stage, it’s like alove affair, we have to seduce theaudience. And it must givepleasure to both.’

Les Zauto Stompers have touredall over Western Europe, twomembers of the band playedNew Orleans a few years ago, butthe band had to turn down arecent invitation to returnbecause Gilles had workcommitments. This is no problemfor most of the band, with threeretirees and a banjo player who’sa full-time musician who used toplay guitar with CharlesAznavour. The band projectsoptimism, though Jean-Michelsees a problem for music of thistype in France, a problem we inthe UK share:

‘The problem with old-style orDixieland in France is that wehave more young people on stagethan in the audience. We have anew generation of musicians –when they are 18 or 20, they’vealready been practising for 12years, wonderful musicians. Thereare many new musicians wholove this style, but the audience –the young people will not come.’

Les Zauto do their best toinvolve the younger generation inlistening to, and playing, Dixielandby visiting conservatoires to playfor the students. Similarlyyoungsters exposed to this musicat a boeuf in a festival may find ita revelation, but it is not easy topersuade them to come on aregular basis, explains Jean-Michel. What, I politely enquire, isa boeuf? A Jam Session, what else,named after the celebrated Parisrestaurant, Le Boeuf sur le Toit,famed for such sessions! Tocomplete my French lesson, Ienquire as to the meaning of theband’s name:

‘For the French it is a joke.“Autostoppers” are hitch-hikers.Les Autostoppers turn into LesZauto Stompers! We could havehad New Orleans Hot Shots orsomething like that, but now wecan have the slogan – “Les ZautoStompers – the jazz band thatgoes where you want to go!”’

Budapest Ragtime Band

Photo by Merlin Daleman

The highlight of the year atSouthport Melodic Jazz isJazz on a Winter’s

Weekend at the Royal CliftonHotel – next year, February 1-3 –but the year-round programme,also at the Royal Clifton, hasmany attractions. On October 21a change of programme, withRobert Castelli having to cancel,means that Nicolas Meier is ableto introduce Southportaudiences to GabrielleDucomble, an exciting newsinger, Belgian by birth, a finalist inthe French Pop Idol, now based inLondon where she took a Post-graduate course in Jazz Singing atthe Guildhall. Another in thecurrent series of outstandingItalian pianists, Enrico Pieranunziappears on November 18. SMJhas a taste for festivals, includingthe ‘mini’ variety and December9 is the occasion for a four-partXmas Special from 2.00 pm tovery late: the Paul Riley Band,Zoe Chiotis and AnthonyOrmesher, Alan Barnes and CraigMilverton in an Art Peppertribute, and the Andrzej Baranek

Trio.

SMJ is also involved in a veryEnglish venture: Jazz at DobbiesTearoom. On the last Thursday ofevery month high tea at 5.00 pmis accompanied by jazz: theBrownfield/Byrne Trio (October25), Swingology: Quintet du HotClub de Dobbies (November 29)and, a special pre-Christmasevent, the Phil Shotton Trio withSleigh Bells Ring – are you listenin’(December 13).

As for the Winter’s Weekend, asusual the 11 concerts are backedup by a fringe programmespreading through the publicrooms of the Royal Clifton.American visitors this year arethe Jim Rotondi Band and NewYork saxophonist Walter SmithIII’s Quartet. Keeping up theinternational flavour isNorwegian tenor saxist MariusNeset. The first day’s programmeincludes Southport debutantes,

trumpeter Laura Jurd and singerZara McFarlane, either side ofthe Steve Waterman Big Band.Also on the bill are the DadoMoroni Trio with MarkNightingale, the Trudy KerrQuartet, the RNCM Big Bandand, as a festival finale, AlanBarnes and Anita Wardell withthe music of Johnny Mandel,followed by the Iain Dixon/MikeWalker Quintet.Tel.: 01704 541790www.jazzinsouthport.co.uk

SOUTHPORT MELODIC JAZZ

10 11THE JAZZ RAG THE JAZZ RAG

JAZZ IN THE MOVIES SOUTHPORT MELODIC JAZZ

just eat it up with a spoon, closeyour eyes, listen and enjoy.Because what better way is thereto spend your time and, as theother King Louis once poignantlycrooned in the James Bondmovie On Her Majesty's SecretService - 'we have all the time inthe world'.

By way of final illustration of justhow important a role jazz inparticular and music in generalhas played in film I will end as Ibegan, with a vivid memory frommy childhood. Long before I eversaw the Peter Sellers movie ThePink Panther I was infatuated withits hypnotic theme tune featuringa haunting tenor sax solo fromPlas Johnson and composed byHenry Mancini (whose greatscore from The Days of Wine &Roses is another of my particularfavourites). My Dad, probablyweary of my constant badgeringof him, finally managed to gethold of an LP of the originalsoundtrack and Sellers himselfhad written the notes on thealbum cover.

I played the album over and overagain (with the added bonus ofdriving my whole family mad in

the process) but it was anobservation made by PeterSellers within his album notesthat I didn't really understand atage nine that has stayed with meever since. He said - and I amparaphrasing - it was marvellousthat the invention of the LPenabled people to listen to themusic of a film without having towatch it, but he was disappointedthat there was no method yetdevised that enabled people towatch a film without having tolisten to the music.

He was, of course, beinghumorous but the thought thatoccurred to me then andresonates with me to this day is -who needs it? Music without film,no problem; but film withoutmusic? That would be like Gingerwithout Fred or Hammersteinwithout Rodgers.

I love music, I love jazz musicmore and I love jazz music in filmthe most. To echo the Bard ofAvon - who would haveundoubtedly have listened to jazzand written great screenplays ifeither medium had been aroundin his day - 'if music be the foodof love, play on'.

BODY AND SOUL: BOB WILLOUGHBYEvans Mitchell Books of London have just produced a sumptuousbook of jazz photographs, Jazz: Body and Soul, over 120 photographsby Bob Willoughby linked by his own 1st person narrative. BobWilloughby, born in 1927, combined photographic expertise with apassion for jazz and, based on the West Coast, produced classicimages of jazz stars, from Louis to Miles, from Billie Holiday to ChetBaker. Many of his photographs were used in the iconic magazineHarper’s Bazaar. Bob Willoughby had a distinguished career inHollywood, at one time studying design with the legendary SaulBass.

Jazz Rag 124 will contain a full length review on Jazz: Body and Soul,and this superb book is offered as a competition prize in this issue.

www.embooks.co.uk

Jim Rotondi

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From Jazz: Body and Soul

12 13THE JAZZ RAG THE JAZZ RAG

DANNY POLO DANNY POLO

In Lake’s recent mammoth boxset, British Traditional Jazz 1936-1963: A Potted History, the first

track is Jazz Me Blues by DannyPolo’s Swing Stars. But thisapparent pioneer of Britishtraditional jazz was born inClinton, Indiana. More than anyother of the American jazz starswho came to the UK betweenthe wars, Danny Polo became afixture on the London jazz scene,though trawling through theNational Jazz Archive’s collectionof past editions of the MelodyMaker suggests that he wasalways something of a maverick.My own father’s reminiscences ofLondon in the 1930s alwaysbrought in Danny Polo alongsideNat Gonella, George Chisholm,Al Bowlly and other favouritesand, though I’m sure my fatherknew he was American, as ayoungster I always assumed hewas British.

Born in 1901, the son of aclarinettist, Danny Polo playedclarinet from the age of eight. Inhis own account to LeonardFeather in the May 29, 1937Melody Maker, he launches intoone of those tales of prodigiousyouth that may be at least partlytrue:

‘Mother had spanked me forsomething or other and I criedand crawled miserably under thebed. In doing this I bumped intotwo clarinets which my dad keptthere. Well, by the time I crawledout again from under that bed, Iwas playing scales!’Danny Polo’s 1937 account goeson to mention associating withthe likes of Elmer Schoebel(perhaps forgotten now, but awell-known pianist in his day andcomposer of Bugle Call Rag andNobody’s Sweetheart) and BusterBailey, then came the greatopportunity:

‘Don Murray, who was to meethis death a year or two later inan accident, had to leave JeanGoldkette’s Orchestra, andthrough a great stroke of luck Iwas recommended to Goldkettefor the job of replacing this fineartist.

‘Bix was my buddy in the bandand we were out on some realjags together. Tram was always

the strict business man of theband, keeping a foster-fatherlyeye on Bix and treating him likethe wayward kid he was. If Tramhadn’t had such a deepunderstanding of Bix’sweaknesses, Bix might have diedeven sooner than he did.’

So there he was, maybe 25 yearsold, socialising with the ‘studious,collegiate’ Bix Beiderbecke andtaking lessons in responsibilityfrom Frank Trumbauer, apromising start – if your healthholds up. But he was withGoldkette a mere three months,part of a pattern of leaving bandsand changing location that stayedwith him until finally he spentsome seven years with ClaudeThornhill at the end of his life.

Details of exactly when DannyPolo first came to Europe differ,but by chance, en route to theArchive, I was playing a new JazzOracle release, Americans inEurope, including 16 tracksrecorded in Berlin in 1927-28 bya useful little group, the NewYorkers, put together by GeorgeCarhart, more chancer thanmusician. Interestingly, the CDbooklet suggests why Polo neverbuilt a career in Chicago: in 1925he was in Carhart’s band for a105-day world cruise for theAmerican Dollar Line, soonfollowed by a four-week cruise ofthe Baltic for the same line.

Danny Polo was arranger as wellas playing alto sax and clarinet

with the New Yorkers and, whilehe was no Bill Challis, he does agood job re-creating the JeanGoldkette favourite, SunnyDisposish (with a vocal by AlBowlly, on the last stage of hisjourney from Mozambique toLondon’s West End), orproducing a rowdier version ofthe Bix arrangement of OstrichWalk. His alto playing is actuallyas effective as his clarinet whichis heard at its best on ClarinetMarmalade where, curiously, giventhe Ambrose connection, hesounds rather like Sid Phillips. Theband, incidentally, contained oneundoubted jazz great, thedrummer Dave Tough, doubtlessbent on investigating the artgalleries and distilleries ofEurope!

This time it seems the band leftPolo, rather than the other wayaround. Carhart skedaddled backto New York andbanjoist/guitarist Tony Morellowas installed as leader over hisdesignated successor, DannyPolo. Poor pay resulted in thebreak-up of The New Yorkers,with Danny Polo and othersheading for Paris.

It seems to be generally acceptedthat Danny Polo arrived in Britainin 1929, but it was 1932 beforethe Melody Maker announced thathe had joined Ambrose as leadalto, though, given later events,that could have been a re-joining!From then on the spats betweenthe two made front page news. In

the edition of December 28,1935, the headline was, ‘DANNYPOLO SELLS UP ANDRETURNS TO THE STATES:POGGY INTO THE BREACH’.Danny had sold up everythingwith ‘suddenness andunexpectedness’, so urgent washis need to depart that his house,car and other effects went for ‘amere song’ and ‘the disposal ofhis home in England seems tospell finality’. Apparently themove was made on the Fridaybefore a Saturday broadcast andthe multi-reedman E.O. Pogson(two decades later a stalwart ofKenny Baker’s Dozen) saved theday.

But there was nothing final afterall. He soon returned and, onMarch 5, 1938, Ambrose was seenas the aggressor: ‘AMBROSEDISPENSES WITH ANOTHERSTAR.’ As the Melody Maker said,‘For some time it has been anopen secret that ace-clarinettistDanny Polo and his leader havenot been seeing eye to eye onquestions of discipline, and thosein the know were not surprisedwhen, at the beginning of thisweek, Ambrose decided todispense with Danny’s services.’Joe Crossman was recruitedfrom Lew Stone's band as hisreplacement. The followingmonth Danny, who had beenwidely reported as about toreturn to the States, returned tothe Ambrose band and JoeCrossman returned to LewStone!

Then September 3, 1938, saw theend of the Polo-Ambrose soapopera. While Ambrose waspreparing to start a variety tourat Birmingham Hippodrome,‘once again Danny Polo hasfolded his tent like an Arab and assilently crept away’. Joe Crossmanagain filled the chair, leaving LewStone to find a replacement –there is no suggestion that hewas tempted to recruit a certainvolatile American!

Whilst Danny was the subject ofsolemn tut-tutting on the frontpage (‘Danny is a great player, butJoe is no whit inferior and is onenot addicted to moods or off-days’), inside he remained a star,as the 1937 Leonard Featherfeature proves. In March 1939 hewas included in Ken Evans’ list ofClarinet Kings, though thepresence of Mezz Messrow andTed Lewis may possibly take theshine of it.

In 1938 he was reported to be inFrance, about to join ‘the well-reputed coloured band of WillieLewis’. The location was correct,the ensemble not so. Dannyjoined the fine band of RayVentura with whom he recordedwith the last of several top-class

European small groups heworked with. In 1935 he hadrecorded with Arthur Young andhis Youngsters (Max Goldberg,Billy Amstell, Freddie Gardnerand Max Bacon among others),his own Swing Stars included thelikes of Tommy McQuater andDick Ball and now, in January1939, the Melody Maker reportedhim recording with a mouth-watering line-up of AlixCombeller, Philippe Brun, OscarAleman, Garland Wilson, LouisVola and Jerry Mengo, with vocalsfrom Una Mae Carlisle.There are two ironic codas toDanny Polo’s time in Britain. OnMarch 4, 1939, the MM reportedthat, with Ray Ventura’sCollegians about to tour Britain,the major clarinettist on the1930s London scene had beenrefused a work permit as anAmerican! With no hint of apossible connection and tonguenowhere near cheek, the reportwent on, ‘Coincidentally we areable to reveal that Ambrose putthrough a telephone call toDanny in Paris last week with aview to making enquiriesregarding the possibilities ofrejoining his former leader.’Then, on July 6, 1940, cameDanny’s last encounter with a

London bandleader. Jack Harriswas born in the States, but fromthe late 1920s he had lived andworked in London. Now, in theStates on holiday, he was trappedthere by wartime travel problemsand decided to stay – and form aband. The Jack Harris Bandrehearsing in New York had fewbig names, only Larry Tice, IrvingBrodsky, Sam Weiss – and DannyPolo who had had plenty ofreasons to leave France.

After that Danny played brieflywith Joe Sullivan and, 1941, a lastshot at glory, ghosted BingCrosby’s clarinet in Birth of theBlues alongside Jack Teagarden.Then it was pretty much ClaudeThornhill all the way, rather anacademic last phase of the careerof a Chicago-style clarinettist.‘Never a fully committed jazzorganisation’, according to BrianPriestley, the Thornhill band was‘subtle and intelligent’ and theband’s arrangements by Gil Evansinspired Miles Davis into his‘Birth of the Cool’ phase. Hence,no doubt, wikipedia’s referenceto Danny Polo playing ‘severalexperimental sessions’ with Milesin 1947-48.

Then on July 23, 1949, Danny

Polo made the front page of theMM for the last time: ‘DANNYPOLO DIES SUDDENLY INCHICAGO AT AGE OF 47’.Danny Polo certainly died of acerebral haemorrhage on July 11,1949. Bert Ambrose was asked tocomment: ‘This shocks andgrieves me terribly. Danny wassuch a phenomena (sic), saxistand clarinettist, that in myopinion he could easily have beenone of the greatest dance bandinstrumentalists of all time.’

Then came a proviso: ‘Hesuffered a bit from temperamentso that his playing was not alwaysconsistent’, added Mr. Ambrose –well, he would, wouldn’t he?

I am especially grateful to DavidNathan at the National Jazz Archivefor his constructive assistance. Inaddition to the past editions of theMelody Maker, Memory LaneInternational(www.memorylane.org.uk) hasproved very useful and I also madeuse of Rainer Lotz’s excellent andimmensely thorough notes forAmericans in Europe on JazzOracle. RON SIMPSON

DANNY POLO AMERICANSIN LONDON

The Embassy Rhythm Eight (1935): (l-r) Dick Ball, Max Bacon, Danny Polo, Joe Brannelly, Lew Davis,Bert Read, Billy Amstell, Max Goldberg

14 15THE JAZZ RAG THE JAZZ RAG

TEN DAYS IN LONDON TEN DAYS IN LONDON

It’s easy to think of the LondonJazz Festival in terms of thegreat American names who

pepper its 10-day programme(November 9-18) – SonnyRollins, Herbie Hancock, JackDeJohnette, Robert Glasper,David Murray and the rest – andin terms of the iconic venues itemploys: from the great concerthalls to all the capital’s major jazzclubs. However, as conversationwith John Cumming of Serious,the originators and promoters ofthe London Jazz Festival, soonproves, there is much more to itthan that.

For a start, around 60 venues areused in the festival and, thoughsome may be as mighty as theRoyal Festival Hall or theBarbican, others are as homely asyour local suburban arts centre.Similarly the 300 events rangefrom big-name concerts to jazzeducation in primary schools.This is the 20th London JazzFestival, a cause for celebration,though John Cumming explainsthat they’ve decided to delay thefestivities until the 21st asLondon 2012 has had alternativecelebrations which might havediverted attention! John explains

how the festival began:‘It inherited the mantle of theCamden Jazz Week which was anevent run by the borough initiallyas part of the Camden MusicFestival which ran until the1990s. In the wake of the localauthority changes in the Thatcherera Camden couldn’t sustain thecommitment. I’d been working onthe Camden Jazz Week since thelate 1970s on the programmingside, so we negotiated a kind ofhandover. It was the only Londonjazz festival that interacted withthe local scene, though GeorgeWein and Capital Radio werebringing in stars on the touringcircuit. We took Camden as thebasis to set up a city-widefestival.

‘The 1993 festival was rooted inCamden, Islington and Hackney,with much fewer events thannow, though even then we hadquite a big internationalprogramme, using places like theHackney Empire, Union Chapeland Bloomsbury Theatre. Webuilt out slowly from Camdenand, because Serious had aproducing relationship with theFestival Hall at the time, westarted to use the South Bank as

a way of spreading the festival.From the beginning we wantedto build a relationship with thevenues that put jazz onthroughout the year, using the 10days of the festival as acelebration of what goes on inLondon anyway, but giving itadded value and drawing theattention of the big wide worldto the fact that jazz is a livingpart of the culture of the city.Jazz in London has always had avery interesting dynamic withdifferent communities.

‘Now there is a central hub inthe big concert venues and clubsaround the West End – and theEast End now – but we also worka lot in more far-flung places, notonly with jazz venues like theBull’s Head at Barnes, but alsowith arts centres and theatresand colleges in the outskirts. Thefestival reflects the city itselfwhich is this huge urban sprawl.One of our dilemmas was howto make an impact for jazz in acity of 10 million people and wefelt that the idea was not to fightthe city, but to work within it. Wedecided that the best thing wasto work with venues that arecommitted to putting jazz on indifferent parts of the city andhave the festival touch them.Obviously, when we bring in thebig international stars and havethe new projects andcommissions, these tend toinvolve the centre more than theoutlying districts.’

However Serious is approachingrunning the festival, John and hiscolleagues must be doingsomething right. Five years or soago, the festival was voted BestLondon Festival by Time Outmagazine. John was particularlypleased by this as jazz is so oftenseen as a niche music, but it is, hereckons, a very important niche –and part of his job is to enhanceits profile as part of the culturalmainstream: ‘Making an impactfor jazz in a very busy concertseason in November makes asignificant statement on theimportance of the music itself.’

One matter that interested mewas the relationship with thevenues. John talks animatedlyabout the festival’s commitment

to year-round jazz promotingvenues, but what’s it like dealingwith venues that have thereputation and the clout of manyin the centre of London?Surprisingly easy, it seems,because Serious has arelationship with them outsidefestival time. From the beginning,there was the Royal Festival Hallconnection and recently Seriousinserted a little jazz series intothe RFH celebration of theFestival of Britain – coincidentallyJoe Harriott came to this countryin 1951 which provided onestrand. Serious has alsodeveloped a year-roundconnection as associate producerat the Barbican, working onprogramming, not only of jazzevents. As for Ronnie Scott’sSerious goes back a long way: thecompany’s original offices werejust round the corner from FrithStreet. (The present home ofSerious, incidentally, is an airy andspacious couple of classrooms inan Edwardian ex-school 15minutes walk from Kings Cross.)

Where a venue has a rigidprogramming policy, that can beturned to advantage. Kings Place,a splendid 400 capacity concerthall near Kings Cross, will onlyprogramme in thematic chunksso promoters have to do threeor four concerts consecutivelywith some kind of a link. In theFestival this has proved the idealplace for Marcus Roberts – withwhat John calls ‘a personal way ofmoulding jazz tradition’ – to do aseries of concerts with his triojoined by ever-expanding bandsfrom the outstanding GuildhallSchool of Music jazz programmelooking at different aspects ofjazz history.

But what of the less well-knownvenues? I invited John to tell meabout some of the places andgroups he thought were typical ofthe more out-of-the-wayventures promoted by thefestival. He came up with a typeof promotion, followed by ananecdote about a favouritevenue:

‘We’ve been interested in wherecollectives of musicians indifferent parts of London havecreated their own epicentre, so

you get East 17 Jazz Collectivewho have developed their ownprogramme in places likeWalthamstow. They havenegotiated a commitment frompubs and arts centres. Or there’sWay Out West, anothermusicians’ collective that involvespeople like Tim Whitehead andChris Biscoe – and also EddieHarvey. This is the third festivalrunning we’ve celebrated Eddie’sbirthday! The festival gives theman enhanced profile.

‘The Forge in Camden is afabulous Italian restaurant. It wasopened by a family with a greatenthusiasm for all sorts of music.They built a 100-capacity concerthall at the back of the restaurantwith a lovely natural acoustic anda cracking piano. This year wehave a grant from the EuropeanUnion to deliver a programmecalled Jazz in the New Europe,drawing attention to variousstrands in European jazz. We’veused some of that funding to takea duet of Bengt Hallberg andKarin Krog into the Forge whichis a perfect venue for them. Theatmosphere will be absolutelyright and the acoustic will suitthe musical balancing act thatthey do. So you’ve got two iconicfigures in Scandinavian jazzplaying two very special concertsin London. Bengt hardly playsthese days, but he was one of thefirst European bebop players.’

What is Serious’ role year-round?We are all familiar withnumerous tours, plus thepromotion of other festivals atsuch places as the SageGateshead, but how much doesSerious work outside jazz? Johnidentifies jazz as the core of thecompany’s work, but also admitsto a commitment to worldmusic, whilst disliking the term(‘It doesn’t mean very much’).The company works withmusicians from all over theworld, with John identifying SouthAmerica, South Africa andEastern Europe (especially theRoma) as areas of particularinterest.He claims, ‘The things that drivethe company are quality andrelationships with artists’, citingsuch diverse performers as folkhero Richard Thompson and theKronos Quartet from America asartists Serious has handled foryears. Another Serious mantra,very world music-friendly even ifhe hates the phrase is, ‘finding

touching points between differentmusical styles and differentcultures.’

John talks so much of buildingbridges and establishing contactsthat I had to raise the subject ofthe Olympics. How did the 2012London Jazz Festival relate to thisyear’s noisy neighbour? Theanswer is again very positive. Aspart of the Cultural Olympiad,Serious set up BT River of Music,concerts on six open-air stageslinked by the river, eachrepresenting a continent, butwith collaboration betweencontinents. For instance Asia –led by tabla player Zakir Hussain– staged a project originallycommissioned by Serious and theCeltic Connections Festival inGlasgow 18 months ago whereZakir Hussain’s classical Indiangroup joined with an elite groupof Scottish and Irish traditionalmusicians in Battersea Park. Therange of BT River of Music isindicated by the following list ofperformers: Hugh Masekela,Wynton Marsalis and the LincolnCenter Orchestra, the KronosQuartet, Jools Holland’s Bandand – wait for it! – the ScissorSisters.

‘We just managed our ambitionof getting one participatingmusician from each Olympic-competing country. Some of thiswas helped by having AndySheppard’s Saxophone Massivewhen there were 200 saxophoneplayers in Somerset House.’

The buzz word in Olympic termsis ‘legacy’ and John is confidentthe Games will have a positivelegacy for jazz and the festival:‘We went into it with a positive

sense that there was a resourcethere that we could make use of.’The immediate legacy is lesscertain: he cannot be sure whatthe effect will be on ticket sales –are the Londoners all spent up? –but, there again, selling tickets ismore problematic in therecession anyway.

Funding is a delicate balancing actbetween public funding,commercial sponsorship andticket sales. The London JazzFestival is about to lose its primesponsor, BBC Radio 3, but this isa prearranged decision, thesponsorship deal was alwaysplanned to expire in 2012 andRadio 3 and the festival willcontinue to have a strongrelationship for broadcasts andcommissions. The London JazzFestival has many commercialsponsors to whom it is grateful,but just at the momentnegotiations are proceeding for anew title sponsor to succeedRadio 3.

You take a festival on the scale ofthe London Jazz Festival andthere isn’t time to cover it allover a mid-morning coffee, butlet’s manage a quick word aboutcommissions. John ran theBracknell Jazz Festival as far backas the 1970s and so rememberswell the time when half of jazzhistory was still alive and playing.Now it’s no longer so, heincreasingly looks to commissionthings which explain jazz historyby shedding a fresh light on thepast. This year, for instance,Gwyneth Herbert, accompaniedby a group led by Alyn Shipton,revisits the music of Peggy Lee. Tome the most interesting strandexamines British jazz

composition, especially from the1960s when the likes of MikeWestbrook, Michael Garrick,Kenny Wheeler, Joe Harriott,Graham Collier and John Surmanfirst impacted on the jazz scene.As part of this strand PeterEdwards and Gary Crosby createtheir own response to JoeHarriott’s music, Chris Garrickrevisits his father’s small bandcompositions in the company ofa group of younger musicians,plus Art Themen and poet JeremyRobson and Shabaka Hutchings,presents a totally new piece in aBBC commission. And, as for JohnSurman, his contribution toLondon Jazz 2012 is a majorchoral piece (another Radio 3commission) performed onsuccessive nights at theHuddersfield ContemporaryMusic Festival and the LondonJazz Festival.

It’s quite possible to think oforganising a jazz festival inLondon as being easy: all thosemusicians, all those concert hallsand clubs, 10 million potentialattenders and, of course, all thosefat cats in business, commerceand finance who, after a hard day,like nothing better than relaxingwith a glass of Veuve Cliquot anda Wynton Marsalis CD. And Iguess in some respects it iseasier, but a remarkable numberof the most successful British jazzfestivals are based in small towns.Probably the major problem ofrunning a jazz festival in Londonis obtaining a sharp enough focusto register among the counter-delights of the metropolis. Andfocus is something that JohnCumming and Serious are notshort of!www.londonjazzfestival.org.uk

RON SIMPSON talks to JOHN CUMMING of Serious about the aims and achievements of the London Jazz Festival.

TEN DAYS IN LONDON

Sonny Rollins

Photo by John Abbott

Emilia Martensson appearing at Kings

Place November 17th

16 17THE JAZZ RAG THE JAZZ RAG

BIG BANDS BIG BANDS

With the end of theswing era, big bands inthe United States

broke up at an alarming paceduring 1946, climaxed by eightorchestras disbanding inDecember. While some of themajor bandleaders soon formednew orchestras, it was obviousthat a new strategy was neededin order to survive. Thecompetition from pop singers,rhythm & blues and Dixielandmeant that swing was no longerthe thing. Why not try bop?

The Earl Hines Orchestra in1943 was the first bebop bigband, featuring Charlie Parker(on tenor), Dizzy Gillespie, SarahVaughan and Billy Eckstine in itspersonnel. Unfortunately norecordings were made and noteven a radio aircheck hassurvived to let us know what thegroup really sounded like. BillyEckstine in 1944 headed his ownorchestra, featuring the who’swho of bop for three yearsincluding Parker, Gillespie,Vaughan, Fats Navarro, MilesDavis, Gene Ammons, DexterGordon, Art Blakey and manyother up-and-coming jazz greats.Eckstine kept the big band goingas long as possible before finallygiving up in 1947 to start his solocareer. Dizzy Gillespie, who led ashort-lived orchestra in 1945, hadbetter luck in 1946 and was thepacesetter among bopbandleaders for nearly four years.

Quite a few of the swing era bigbands that were still in existencein 1947 were influenced byGillespie’s example. Theirarrangements and soloistsbecame more modern that yearas they searched for newdirections. A major recordingstrike by the Musicians Union in1948 kept professional musiciansoff records for most of that year.In 1949 several record labels(most notably Capitol) did theirbest to make bebop into thelatest fad, hoping that it wouldbecome the commercial successthat swing had been earlier in thedecade. A great deal of uniqueand remarkable music was

recorded that year, but the publicwas not ready or willing toembrace the new sounds.

It was a very unusual situationwhere top jazz musicians, manyof them nationally famousbandleaders who were still just intheir thirties, were suddenlyconsidered old hat and behindthe times. Here is how 16 of thebandleaders (discussed inalphabetical order) tried to copewith the situation.

Louis Armstrong had beenleading big bands since 1929 and,although his orchestra in the1940s was not considered apacesetter and barely recordedafter 1942, it was a solid outfitthat played Joe Garlandarrangements. Starting with hisappearance at the legendaryEsquire Jazz Concert in 1943 andcontinuing with his work in thefilm New Orleans and at specialall-star appearances, Armstrongwas gradually persuaded that itwas time to return to leading asmaller group. He broke up hisbig band in 1947, formed theLouis Armstrong All-Stars andnever looked back.

Charlie Barnet led a series ofrollicking bands during 1939-49that could often sound similar tohis idol Duke Ellington. As earlyas 1944, he used such beboppersas pianist Dodo Marmarosa andguitarist Barney Kessel; the 1947edition of his band featured ClarkTerry. Barnet decided to give bopa real shot in 1948 and his bandthe following year often playedarrangements by Pete Rugolo, GilFuller, Manny Albam, JohnnyRichards and Tiny Kahn. Histrumpet section included RolfEricson and three screaming leadtrumpeters in Maynard Ferguson,Doc Severinsen and Ray Wetzel.Barnet even had Dave Lambertand Buddy Stewart singing‘Bebop spoken here’. But despitecausing a great deal ofexcitement, the Charlie Barnetbebop band was a commercialflop and by 1950 he was back toplaying swing.

It is ironic that Count Basie’sOrchestra, the definitive swingband, was an important early stepin changing the function of therhythm section from swing tobop. The lighter feel, with WalterPage’s bass and Freddie Green’sguitar keeping a steady rhythmand Jo Jones de-emphasizing thebass drum, was matched by Basieminimal left hand. While some ofthe arrangements played by theband later in the 1940s wereboppish and such players asIllinois Jacquet, Lucky Thompson,Paul Gonsalves, and Clark Terrywere open to bop, Basie’s stillremained an unmatched swingband. But bad business decisionsand the Count’s gambling debts(from losses at the racetrack)resulted in him having to cut backto a septet later in 1949.

Cab Calloway was an influenceon some of the bop singers andhe featured the young DizzyGillespie as his trumpet soloistduring 1939-41. However, henever cared for bebop. In 1948he broke up his big band,continuing with a septet calledthe Cab Jivers that includedtrumpeter Jonah Jones andbassist Milt Hinton. In 1949 herecorded a hilarious version ofHe Beeped When He Should HaveBopped (much funnier than theearlier Dizzy Gillespie recording),making fun of both bop singingand his own ‘Hi-De-Ho’ style.

Jimmy Dorsey had some slightconnections with bebop,performing Dizzy Gillespie’sarrangement of Grand CentralGetaway in 1944, using SergeChaloff as his baritonist for atime in 1946, and in 1949employing Maynard Ferguson inhis trumpet section for a fewmonths. But Dorsey, who wasadmired by Charlie Parker, nevercrossed over and was happiestplaying swing and Dixieland.

Tommy Dorsey never hid thefact that he hated bebop, and heblamed it for the decline in theband business. Still, he used suchmodern soloists as clarinetistBuddy DeFranco, tenor-saxophonist Boomie Richman,trumpeter Charlie Shavers anddrummer Louie Bellson althoughhe primarily had them playingswing.

Duke Ellington preceded theswing era by a decade, seemedsomewhat amused by theproliferation of swing bandsduring 1935-45, and created hisown musical world. Althoughbusiness fell off a bit for him after1945, due to his song royaltiesand his fame, Ellington neverbroke up his band. He added suchmodern soloists as clarinetistJimmy Hamilton, bassist OscarPettiford and in 1950, tenor-saxophonist Paul Gonsalves, andmodernized his writing a bit.Ellington, whose percussive piano

style was a major influence onThelonious Monk, was neverbothered by bop and hesmoothly incorporated some ofits innovations into his ownmusic.

The King of Swing, BennyGoodman, was curious aboutbop, but never seemed to knowwhat to do with it. His band in1946 was strictly swing. After itsbreakup, Goodman listened tobop and in 1948 put together amodern septet, a unique outfitthat also featured clarinetist StanHasselgard (the only time thatGoodman featured anotherclarinetist), tenor-saxophonistWardell Gray and pianist MaryLou Williams. The recordingstrike kept this group off recordsalthough intriguing broadcastshave been released. The onlyGoodman recording from 1948 isa very boppish rendition ofStealin’ Apples featuring Gray andtrumpeter Fats Navarro. In 1949,Goodman led his most modernorchestra, one that emphasizedthe boppish arrangements ofChico O’Farrill. With Gray,trumpeter Doug Mettome andpianist Buddy Greco as the keysoloists, Goodman almostsounded like a sideman in hisown band, particularly on suchnumbers as Undercurrent Blues,Bedlam, Egg Head and Bop Hop. Bythe end of the year, Goodman’sbop experiment was over and hereturned permanently to swing.

Bop caused Lionel Hamptonno problems for his music mixedbop with explosive ensembles,honking saxophones, screamingbrass and his own showmanship.He used such musicians as FatsNavarro, Kenny Dorham, ArnettCobb, Wes Montgomery, DinahWashington and even CharlesMingus, recording the futuristicMingus Fingers in 1947. Few couldexcite audiences on the level ofHampton, who could always raisethe roof with Flying Home.

Woody Herman had a finesecond-level band during theswing era, featuring instrumentalblues and his own vocals. During1944-46 Herman’s Herd (latercalled the First Herd) was themost exciting new big band injazz, featuring riotous ensembles,major soloists in Flip Phillips andBill Harris, and stretching swingto the breaking point, sometimescrossing over into bop. Afterspending much of 1947 only

playing on an occasional basis, heformed the Second Herd. Verymuch a bop-oriented group andone that looked towards cooljazz, the Second Herd featuredStan Getz, Zoot Sims and HerbieSteward (soon succeeded by AlCohn), Serge Chaloff, RedRodney, Terry Gibbs and modernarrangements. While it becamehighly influential and yielded FourBrothers, the band struggled anddied altogether before 1949 wasfinished.

One would not think of HarryJames as a bebopper, but hetook a solo on his 1947recording of Tuxedo Junctionwhere he could have passed forFats Navarro. The leader of themost commercially successfuljazz/dance orchestra of 1943-46,James had his music open up tothe influence of bop during 1947-49 before closing the dooraltogether in 1950, instead optingfor sounding like Count Basie’sband during his remaining threedecades.

Stan Kenton forged his ownindividual musical path, not reallybeing part of the bebop era.Initially influenced by JimmieLunceford’s style, Kentonachieved his goal of leading aconcert orchestra as opposed toa dance band. During 1945-46 hisband actually grew in popularity,balancing the complex concertpieces of Pete Rugolo with moreswinging pieces featuring JuneChristy’s vocals. Typically Kentondid the opposite of the otherbandleaders. After making itthrough 1948, he broke up hisorchestra right before therecording strike ended, taking1949 off. And then at a timewhen many big bands werepermanently breaking up, Kentonreturned in 1950 with hisInnovations Orchestra which wascomprised of 38 musiciansincluding 16 strings!

Gene Krupa was one of themain stars of the swing era andthe first superstar drummer.During 1945-46 his big bandevolved from a swing group toone that was influenced bybebop. Among his soloists wereDon Fagerquist, Red Rodney, andCharlie Kennedy (the first bigband altoist to be stronglyinfluenced by Charlie Parker).Krupa recorded several GerryMulligan arrangements (includingDisc Jockey Jump), Calling Dr.

Gillespie and Bop Boogie beforemoving back to swing in 1950.

In the swing era, Boyd Raeburnled a minor league outfit thatplayed commercial music. Thingschanged drastically during 1944-45 when Raeburn began hiringmajor musicians including RoyEldridge, Sonny Berman, TrummyYoung, Oscar Pettiford, LuckyThompson and DodoMarmarosa. One of the earliestversions of A Night In Tunisia wasRaeburn’s recording whichfeatured guest Dizzy Gillespie.The following year, his bandbecame one of the most radicalin jazz with George Handy’sdissonant and eccentricarrangements completelychanging the direction of theorchestra. The band continued togrow (adding French horns and aharp), its music got more andmore avant-garde (even afterJohnny Richards succeededHandy), and somehow it surviveduntil late 1947. Raeburn’sorchestra left behind such uniquerecordings as Boyd MeetsStravinsky, Tonsillectomy, andDalvatore Sally.

Artie Shaw was displaying theinfluence of bop in his clarinet asearly as his 1945 recording ofEasy To Love. After being semi-retired during 1947-48, he puttogether a boppish big band in1949 that included Al Cohn, ZootSims, Dodo Marmarosa, JimmyRaney and Don Fagerquist,playing arrangements by Cohn,Tadd Dameron, Johnny Mandel,Gene Roland and George Russell.Although Shaw was very proudof the band, it only lasted a fewmonths. The public wanted Shawto keep on playing Begin TheBeguine in the same way he had in

1938 and he gave up infrustration.

Claude Thornhill’s use ofFrench horns and tuba, unisonsby his reed section on clarinets,and haunting vibratoless tonecolors made his orchestra thefirst cool jazz big band as early as1941. His second band, formed inlate 1945, had Gil Evans as themain arranger and in 1947featured Red Rodney, Lee Konitzand clarinetist Danny Polo as thekey soloists along with theleader’s piano. The repertoireincluded Charlie Parker andDizzy Gillespie pieces arranged inunique fashion by Evans. MilesDavis first got in touch withEvans about his arrangement ofDonna Lee and the eventual resultwas Davis’ Birth of the CoolNonet.

By the end of the decade, theidea of big band bebop catchingon commercially was over. EvenDizzy Gillespie’s orchestra brokeup. Out of the 16 bands discussedin this article, eight were gone bythe end of 1949 with ClaudeThornhill giving up before theend of 1950, Gene Krupadisbanding in 1951, and theDorsey Brothers joining forces ina nostalgic swing band in 1953.Only Duke Ellington, StanKenton, Lionel Hampton, HarryJames and (after forming newbands) Woody Herman andCount Basie were able to leadregular orchestras in the 1950sand none of them were playingstrictly bop.

But it was a nice experimentwhile it lasted.

WHAT IS THIS THINGCALLED BOP?The second part of SCOTT YANOW’S account of Big Bandsafter the Swing Era 1945-50

Claude Thornhill

Dizzy Gillespie

18 19THE JAZZ RAG THE JAZZ RAG

BRITISH JAZZ AWARDS 2012 BRITISH JAZZ AWARDS 2012

This year’s British JazzAwards, the 26th year the‘Jazz Oscars’ have

recognised the best in British jazztalent, will be presented for thefirst time in the famousConcorde Club in Eastleighwhich, if there were a Best Clubcategory, would be up therechallenging every year. TheConcorde Club is an even longerestablished British jazzinstitution, founded by ColeMathieson in 1957, its 50thanniversary commemorated in alavish book published in 2008.The Concorde’s top jazz eventsare usually the International JazzNight on Wednesdays andSunday’s New Orleans Jazz fordancing. However, MondayOctober 22nd will be a veryspecial jazz evening, withentertaining speeches, edge-of-the-seat envelope ripping andmusic from 10 or so of the UK’sfinest, winners of the 2012 BritishJazz Awards.

But who will these winners be?There is a school of thought thatbelieves that more variety in thenominations would be a blessing.After all the likes of Roy Williamsand Martin Taylor have been inthe ascendant for a quarter of acentury and show no sign ofgoing away, Dave Green and LenSkeat dominated the double basscategory in the early years andare still challenging a flock ofother excellent musicians for theaward, Alan Barnes puts in hisregular annual assault on at leastthree fronts. On the other hand,if Martin Taylor is the bestguitarist, he’s the best guitarist!At one time no award-winnerwas allowed to defend his/hercrown so there was a differentwinner each year, but this wasclumsy and artificial andsometimes came dangerouslyclose to the concept of a RugbyUnion tour, with the separateSaturday and midweek teams!

I recently took a look at some ofthe well established Melody Makerpolls of the early 1960s andfound that, with the benefit ofhindsight, the decisions weremostly wisely predictable. TubbyHayes was all over the polls,Humphrey Lyttelton and JimmyDeuchar alternated in a battle oftrumpet styles until one yearFreddy Randall sneaked up on

the rails in a rare triumph forChicago jazz. Probably the bestsign of the discernment of MMreaders is the quality of namesfor the New Stars award – byand large they picked the rightpeople, Brian Dee, Peter King,Dick Morrissey. Of course therewere giants in the land in thosedays (maybe there are now, butwe haven’t noticed!) andinterestingly the categories withgreatest signs of strain were thevocal ones, where today votershave an enviable choice. TheMelody Maker made it difficult foritself by maintaining separatecategories for Male, Female andVocal Group. There was the yearwhen the 1-2-3 of Male JazzSingers was Matt Monro, LongJohn Baldry and Bobby Breen – acertain George Melly camefourth!

So did folks in 1962 say, ‘NotTubby Hayes again!’? Highlyunlikely! The difference with theBritish Jazz Awards is theexistence of a nominating panel.This has the advantages ofrecognising fine players with lesspopular appeal and of suggestingnames to floating voters. It hasthe disadvantage of implying tosome people that only those fourmusicians can be voted for. Thegreat mystery of the Jazz Awardsis The Disappearance of the FifthPlaced Musician. In a categorywhere far more than fourmusicians are worthy ofnomination, such as Tenor Sax,maybe 6 or 7 get a similarnumber of votes from theNomination Panel. After muchhead-scratching and use ofcasting votes, the four are chosen– and what happens in the poll?The chosen four all receive tentimes the number of votes oftheir previously closecompetitors!

So let 2012 be the Year of Box E!Voters can always add a name oftheir own choice in any category,so you have the chance to springa surprise when the names areread out at the Concorde Clubon October 22nd.

Not that there’s any shortage ofquality nominations in anycategory. For instance, if DennisRollins, Ian Bateman, MarkNightingale and Roy Williamsform a fairly predictable quartet

in the Trombone section, no onecan doubt that any of themwould be a worthy winner – andthey cover a fine range of styles!The Miscellaneous Instrumentcategory has rather more varietythan the regular baritone saxistsand vibes players: Alan Barnes andJim Hart are there, but so, too,are Christian Garrick’s violin andCourtney Pine’s soprano sax! (Ican’t help noting the omission ofone excellent baritone saxistwho gets her nomination forTenor Sax). The Rising Starsection is especially strong thisyear, though some may disputewhether last year’s winner (AmyRoberts) and runner-up (JamieBrownfield) should be counted asRisen Stars – similarly with LewisWright who has been picking upawards from his teenage yearsonwards. How do you defineRising Star? The Jazz Awards doesit solely on age – and a verystrict age limitation it is, too – 26.It’s much to the credit of theBritish jazz scene that there areso many established musiciansand leaders in their early 20s.With James Maddren, drummerwith Kit Downes and GwilymSimcock, this is an exceptionalselection, but, if you know astunning new player ournomination panel has failed tonotice, it’s time for Box E!

The Big Band and Small Groupcategories are also full ofinterest, with experimental 14-piece Beats and Pieces, winner oflast year’s Burghausen EuropeanYoung Artists Jazz Award, upagainst three established andhighly successful big bands. Andwhat a selection in the SmallGroup section! DigbyFairweather’s Half Dozen defendtheir title against the spectacularScots front-line-only quartetBrass Jaw, the highly original NewOrleans-based group Tipitina, andthe Great Wee Band,straightahead jazz from a quartetincluding three individualnominees: Henry Lowther, JimMullen and Dave Green.

Voting for the British Jazz Awardscloses on October 12th. Full listsof nominees and furtherinformation can be found onwww.britishjazzawards.com andvotes can be cast ontiny.cc/jazzawards.Or you can use the voting formon the carrier sheet, returning itto British Jazz Awards, PO Box944, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B168UT.

For tickets and information aboutthe presentation event visitwww.theconcordeclub.com.

THE 26TH YEAR OF THE JAZZ OSCARS

Mark Nightingale

Courtney Pine

Enrico Tomasso with Len Skeat and Roy Williams

Len Skeat

Robert Fowler

The nomination panel is as follows:Bob Weir (Jazz Journal) Chris Hodgkins (Jazz Services) Cole Mathieson(The Concorde Club) Dave Gelly (The Observer) David Nathan (TheNational Jazz Archive) Dick Laurie (Allegedly Hot News International)Fred Lindop (Swanage Jazz Festival) Jerry Brown (Norwich Jazz Party)John Hemming (MP) Liz Lincoln (Promoter) Lord Anthony Colwyn(Chair, All Party Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group) Mike Gordon(Scarborough Jazz Festival) Mike Pointon (Jazz Writer)Peter Vacher(Jazz Writer) Roger Cotterrell (Book Publisher) Ron Simpson (TheJazz Rag) Tony Augarde (Musicweb International)

Nominations for the 2012 British Jazz Awardsare as follows:

TRUMPETBruce Adams, Enrico Tomasso, Guy Barker, Henry Lowther

TROMBONEDennis Rollins, Ian Bateman, Mark Nightingale, Roy Williams

CLARINETAlan Barnes, Julian Marc Stringle, Mark Crooks, Tony Coe

ALTO SAXOPHONEAlan Barnes, Derek Nash, Nigel Hitchcock, Peter King

TENOR SAXOPHONEBobby Wellins, Karen Sharp, Robert Fowler, Simon Spillett

PIANOCraig Milverton, Dave Newton, Kit Downes, Nikki Iles

GUITARDave Cliff, Dominic Ashworth, Jim Mullen, Martin Taylor

BASSAlec Dankworth, Andy Cleyndert, Dave Green, Len Skeat

DRUMSBobby Worth, Ralph Salmins, Sebastiaan De Krom, Steve Brown

MISCELLANEOUSAlan Barnes (baritone saxophone), Christian Garrick (violin),Courtney Pine (soprano saxophone), Jim Hart (vibraphone)

VOCALSClaire Martin, Liane Carroll, Liz Fletcher, Val Wiseman

RISING STARAmy Roberts, James Maddren, Jamie Brownfield, Lewis Wright

BIG BANDBack To Basie, Beats and Pieces, NYJO, Scottish National JazzOrchestra

SMALL GROUPBrass Jaw, Digby Fairweather’s Half Dozen, The Great Wee Band,Tipitina

NEW CDDerek Nash Acoustic Quartet: Joyriding (Jazzizit), The Great Wee Band:Light Blue (Trio), John Surman: Saltash Bells (ECM), Karen Sharp: Spirit(Trio)

REISSUE CDBritish Traditional Jazz – A Potted History (Lake), Bruce Turner: Accent OnSwing (Lake), Stan Tracey: Leader And Sideman (Avid), The Joe HarriottStory (Proper)

The full results of the voting for the 2012 British Jazz Awardswill be announced in the next edition of The Jazz Rag

Photo by Merlin Daleman

Photo by Merlin Daleman

Photo by Merlin Daleman

Photo by Merlin Daleman

21THE JAZZ RAG

ON RECORD REVIEWS

20 THE JAZZ RAG

BILL EVANS TRIO

THE VILLAGE VANGUARDSESSIONS

Essential Jazz Classics EJC55564 (2 CDs 76:49/68:12)

One could, of course, take thesediscs at face value and just enjoythe beautiful sounds. In whichcase you would miss much oftheir value. The unpretentiousand introspective nature ofEvans’ music conceals a degree ofpianistic skill and invention thatonly the very best performerscan achieve. He conjures animmediately identifiable tonalquality from his instrument andhas a very personal harmonicapproach which still sounds freshafter fifty years. There aresubtleties, too, of timing andphrasing and a flow of creativeideas which demand seriouslistening.

The contributions of bassistScott La Faro and drummer PaulMotian are also extremelyimportant. The delicate balancecreated by their three-wayinterplay could so easily bedestroyed by a wrong use ofdynamics, an ill-timed phrase orpoor intonation.

These two CDs cover fourseparate live performances from1961. If this results in severalduplications of titles, it alsoserves to demonstrate theremarkable consistency of thesemusicians, especially consideringthe entirely improvised nature oftheir music: the only formimposed on the renditions beingthat dictated by the tunesthemselves.

The repertoire is a mix ofstandards and jazz originals; theinterpretations are the productsof the creative thoughts of threemasters of their art.

HUGH LEDIGO

HOT FINGERS

IN GLORIOUS MONO

Lake Records LACD 311: 65.44

I’m not sure Spats Langham didhimself any favours by his choiceof stage name: it leads to theexpectation of silly jaunty 1920s

songs – or, worse, a tommy gunin the banjo case! Not that I’maverse to silly jaunty 1920s songs:one of my favourite tracks on InGlorious Mono is Nagasaki, withvirtuoso banjo and Danny Blyth’sclarinet bouncing merrily overMalcolm Sked’s tuba. But there isfar more to Hot Fingers thanthat. At the other extreme wehave the change to two guitarsand string bass for accomplishedHot Club-style numbers. Anoccasional Gallic influenceextends beyond Django to EmilyCampbell’s charming treatmentof La Foule (Piaf imitation strictlyoff-limits) and Spats’ romanticguitar on La Vie en Rose. UkuleleIke’s Hang on to Me is theoccasion for manic scatting aswell as dusting down Spats’ukulele. Hot Fingers can do aspot of the light classical, with alovely stately version of Grieg’sNorwegian Dance No. 2 andKetelbey’s In a Persian Market,complete with legato tuba soloand snake-charming clarinet.There are plenty of standardshere (three Irving Berlins and asuitably exuberant Tico Tico, forexample), but Spats does a niceline in digging up forgottenmaterial, notably two gems fromVictor Young. The Old Man of theMountains is a particular delight,persuasively sung by Spats, withDanny Blyth’s geriatric dance onbass clarinet adding to the fun.

RON SIMPSON

MEL TORME

SWINGS SHUBERT ALLEY +BACK IN TOWN

Phoenix 131551 (76.41)

This compilation of two LPs isdisappointing - for more than onereason. I think Mel Tormé is thegreatest male jazz singer of alltime, but both these albums dohim a disservice. Swings ShubertAlley is a collection of showtunes, with Mel backed by a bandarranged and conducted bypianist Marty Paich. The bandonly includes a dozen musiciansbut the arrangements areintricate and busy - and so aresome of Mel's vocals. His timingis miraculous and his phrasing isjazzy but sometimes he seemstoo clever, scatting and repeatingphrases over and over again. Andhis ingenuity obscures the

emotion of a song like On theStreet Where You Live, whichshould be gentle and touchinginstead of showy. However, thealbum has the bonus of nicesolos from Art Pepper and FrankRosolino.

Back in Town features Mel Torméwith the Mel-tones, the vocalgroup he led in the 1940s andreassembled for this album. Thetrouble is that one hears verylittle of Mel and instead most ofthe music consists of theMeltones cooing sentimentally.Mel says he thought of the Mel-Tones as like a sax section butthis doesn't enhance theirindividuality.

TONY AUGARDE

ZOOT SIMS

FOUR CLASSIC ALBUMS –LEADER AND SIDEMAN

Avid Jazz AMSC 10612 CDS (159.09)

I don’t think Zoot Sims evermade a bad record, whetherunder his own considerablesteam or as a sideman, so thecombination of artist and chosenmaterial on this latest Aviddouble guarantees quality inevery way.

Long time Zoot fans will knowthese recordings well and theyinclude a very representativeslice of the tenorist’s workloadduring the late Fifties and early

Sixties. Starring Zoot Sims is asouvenir from a jaunt to Paris in1956, Stretching Out (a fine SwingEra homage) is in the company ofSweets Edison, Bob Brookmeyerand regular confrere Al Cohn andThe Jazz Soul of Porgy and Bess isan outing for New York’s greatestsessionmen (Woods, Farmer,Rehak et al) which fails only incomparison to the better knownMiles Davis/Gil Evans version.

The real gem however is DownHome, a 1960 quartet set withDave McKenna, George Tuckerand Dannie Richmond, which,with a repertoire of oldwarhorses (Bill Bailey even!)proves that Zoot could takeunlikely material, mismatchedpersonnel and a few hours tocome up with a casual classic.Very recommended.

SIMON SPILLETT

COUNT BASIE

THE ATOMIC MR. BASIE

Phoenix 131563 (73.43)

BASIE PLAYS HEFTI

Phoenix 131558 (76.40)

What can one say afresh about afavourite recording? When it firstappeared in late 1957 on theRoulette label, the Atomic albumblew most of us away, itsfreshness and dynamic rangesignalling that all was well in the

Basie camp. Neal Hefti’s newcharts were truly inspirational,the band had settled personnel,there were first-rate soloists, inevery section, notable amongthem the excitable tenorist Eddie‘Lockjaw’ Davis, and a rhythmsection that defined swing. Bigband heaven! Basie had made hisUK debut with this very sameline-up earlier the same year andhere on vinyl (yes, that’s what itwas then) was the enduringembodiment of its qualities, proofthat our ears hadn’t let us down.From the first explosive shouts ofthis mighty aggregation on TheKid from Red Bank with Basie’spiano at its centre, through tothe controlled smoothness of L’ilDarlin or the tip-toe delicacy ofCute and on to the roaringebullience of Splanky, every trackwas a winner. I envy those whoare coming to this music for thefirst time: prepare to beoverwhelmed. If the secondalbum had a less substantiveimpact, that was no shortcoming;Hefti’s arrangements were againvaried and stimulating and theband was still in commandingform, all this heralding Basie’s1950s re-birth, these superbreleases (each reissued here withbonus tracks from the period)presaging a period ofextraordinary success for theband and its leader.

PETER VACHER

VIRGINIA MAYHEW QUARTET

MARY LOU WILLIAMSTHE NEXT 100 YEARS

Renma 6402CD (63.56)

How many tunes by Mary LouWilliams can you name? She wasan important part of Andy Kirk'sClouds of Joy and acomposer/arranger for suchpeople as Duke Ellington andBenny Goodman. Yet she stilldidn't write many tunes that arehummable or well-known. So analbum consisting mainly of hercompositions may lack melodicinterest. And that is unfortunatelythe case with this tribute to MaryLou, belatedly commemoratingthe hundredth anniversary of herbirth in 1910.

Virginia Mayhew says she listenedto more than 200 tracks of

Williams' music but the ones shechose are hardly inspiring: mostlyjazz waltzes or straightforwardblues. Mayhew is an adequate butnot very exciting tenorist and thebest moments are provided byguitarist Ed Cherry and guesttrombonist Wycliffe Gordon. Theoutstanding track is What's YourStory, Morning Glory, which wasactually adapted later into BlackCoffee and is here enlivened byWycliffe's cheeky plunger-mutedsolo and interjections. This albummay be useful in reminding us ofMary Lou Williams but it hardlydoes justice to her reputation.

TONY AUGARDE

ETTA JAMES

LIVE AT MONTREUX 1975-1993

Eagle Records B0089DOT66,74.30

There could hardly be a bettertribute to the late Etta James,who died in January this year,than this compilation from herfour appearances at theMontreux Festival over the yearsbetween 1975 and 1993.

Etta James was a singer whodefied categorisation. Shespanned all the genres - Blues, Rand B, jazz, soul and evenrockabilly – and won awards in allthese fields. These eleven tracksare previously unreleasedmaterial and they are allwonderful. She came from amusical line that starts withBessie Smith, runs throughRosetta Tharpe and, probably,might end with James herself.

The disc opens with an explosiveI Just Want To Make Love To Youfrom the 1993 session and fromthat point it is uphill all the way,driving the audience into a frenzy.Her command of the crowd isastonishing. She acknowledgesher hits in a gritty medley of AtLast, Trust in Me and A Sunday Kindof Love, the last being a standoutin a standout record.

But it is in the bluesy forays,Respect Yourself and W.O.M.A.N, asalacious piece of business, thatshe shows her real identity andthere is no mistaking herremembered pain in her sombreversion of A Lover is Forever. Thebacking group which includes her

two sons is a blues-rock bandand it punches out an energy towhich she enthusiasticallyresponds.

One of the Greats in anycategory and, in Etta James’s case,a Great in all of them.

JOHN MARTIN

ALAN BARNES/KEN MATHIESON’S CLASSIC JAZZ ORCHESTRA

THE GLASGOW SUITE: THEMUSIC OF BENNY CARTER

Woodville Records WVCD 133:70.06

Among the increasing number ofrepertory orchestras andtributes to jazz greats, this is a bitdifferent. In 1987 the great BennyCarter was commissioned tocompose a suite for the GlasgowInternational Jazz Festival whichhas now been revived, but thisperformance by Ken Mathieson’sorchestra is by way of being apremiere in its own right. Theoriginal was scored for 18musicians; with Alan Barnesadded, Ken had 9 at his disposal,not that you’d notice with hisingenious little big bandarrangements. The original suitelasted 25 minutes; so, too, doesthis performance, but with fewerrepeats and more solos. The fivemovements cover much of the

range of Benny Carter’s work.The opening and closingmovements are straightaheadswingers, the sort of thing you’dexpect from the composer of theKansas City Suite for Basie.Working inwards we come to acouple of fine ballads, featuringthe brassmen, Phil O’Malley withlovely legato trombone on DNand Billy Hunter’s warm trumpettones on The Clyde. In the middleis the most ambitious piece,Waltz, scored in the reducedversion for a reed section of twoclarinets, tenor sax and bassclarinet, with a masterly clarinetsolo from Alan Barnes. Most ofthe other tracks are Carteroriginals, with Symphony in Riffs aglorious reminder of his 1930swork, but a highlight for me is there-creation of his marvellousHoneysuckle Rose from FurtherDefinitions, with exhilaratingexchanges between all foursaxists: throughout Dick Lee,Konrad Wiszniewski and theversatile Martin Foster are notover-awed by the presence oftheir guest who – to state anunnecessary truth – always playsimmaculately.

RON SIMPSON

CHARLIE WOOD

LUSH LIFE

Archer Records 338872 43.53

One thing you can say aboutCharlie Wood is that he is

Count Basie

Etta James

23THE JAZZ RAG THE JAZZ RAG

ON RECORD REVIEWS

22

different. Possessing a voicesomewhere between Mel Tormeand Georgie Fame but with noneof the former’s finesse and thelatter’s tunefulness.

He is, apparently, a bit of a cultfigure and held a long residencyat the King’s Palace on BealeStreet Memphis which is whereFame, who contributes sleevenotes, first heard him twentyyears ago.

The record, I think, is the first inthis country and it will causecomment. Personally I find hisvoice grating and his stylewearing. The pattern rarelychanges from number to numberas he slides up and down thenotes occasionally aiming for ahigh one and missing. He prefersto ignore the quality tunes he hasselected re-inventing them as hegoes along. Like Someone in Love isunrecognisable and he could bein danger of being sued over Onthe Street Where You Live.Route 66 is taken at a speed sofast that he has trouble gettingthe words out.

Jacqui Dankworth, his wife, is theproducer of this odd album andjoins him on one number AloneTogether but that doesn’t improvethings.

He does play a nicely percussivepiano and, I believe, good organalthough he doesn’t feature thathere.

Charlie Wood is certainlysomeone different but sometimesdifferent is not enough.

JOHN MARTIN

BILLIE HOLIDAY

AT THE STRATFORDSHAKESPEAREAN FESTIVAL

Solar 4569920 (75.09)

Billie’s 1957 appearance at theStratford Shakespearean Festivalin Ontario, Canada, took placejust two years before heruntimely death at the age of 44.Supported by her faithfulaccompanist Mal Waldron onpiano with bassist ErnieCosachuck and drummer ArchieAlleyne, she works through shortversions of six of her regularstandbys, each taken at mediumtempo, sounding reasonably at

ease if somewhat contained and atouch frail. The remainder of thiscompilation then moves back andforth across her final years,including ten tracks made atMonterey (complete with low-flying aircraft noises!) in 1958with Gerry Mulligan et al and thetouching trio of numbers shesang in London in February 1959while appearing on Granada’sChelsea At NineTV show withWaldron and Peter Knight’sorchestra, including the iconicStrange Fruit. Of course, all of thisrepresents Billie performing indecline, her capacity weakened asillness and addiction slowed herdown and took her energy away.The results are often plaintivebut never pathetic; the outline ofher style still intact even if hervocal presence is much lessenedand the sound sometimes croaky.Waldron covers her tracksadmirably and the audienceexults in her song choices,perhaps realising they wereseeing a great jazz artistapproaching her final hurrah. Sadbut essential.

PETER VACHER

SOPHIE MILMAN

IN THE MOONLIGHT

Membran 233541 (61.27)

Another day, another femalesinger. Sophie Milman is new tome but this is actually her fourthCD. She was born in the Urals(no, that's not funny), grew up inIsrael and then settled in Canada.Her style might be described asrather mannered, not alwaysdistinct, and slightly sultry. Indeed,there are hints of MarilynMonroe in her occasionallyquavery voice. Yet the problemhere is the same as with manyup-and-coming female vocalists:Sophie is a good enough singerbut she has nothing special tomark her out from the hundredsof other young hopefuls. As withmany modern vocal recordings,the best part is theaccompaniment. The first-classbacking musicians include ChrisPotter, Randy Brecker, Julian Lage,Gil Goldstein, Larry Grenadierand Lewis Nash. There issparkling piano from Kevin Hays,and Gregoire Maret adds hisToots-like harmonica to a coupleof tracks. And the arrangementsgive Sophie the best

accompaniments possible. If Iheard her again, would I be ableto single her out from dozens ofothers?

What the world needs nowis...fewer commonplace singers.

TONY AUGARDE

ILLINOIS JACQUET

SWING’S THE THING +ILLINOIS JACQUET ANDHIS ORCHESTRA

Essential Jazz Classics EJC55570 (77.05)

Jacquet’s solo on LionelHampton’s Flying Home, and hissubsequent concert work withJazz at the Philharmonic may wellhave brought the saxophonistfame and fortune, but they alsosucceeded equally in masking hisconsiderable musical subtlety. Hisbest work was arguably doneaway from the JATP circus, suchas on these two mid-Fifties Vervesets, which partner him with twotrumpet greats, Roy Eldridge andSweets Edison. The first, with theurbane Jimmy Jones on piano,does what it says on the tin, witha lovely Harlem Nocturne slippedbetween the grooves.

The second date has some nodsto the more populist side ofJacquet, as well as some jovialinterplay with the puckishSweets. The tenorist takes atender turn through Stardust, butelsewhere things are ratherhampered by Gerald Wiggins’organ, the worst offender being

Learnin’ the Blues, which getsdangerously close to the end ofthe pier.

The leader’s playing throughoutboth dates is impeccable andillustrates what he took from –and gave to – other players suchas Lester Young, Dexter Gordonand Sonny Stitt. Indeed, if youonly know the honking andsquealing Jacquet, try this. You’llbe very pleasantly surprised.

SIMON SPILLETT

JOE STILGOE

WE LOOK TO THE STARS

Absolute NSACD01 (46:14)

Well, at last here's Joe's newalbum. This is a more ambitiousventure than before, involving apersonnel of 23 individuals andutilising Joe's abilities, not only onpiano and vocals, but also onkeyboards, organ, xylophone,harmonium and accordion. All butone, it's his own material, and asharp intelligence is evident in hislyrics, which cover lively aspectsof romantic moods. My feelingsare mixed about words appearingin booklets, but in this case,though Joe's delivery is clear andincisive, I find it helpful.

For nine of the eleven tracks, Joemeets the expectation ofsubstantial swinging, albeit indiverse veins. With his pianopulsation at its root, that engagingsinging is encased in hissuperlative scoring for big band,string section and choral sounds.

Illinois Jacquet

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25THE JAZZ RAG

ON RECORD REVIEWS

24 THE JAZZ RAG

The consistent flow of the whole package is achieved bywhat is now termed'programming' - otherwise multi-dubbing. But unlike someinstances, this is all conceived in ahighly musical way. Above all,what Joe stamps on his music isenjoyment - the need for havingand giving fun.

Every track invites description,but for review brevity, I willspecify three that I like a lot. TheChestnut Tree has a great feel,richly-voiced strings, andsomehow has the aura of a showsong, reminding me that in JazzRag 120 he said he'd love towrite a stage musical. The twoslows, with his voice suitablysubdued, are full of atmosphere,especially his closing take on RayDavies' Waterloo Sunset. On firstlisten, the overall CD is quitestunning, but one is impelled tohear it all through again, andperchance to dance.

LES TOMKINS

SERGE CHALOFF

BLUE SERGE + BOSTONBLOW UP

Essential Jazz Classics EJC55569 (79.37)

Proper gave Chaloff the big boxtreatment last year, but this

release usefully collates his twobest known records.

The earlier 1955 material, madewith a clutch of fellow Bostoniansincluding Herb Pomeroy andBoots Mussilli, mixes ambitiouswriting in a West Coast vein,leavened by Chaloff’s no-nonsense bopping. Ironically,despite the finely crafted scores,it is the two solo features onWhat’s New and Body and Soulthat most impress, with Chaloff’sbreathy delivery reachingWebsterian levels ofexpressiveness.

Blue Serge is another matteraltogether, the ultimate Chaloffrecital and a sort of blue print forthe records he could have mademore of had he lived longer. Thefirst class rhythm team of SonnyClark, Leroy Vinnegar and PhillyJoe Jones couldn’t be betteredand shadow the leader through aprogramme ranging fromboppers’ anthems (All The ThingsYou Are, The Goof and I) to lyricalballadry. The highspot is thegenuinely affecting reading ofThanks For The Memory – anunlikely choice whichnevertheless sounds just right.But then the whole album isperfect, the equivalent of ArtPepper Meets The Rhythm Sectionor Getz’ The Steamer as adefinitive example of mid-1950’ssaxophone-led jazz.

SIMON SPILLETT

BARNEY KESSEL

THREE CLASSIC ALBUMSPLUS

Avid AMSC 1064 (157.20)

This two-for-one album presentsguitarist Barney Kessel in twokinds of settings. Two of the LPshere are versions of the musicfrom a film and an opera, whilethe other two (with one trackomitted) feature Barney with the‘Poll Winners’ - alias Ray Brownand Shelly Manne. Kessel andfriends make a good job ofpresenting the music from myfavourite film, Some Like It Hot.Runnin' Wild is particularly good,with fierce solos from Barney,saxist Art Pepper and trumpeterJoe Gordon. Kessel brings outthe poignancy in I'm Thru withLove, accompanied simply bystring bass. But it is ratherdisconcerting when Barney triesto jazz up Bizet's Carmen. Tuneslike the Toreador's Song and theHabanera simply don't adapt wellto jazz. I'm afraid it all remindsme of Spike Jones's version ofCarmen.

Much better are the discs by thePoll Winners, so called becauseKessel, Brown and Manne won allthree of the major American jazzpolls in 1956. They workseamlessly together and theirinterplay is a joy to hear. WithRay Brown and Shelly Mannebeing such strong soloists, BarneyKessel doesn't have to do all thework. Another must-have bargainfrom the Avid label.

TONY AUGARDE

KING CURTIS QUINTET

FEATURING NATADDERLEY AND WYNTONKELLY

Fresh Sounds RecordsFSR CD 714: 79.42

This CD is a composite of twoLPs released in 1960 when KingCurtis wished to try out as a jazzplayer. These albums were TheNew Scene of King Curtis and SoulMeeting and they failed toestablish the R and B King as aserious contender in the jazzfield.

It was a good idea to chooseAdderley and Kelly as men ofundisputed pedigree and, indeed,Adderley is the star of theexperiment, playing consistentlybrilliantly and exhibiting a highnote capacity which has not beentoo evident before.

The record company spared noexpense and provided Curtis,additionally, with Paul Chambersand Sam Jones on basses andOliver Jackson and Belton Evanson drums. The performances lopealong pleasantly, if a little uneasily,and Curtis is no slouch on tenorplaying with more fire than soulbut inoffensive overall. He ishappier on the slower, bluesnumbers.

There is very little ensembleplaying and Adderley and Kelly, asexpected, make valuablecontributions, adapting to thecircumstances. All in all it is anunassuming little outing, but it isjust as well that Curtis went backto his day job.

JOHN MARTIN

MICHAEL GARRICK

BOVINGDON POPPIES

Garrick Archive GAMG 1(48:40)

In September 1993 I received aletter from a friend, StuartFordyce, a classical singer wholived in Bovingdon, Herts. He wasadvising me that he was takingpart in a work by MichaelGarrick. Attending it reunited mewith Mike after a lapse of years. Itis a great pity he did not live tosee its long-overdue release.

Bovingdon Poppies is a primeexample of Mike's flair for choraljazz. It came about after hereceived a poem from a lady whohad heard his music on BBCradio. The subject is the creationin 1943 of Bovingdon Airfield andits significance in World War 2.The words, variously poignantand triumphant, are sung byFordyce's baritone as The EnglishAviator and Harrison Sykes'stenor as The American Pilot.Alternating and weaving aroundthem is a tremendous panoply ofGarrick sound, incorporating aChamber Choir, a Choral Societyand Scott Stroman's EclecticVoices, with a dozen strings

featuring his highly-talented sonChris, all propelled expertly byhis Quintet - Steve Waterman ontrumpet, Martin Hathaway onalto and soprano, Paul Moylan onbass, Dan Farrant on drums, and,of course, his own always-underlying powerful piano.

There is a wealth of effective jazzsoloing, whether rhapsodic orswinging, and I recommend thealbum to devotees of thisstimulating idiom.

LES TOMKINS

NORMAN MAPP

JAZZ AIN'T NOTHIN' BUTSOUL

Fresh Sound FSR-CD 693(56.49)

Norman Mapp isn't exactly ahousehold name, althoughvarious friends called him suchthings as ‘the warmest humanbeing who ever lived’. He livedfrom 1928 to 1988 and wasapparently known as much for hissongwriting as for his singing. Thisreissue of his 1961 album showsthat he had a warm voice withtouches of Joe Williams abouthim. Norman wrote most of thesongs himself but I can't say theystrike me as very clever orprofound. They are the sort ofsongs where you can predictwhat rhyming word is coming upto complete unimaginative lyrics,full of clichés like ‘Who cares ifit's stormy weather, As long aswe're together?’ And most of hismelodies are forgettable.

In these circumstances, one'sattention focuses on the splendidbackings provided by a quintetwhich includes Clark Terry,Seldon Powell and TommyFlanagan. Terry's unique trumpet(flugelhorn?) adds fascinatingpunctuations to the vocals, whileSeldon Powell plays some finesolos on flute as well as tenorsax. Seldon's value is underlinedby the inclusion of three bonustracks which he recorded with arhythm section in 1961.

TONY AUGARDE

TROYKA

MOXXY

Edition EDN1033 (45:12)

Troyka are a trio made up ofChris Montague (Guitars, loops)Kit Downes (Hammond Organ,piano and Fender Rhodes) andJoshua Blackmore (drums). Theband members have individuallycomposed the material but it’sskeletal and lacking in depth,serving only to serve as a loosebase for collective improvisation.The front line of guitar andkeyboards along withBlackmore’s impressivedrumming sets a heavy pacewhich after several titlesbecomes quite repetitive. Thereare better moments – Rest isquite gentle with some fine guitarwork from Montague, but itfollows much of the companiontitles by becoming rather self-indulgent and not really achievingvery much, before quietlydisappearing.

Ultimately, unless there is form ofsome kind, the improvisation willsuffer -and, sadly, the music turnsout to be self-indulgent andlacking direction.

GREG MURPHY

TEDDI KING

FOUR CLASSIC ALBUMSPLUS

Avid ASMC 1059 (159.18)

The four ‘classics’ in this case areBidin’ My Time, To You, A Girl andHer Songs and All This King’s Songs,with the ‘plus’ being four trackslifted from Miss Teddi King, andthroughout King benefits fromthe finest of support for herrather mannered style.

Al Cohn’s intelligent scoring (andtrenchant improvising) is offsetby George Siravo’s sentimentalstring arranging and JohnnyRichards brash horn writing, but,from a jazz standpoint, the besttracks are those with thesimpatico accompaniment ofRuby Braff, Jimmy Jones, MiltHinton and Jo Jones, which giveKing more room to make animpression.

Whilst the repertoire drawnfrom the Great AmericanSongbook is also first class, theserecords are bound to suffer incomparison to contemporaryefforts by Julie London and PeggyLee, who did all this and soundedfar more convincing.

The playing time is full to thebrim and the remastering can’tbe faulted, but for the first timewhen reviewing an Avid doubleCD I’ve come to the conclusionthat it is possible to have toomuch of a good thing. However,taken one sip at a time, this ispleasing stuff.

SIMON SPILLETT

KENNY WHEELER / ALAN SKIDMORE

SWISS RADIO DAYS: JAZZLIVE TRIO

TCB 02282 (65.27)

Two of Britain’s finestcontemporary soloists appearedin Zurich with the brilliant Jazz

Live Trio in three sessionsstretching from April 1978through to January 1980. Eachman fronted the trio in turn andthen they played in tandem, thisallowing them to demonstratetheir skills and prowess in variedand distinct ways, and happily forpresent-day listeners their effortswere recorded by Swiss Radioand belatedly, this is what is onoffer here. It would be hard torecall any performances onrecord from either Wheeler orSkidmore that are superior tothese. The trumpeter is inimperious form on his A SimpleToon, his lovely sound at its best,the playing as vibrant and centredas you could wish, the linescrackling and bright, bassist PeterFrei and drummer Pierre Favrealert and supportive. Wheeler’sversion of Duke’s Come Sunday isquite sublime, an opening flurryof drums followed by thetrumpeter’s unexpected ‘free’initial improvisation, before hesettles down to play a lovelyversion of this time-honouredtheme, Klaus Koenig’s piano ofequal beauty, this matched whenSkidmore gets his turn, theresident trio as able in the laterpassages of ‘out’ playing as onSkidmore’s more controlledballad work. This music may dateback more than thirty years butit has retained a level of intensityand creative energy that iscompletely compelling, this muchaided by their inventive Swissaccompanists.

PETER VACHER

EDDIE ‘LOCKJAW’ DAVIS & JOHNNY GRIFFIN

GRIFF AND LOCK

Fresh Sound FSR-CD 690(118.34)

When two tenor-players gettogether, you can usually expect atenor battle: competitivelyswapping fours or eights.However, Eddie ‘Lockjaw’ Davisand Johnny Griffin seem to have amore co-operative approach,with each tenorist stretching outseparately for their solos.Lockjaw described it as ‘acontrast, not a contest’. Davisgenerally goes first, with his buzzytone, running notes into oneanother. Griffin follows with a

Serge Chaloff

Michael Garrick

more melodic style. There arealso some excellent piano solosfrom Junior Mance, whose feelingfor the blues comes throughclearly.

Most tunes are up-tempo, andswing is the usual goal (which isreadily achieved). This double CDcontains three studio LPsrecorded in 1960 and 1961. Thethird is a tribute to TheloniousMonk called Lookin' at Monk.Johnny Griffin played withThelonious in 1958 but Monk'sdislocated compositions seem tosuit this group less well than thefree-blowing items on the othertwo LPs. The exceptions are'Round Midnight and Ruby MyDear, two ballads where theplaying of Griff and Lockrespectively exhibits pensiveconcentration. I'm not sure whythe sleeve-notes refer to thepianist as ‘Junior Malice’!

TONY AUGARDE

NAT ADDERLEY

FOUR CLASSIC ALBUMS

Avid Jazz AMSC 1062The Four Classic Albums areThat's Nat, Introducing NatAdderley, To The Ivy League andMuch Brass and cover the periodfrom 1955 to 1959. Adderleybegan to study trumpet in 1945but switched to cornet in 1951because he felt that he had morefacility than on trumpet. That'sNat is a good recording. But forme it is of interest because of acomparatively rare appearance ina small group setting by JeromeRichardson on tenor sax andflute. I particularly enjoyed IMarried An Angel.

Introducing turns the heat upsomewhat with a quintetfeaturing Nat's brother, Julian‘Cannonball’ Adderley on altosax, Horace Silver on piano andPaul Chambers on bass.

For me, things really start to getexciting on To The Ivy Leaguewhich also features Cannonballbut with a different rhythmsection including Junior Mance onpiano. The band always swinging.All of the music recorded for thissession is first rate but standouttracks include Number 251 andThe Fat Man.

Much Brass is a sextet including

Slide Hampton on trombone andLaymon Jackson on tuba makingfor an interesting sound.

Four albums charting theprogress of an unsung hero ofjazz.

ALAN MUSSON

PATTI BOWN

PLAYS BIG PIANO

Fresh Sound Records FSR 1659 (37:21)

Whereas Thelonious Monk’sstyle was, in part, shaped by asomewhat restricted technique,one feels that Ms Bown hasplenty in reserve. It is only herchosen approach to the businessof playing jazz which imposeslimitations on the technicalresources of a highly-trainedpianist. Bown’s approach isforthright and punchy, muchmore blues and gospel orientatedthan Monk, but there is a sharedaffinity in the quirky phrasing andaudacious liberties with time thatwere part of a decade whenexperimentation and individualitywere the name of the game.Of ten tracks, four are by Bownherself. Not without merit butheavily based in the blues figuresand gospel cadences which havebecome clichés but wereprobably quite fresh in 1959.Waltz de Funk is, I think, the mostsatisfying of these originals withits almost Chopinesque openingtheme.

Of the remaining selections, I’mGonna Wash That Man Right OutOf My Hair and Sunshine Cakedepart from the usual standardrepertoire, the latter boasting asimple but cleverly conceivedtheme statement in the form of acanon, left hand following righttwo bars apart.

The remaining time-honouredstandards reveal Patti Bown ather most Monkish and yet heressential bluesiness saves themfrom mere imitation.

Listening to this CD again, I catcha whiff of the heady excitementwe enjoyed in the burgeoning,non-conformist ’fifties.

HUGH LEDIGO

MARILYN MOORE

MOODY AND OH,CAPTAIN!

Fresh Sound FSR-CD 711(78:10)

One more set of two 'fifties LPs,and this is like two reviews inone for me. The first twelvetracks are my initial hearing ofMarilyn Moore. Usually whensingers are said to have beeninfluenced by Billie Holiday, theyturn out to have ample personasof their own. Ms Moore,however, very audibly, was acomplete Billie clone. Since shewas married to Al Cohn, who is afeatured member of her six-piecebacking group, you'd have thoughthe might have advised herotherwise. When she sings a songthat Billie recorded, such as ICried For You, it is an absolutecarbon copy. Though I applaudedthe invaluable Holidaycontribution to jazz phrasing, Imust admit that, sacrilegiously, Idid not care overly for the soundof her voice. So my enjoymenthere centres on the band

sections, and the solos by Al anda favourite trumpet player, JoeWilder.

The other nine tracks are a verydifferent story. Livingston andEvans wrote a batch of successfulBroadway musicals, but Oh,Captain! must be their least-known. Its score is given a jazzmakeover by an assortment ofluminaries in three groupings.Coleman Hawkins and HarryEdison are happily in conjunctionthrice. Dick Hyman's pianomastery is in evidencethroughout, teamed impeccablywith either the Pettiford orHinton bass. Tony Scott proves tobe as adept on tenor andbaritone as his customaryclarinet.

Vocals are inserted sparingly -often one midway chorus, as inolden dance band days. On acouple of her four instances,Marilyn sounds rather lessBillieish - dare I say a little bitPeyroux-like? But the highspotsare being reminded of theinfinitely more individual JackieParis on his two appealing songs.He also does a nice duet with

27

ON RECORD

THE JAZZ RAG

REVIEWS

26 THE JAZZ RAG

CATALONIA! CATALONIA!(What makes your CDs so odd?)

The Barcelona-based labels (Fresh Sound and suchlike) are aconstant source of mystery to me. For a start, I’ve never been ableto find out whether they are all one company or semi-independentaffiliates, but the greatest puzzle is why labels which put out somany intelligently and creatively assembled reissue packages arealso responsible for totally crass reissues at times. I’ve alreadydrawn attention to two labels reissuing the same albumsimultaneously, though with different bonus tracks and packaging.Now what about this?

In 1953 one of the most famous of jazz concerts took place inMassey Hall, Toronto, with an all-star group billed as The Quintet ofthe Year, with Charlie Parker operating under the alias ‘CharlieChan’ for contractual reasons. Now Essential Jazz Classics andPhoenix Records, both of the Barcelona group, have simultaneouslyreissued Jazz at Massey Hall under the name ‘Charlie Parker’,though one reproduces the original sleeve, with ‘Charlie Chan’ onalto. And it gets worse. That booklet cover is the only differencebetween the two releases. Both have the same Charles Mingustrack as bonus; the back insert is identical, except for label detailsand a reference to the booklet as containing 16 (EJC) or 12(Phoenix) pages; the booklet (16 pages including cover) is word-for-word, photo-for-photo, page-for-page the same. What is it all about?

By the way, this expose of the bizarre marketing practices ofCatalonia should not deter purchasers: Massey Hall was a seminalevent in the history of bebop, with Parker, Mingus, Dizzy Gillespie,Bud Powell and Max Roach a real ‘Quintet of the Year’ – but don’tbuy both reissues!

RON SIMPSON

MM. On one called Hey, Madame,drummer Osie Johnson reveals alively singing identity that shouldhave been utilised more.

LES TOMKINS

GEORGE GRUNTZ WITH NDR BIG BAND

DIG MY TRANE

TOB 31102:61.06

Swiss pianist/arranger Gruntz hasbeen attracting a great deal ofattention through his original andchallenging compositions andarrangements for his ConcertJazz Band, an assembly of thecream of European Jazzmusicians.He has previously lenthis considerable skills toproviding his slant on therepertoires of Duke Ellington,Thelonius Monk and CharlesMingus, the compositions of thelast two being particularlydemanding.

Here he tackles John Coltrane’swork, specifically the years of

1961 and ’62 when the tenoristwas recording for the Vanguardlabel. Coltrane is such an icon,some might say a deity, that topresume to arrange, or even use,his music in a big band contextcould amount to presumption oreven sacrilege.

Coltrane fans who mightapproach this album withtrepidation or annoyance canrest easy. This is a respectful,ingenious and expansivereworking of Coltrane’s musicthat gives it another dimension. Inparticular Gruntz and the superbNDR band have capturedColtrane’s unique ‘Sheets ofSound’ in a larger and fullercontext. The opening track,Impressions, gives an indication ofwhat is to come; a mightycrashing sound, intensely exciting.

Indeed, excitement is Gruntz’sgoal and forte and he pursues itthroughout this session althoughthere are several engagingmelodic pieces and his treatmentof the elegiac Naima Mysterious isa work of serious achievement inany musical genre.

As always Gruntz finds plenty of

space for his soloists and they,too, have absorbed the Coltraneethos. Altoists Fiete Felsch andPeter Bolte and tenorist LutzBuchner are remarkable andtrumpeter Ingolf Buckardt isastonishing. This must now be themost progressive band in Europe.Coltrane addicts who mightapproach this with caution will goaway raving.

JOHN MARTIN

STAN GETZ QUARTET

SWISS RADIO DAYS

Jazz Series Vol.29 TCB 02292

Taking Care of Business (TCB) isa record company based inMontreux. They have been issuinghigh quality Jazz recordings since1988 covering bebop and straightahead jazz, swing and worldmusic. They are also produce theSwiss Radio Days Jazz Series,previously unreleased liveconcert events recorded bySwiss Radio covering some of thelegendary names in jazz.

In 1960, Jazz promoter Norman

Granz organised a Jazz at thePhilharmonic concert tourthoughout Europe. This featuredthe Oscar Peterson Trio, MilesDavis Quintet and the Stan GetzQuartet. On 8th April 1960 thesegroups gave a concert in Zurich.Possibly the only recording ofGetz with this line up, he hadbeen living in Copenhagen andwas intending to play with locallybased musicians. However, hefired both the bassist anddrummer and reached anagreement with Oscar Petersonto use Ray Brown and Ed Thigpenalong with the Swedish pianist JanJohansson.

The recording features a coupleof great ballads along with somefaster numbers and all of thefamiliar Getz hallmarks;beautifully fluid lines, heart-feltand vibrant. Along with thefamiliar Spring Can Really Hang YouUp The Most there is the morerarely heard up tempo numberPernod by Johnny Mandel. Best ofall however is I Remember Clifford.

A very worthwhile addition tothe vast Getz discography.

ALAN MUSSON

THE JAZZ RAG

ON RECORD REVIEWS

28 29THE JAZZ RAG

CARMEN MCRAE

THE COMPLETE RALPHBURNS SESSIONSFEATURING BEN WEBSTER

Phoenix Records 13553: 75.33

Like fine wine Carmen McRaetook time to mature. Towards theend of her life she was displayingan artistry which put her in theclass of Ella, Sarah and Billie. Sheclaimed that Billie was herinspiration yet it is hard to detectthat influence on her style evenhere in these performances fromher early years.

What we have here are 24 tracksfrom 1955, one year afterDownbeat magazine voted her‘Singer of the Year’. At this time Iwould say she was more of atechnical singer and she gives amusically faultless rendition of allthese songs. She also brought anexperience and an awareness ofthe new musical revolution,bebop, having paid her dues atMinton’s Club, the home of thenew music where she often sat inon piano.

She was never a sentimental

singer but could often project amuch deeper sensitivity whenshe was presented with theappropriate material.

With Ralph Burns in charge ofthe arrangements this shouldhave been a landmark album butBurns’ scoring is minimal. He isquoted as saying he wanted toleave more space for the singer.Webster’s presence, too, shouldhave ensured a considerable andempathetic contribution, but hisballad flair is largely restricted tothe odd solo.

So, having made thesereservations, is there anything tobe enjoyed from this album? Yes,there is a great deal to savourespecially with quality ballads likeI’m A Dreamer, Speak Low, Skylarkand Yesterdays included. It ispleasing, also, to hear the verseon But Beautiful, almost alwaysexcluded by singers.

Outstanding track, by far, is herexquisite rendering of Star Eyes, asong on which she gives a readingof such luminosity that I wouldgladly pay the price of the albumfor this one track alone.

JOHN MARTIN

LIZ FLETCHER

LIZ

audioLoob ALCD001 (58:14)

Liz Fletcher is the epitome ofpresent-day clued-up lady jazzsingers. She has a flexible voice,writes some of her songs, and isable to function productivelyamid first-rate musicians. Herdelivery is stylish, but these 12tracks pose the question ofwhether you can have too muchstyle. Early on, four originals in arow are varied, with cute lyrics,and give good space to AndyPanayi on tenor and flute, MartinShaw on trumpet and GuntherKuermayer on piano. Mypreference is for Why?, whichgrooves nicely and has theneatest wordage.

I'm not sure whether it quiteworks to have her sing WillowWeep For Me while the band playsThings Ain't What They Used To Beunderneath, but it's a bright idea.What is less to my liking on thisand the following Early Autumn isthat thing of suddenly going upinto a high pitch, then downagain, which seems to detractfrom easy continuity.

It is the next two tracks thatbring about my thoughts re over-styling. The mannered, Latinisedtreatment of The End Of A LoveAffair completely removes themeaningfulness this song is meantto have. Then, by contrast, onAbbey Lincoln's philosophicalballad, Not To Worry, Liz employsno 'tricks', and her voice soundsbetter, warmer, more sincere. It'salso good to hear her with justthe rhythm section, especiallywhen, apart from Gunther,there's Geoff Gascoyne on bassand Sebastiaan de Krom ondrums. Two more straight-aheadgems take us to the album'sclimax, her fully-swinging Bring ItOn. ‘Let magic take me over’, Lizsings. It does.

LES TOMKINS

4SIDED TRIANGLE

Pig Records PIG02 (68:18)

4Sided Triangle features KevinFiges (baritone and alto sax),Mike Outram (guitar), DanMoore (Fender Rhodes) and

Daisy Palmer (drums). All titleswere composed by Figes (excepttrack two by Peter Ham) andFiges’ baritone work recalls LeoParker with its bustling,uncompromising approach – thisis particularly pronounced on theopening title Evel Minx where thegroup combines to be asuncompromising as possible, withheavy rhythmic emphasis. Thereare gentler moments, particularlyon Still, but on this title whereFidges uses alto sax, but once thegentle theme is dispensed, thereseems to be little else to exploreand the piece is inconclusive. OnThe Bear the muscular approachreturns with Outram reallyturning up the distortion.

All four musicians are more thancapable, but the problem seemsto be in the compositions, whichlack any depth or architecture,meaning there’s not much toimprovise on apart from chordpatterns. The Grind which closesthe disc seems to display thismore than most, with theresulting music living up to thetitle. I don’t mean to be harsh,but I have to write it as I hear it.

GREG MURPHY

HAL SMITH’S ROAD RUNNERS FEATURING REBECCAKILGORE

WAITING AT THE END OFTHE ROAD

Triangle Jazz T-123CD (71:13)

The liner notes are dated2001, so I presume therecording date must bearound the same time, but itcould as easily have been late‘thirties or early ‘forties. Allthe music dates from then orearlier, and if the musiciansaren’t ninety years old - whichthey’re not - then they havesteeped themselves in theirchosen period veryconvincingly.

Leader Hal Smith has a fluid,subtle drum style stronglyreminiscent of GeorgeWettling, and Bobby Gordon’sclarinet work might well be areincarnated Pee Wee Russell.

Ray Skjelbred on piano isslightly less successful. Hismodel is clearly Jess Stacy, buta lack of fluency makes forslightly stilted phrasing attimes and I feel he overdoesthe tremolo effect. BassistClint Baker’s approach datesback to the very early dayscomplete with string slappingand even playing with thebow. There is also a rhythmguitarist who, strangely, getsno mention.

Best of all are RebeccaKilgore’s contributions. Hervoice has an attractive lighttimbre, her phrasing is alwaysspot on, as is her pitching. Andshe has no irritatingmannerisms. She draws on awide repertoire ranging fromstandards like What Can I SayAfter I Say I’m Sorry to typicalpops of the era such as MutinyIn The Parlour.

Pleasant, unostentatious andtotally convincing.

HUGH LEDIGO

RAVI COLTRANE

SPIRIT FICTION

Blue Note 509999 18937 2 7(57:30)

Although only two years oldwhen his legendary father Johndied, Ravi Coltrane has a burdenof expectation to shoulder, whichmay explain why he has occupieda sideman’s role for most of hiscareer. There have been dates asleader, notably for RCA andSavoy, and some of the musiciansheard previously (includingdrummer E.J.Strickland) arepresent on this new Blue Noteissue.

Tenor saxophone seems to beRavi’s strongest suit- there aresounds of Joe Henderson andeven Dexter Gordon to bedetected in places. The personnelvaries track by track, but a coreband of Louis Perdano (piano),Drew Gress (bass) and drummerE. J. Strickland is present on themajority of titles. They areaugmented on certain titles bytenor saxophonist Joe Lovano,

trumpeter Ralph Alessi, pianistGeri Allen and several othersadding to the mix. Coltrane isimpressive on tenor, less so onsoprano, a notoriously difficultinstrument to conquer. Coltranehad a hand in composing most ofthe material, some of whichshows he is still seeking his ownvision

GREG MURPHY

CLIFFORD BROWN / MAX ROACHQUINTET

COMPLETE STUDIORECORDINGS

Essential Jazz ClassicsEJC55560 4-CD box set (76:43)(78:18) (78:20) (74:12)

For a group that existed no morethan two years, the Brown/RoachQuintet made a positive mark onjazz. These four CDs constitutechronologically everything putdown in the studio for 20months of that time (August1954 - March 1956), including allalternate or partial takes. Thecopious notes reveal, with aphoto to illustrate, that the lastlive date played by the five-piecein June 1956, shortly before thetragic car accident that tookBrownie and pianist RichiePowell, was at the ContinentalRestaurant, Norfolk.

This collection provides anumber of clear revelations.Above all, the growing jazzeloquence of Clifford Brown'strumpet playing, into his mid-twenties. Through two CDs andpart of the third, he pours outflowing, eventful lines alongsidethe consistently pleasurabletenor of Harold Land. From thenon, we hear the results of his finalsix months, when he was newlypartnered by the up-and-comingSonny Rollins, whose approach ismore voluble and off-beat. Theirempathy develops steadily, and bythe time, in February '56, we getto a Tadd Dameron twist onWhat Is This Thing Called Love?,Brownie has moved fromsprightly to total brilliance andSonny is at his outgoing best.Their togetherness reaches itspeak with the 3/4 fun of Sonny'slilting Valse Hot.

Rhythmically, the other three

musicians contribute equally. Theshort-lived Richie Powell comesclose to his brother Bud in hisquote-filled solos, his arranging,and his four attractivecompositions on CD3. One ofthe rare slow themes is hisexquisite Time. George Morrowwas one of the giants of the bass.As for the great Max Roach,naturally his drumming skills areemployed to the maximum, withshowcases such as on Stompin’ AtThe Savoy strikingly displaying themelodic ability he had.

LES TOMKINS

TOM BANCROFT: TRIO RED

FIRST HELLO TO LASTGOODBYE

Interrupto IM003 (66:09)

Tom Bancroft is a fine drummerwho has appeared on recordbefore, notably on the Caberlabel run by Tom and his brother,Phil. Trio Red features Bancroftwith pianist Tom Cawley andbassist Per Zanussi, on a range ofcompositions by Bancroft, withan opening mix of OrnetteColeman’s Lonely Woman andJoan Armatrading’s Opportunity.The closing title is an affectionateremembrance of singer andwriter Tim Buckley (Last Goodbye)which has a lyrical feel despitethe absence of lyrics.

Bancroft is a drummer of powerand imagination but here he

adopts a subtle approach withpianist Cawley taking centrestage, showing great thought andtechnique to interpret thecompositions, but the music alltoo often raises ghosts, seemingto lack direction in a self-indulgent manner. To sum up,where’s the excitement?

GREG MURPHY

COUNT BASIE AND HIS ORCHESTRA

PLAY THE MUSIC OFBENNY CARTER

Fresh Sound Records FSR-CD713 (72:10)

Benny Carter is one of the mostremarkable musicians in jazzhistory. A highly gifted multi-instrumentalist, he worked withalmost any name you can think ofand his writing gigs extendedfrom Henry Hall in London tofilm scores in Hollywood.Arguably the Basie band was atits peak on these 1960/61recordings. It set the benchmarkfor big-band swing andperformance standards.

Kansas City Suite is a set of tenpieces loosely connected, at leastby titles, to that historic jazz city.Vine Street Rumble, Miss Missouri,Rompin’ At The Reno have clearconnotations but such titles asKaty-Do (referring to Basie’s wifewho danced there) and theWiggle Walk are probablystretching things a bit. The point

Liz Fletcher

Ravi Coltrane

30 31THE JAZZ RAG THE JAZZ RAG

ON RECORD / LIVE / IN PRINT REVIEWS

is: Carter succeeds in fusing hisown compositional characterwith the identifiable Basie soundand the result is electrifying. Theprecision, dynamics, tone coloursand above all swing, make theserecordings quite exceptional.Apparently Basie thought so too.

In The Legend, Carter has, to myears, submerged his own identityto produce eight tracks of pureBasie. The interplay of brass andreeds, the Count’s pianointerjections, the dynamics - andagain that unique swing - areincomparable.

If I could own only one Basierecording, this would be it.

HUGH LEDIGO

PEE WEE ELLIS JAZZ FUNK ASSEMBLY

THEATRE ROYAL, YORK,AUGUST 24TH

York’s Theatre Royal deservescredit for an enterprising across-the-arts policy of supporting thetheatre’s massive production ofthe medieval Mystery Plays in theMuseum Gardens with a festivalof soul, jazz and gospel in theTheatre itself. So it was that,whilst the actors worked theirway soggily through the Bible ona wet August evening, arespectably-sized crowd enjoyeda sunny and audience-friendlysession with ex-James Brownsaxophonist Pee Wee Ellis and anoutstanding British quartet –‘Nice band’, murmured Pee Weeonce or twice, telling no morethan the truth. The first halfremained firmly in jazz-and-ballads territory, with incisivestraightahead tenor sax onCannonball Adderley’s Del Sasserfollowed immediately by Pee Weesliding gently into You’ve Changed,verse and all. I am not sure howfrequently this band playstogether (three nights at RonnieScott’s the next week, certainly),but all were impressivelyresponsive to each other, withGareth Williams a superb blendof ears, technique andimagination. The much longersecond half was much funkier,though I tend to agree with thecritic who opined that Pee Weefinds the jazz in funk and the funkin jazz – it’s all pretty seamless.More repetitive numbers, maybe,

but nothing repetitive about PeeWee’s fluent and seeminglyunstoppable tenor solos. MarkMondesir, Lawrence Cottle andTony Remy all excelled as PeeWee moved steadily into JamesBrown territory, eventuallyencoring, half an hour afterofficial end-of-concert time, withI Feel Good, with a no-longer staidaudience joining Pee Wee in thevocals! And, to keep up the goodfeeling, the organ trio which hadplayed before the start, was stilldoing its stuff in the foyer as weheaded into the storm andthought of the actors in theMysteries!

RON SIMPSON

SUGAR FREE SAXOPHONE: THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF JACKIE MCLEAN

Derek AnsellNorthway Books, hardback,9780955788864, £18.00

Derek Ansell has written a gooddeal about jazz over the years,regularly contributing articles andinterviews to various jazzmagazines and authoring anearlier study for Northway,Workout – The Music of HankMobley (2008), so it’s somewhatsurprising to find this new bookso disappointing. The biggestfrustration is that it’s full oftantalising tit-bits of informationabout McLean’s life, which aren’texplored in any great detail. Forexample, when the saxophonistloses his cabaret card we neverfind out exactly how and why.Likewise his incarceration –clearly a turning point – isquickly glossed over. Morefascinatingly, during the late 60sMcLean worked in tandem withthe Black Panthers - an amazingand possibly singularaccomplishment for a whitemusician - but we read nothingabout the reaction to this fromany of his colleagues andcontemporaries. In fact, we don’teven discover the cause ofMcLean’s death.

The principal drawback is thatAnsell relies too heavily on hisown analysis of events ratherthan on the opinions or voices ofthose involved. McLean himself isquoted with alarming brevity, as ishis wife (although Ansell offers an

understandable explanation forthis), and there are hardly anycontributions – contemporary orretrospective – from thesaxophonist’s fellow players. Thewriting style is also repetitive inthe extreme; on page 39 we aretold ‘Blakey was the best bandleader [McLean] ever workedwith’ and on page 41 that ‘Blakeywas, in McLean’s opinion, the bestband leader he ever workedwith’. Blue Note’s recordingactivity is described as ‘feverish’three times in two pages and justhow many times do we need tobe told that McLean’scomposition Quadrangle didn’t fitthe chords of I Got Rhythm?

Though this may represent myown personal bête noire, I findthat jazz biographies cannot beheld together by strings ofadjectives. The attempt todescribe the genesis of individualjazz saxophone voices in Chapter24, to pick a single instance, fallsflat owing to a lack of technicalexplanation and when, in onepassage, the author writes ‘thepiece is modal although thebridge enters a different modalarea with stop-time rhythm’ we

find prose hamstrung betweensleeve note regurgitation andrather mock expertise.

However, there are moments oftriumph. Chapter 21 is a gem andAnsell is spot-on about the musicmade during McLean’s purplepatch (page 144). He also displaysan admirable lack ofobsequiousness when looking atthe New and Old Gospel albummade with Ornette Coleman.There are similarly interestingobservations about McLean’smethods as an educator, somefascinating insights into CharlesMingus’ modus operandi and agenuine practical understandingof how jazz musicians utilizeteaching as a necessary financialcrutch.

Sugar Free Saxophone is thereforea qualified success. Part missedopportunity (McLean himselfdidn’t live long enough tocomplete his autobiography), partenthusiastic fan’s obeisance, itprobably required somestreamlining and a more judiciousedit before reaching the public.

RICHARD HYLA

Pee Wee Ellis

Photo by Merlin Daleman

33THE JAZZ RAG

In the 1950s it was prime timefor jazz musicians on the WestCoast who were high-class

section players and/or had theability to register a distinctivesolo style in a few bars: recordinggigs abounded on jazz, jazzish andnot-really-jazz-at-all sessions withbrilliant orchestras playing(sometimes) brilliantarrangements. HOAGY SINGSCARMICHAEL (PhoenixRecords 131549: 64.25) was oneof the good gigs and HarryEdison and Art Pepper inparticular took full advantage!Johnny Mandel directs an 11-piece in updated arrangementsfor Hoagy who occasionally triestoo hard to be 1950s, butgenerally exudes that inimitablefolksy charm. The selection tendstowards the poetic and wistful,with less familiar numbers suchas Winter Moon and severalmissing classics (e.g. One Morningin May). The bonus album is amore romping affair, The StardustRoad, an early compilation,including Hoagy’s own 1942 trioversions of The Old Music Masterand Hong Kong Blues. Two morefun sessions come together onTHE JAZZ SIDES (PhoenixRecords 131546: 78.35) by BingCrosby. I well remember BingSings Whilst Bregman Swings fromfirst time round and it holds uppretty well. The songs are wellchosen, no one phrased a lyricwith Crosby’s nonchalant graceand the band is terrific, but BuddyBregman over-plays the ‘jazz’

angle, pushing too hard andrelying heavily on flaring brass.The sense that it’s a FrankSinatra session is added to by thedelicious asides of (again) Mr.Edison. Fancy Meeting You Herewith old chum RosemaryClooney is an entertainingworld tour, with smart new lyricsby the likes of Ira Gershwin andnever-predictable arrangementsbursting with tuned percussionby master-prankster Billy May. Asingle bonus track, Mack the Knifewith Bob Scobey’s Frisco Band,finds Bing totally in his elementand Scobey sounding like a mini-Armstrong. Sweets Edison alsoshows up as part of a terrificsextet accompanying BillieHoliday in her last studiorecordings in 1956-57: THEBEN WEBSTER/HARRYEDISON SESSIONS (PhoenixRecords 131554: 2 CDs, 153.58),originally three LPs, with JimmyRowles, Barney Kessel and amixture of bassists anddrummers (Newport 1957provides the bonus tracks.) It’sgood to hear Sweets given theopportunity to come up withsome expansive open horn aswell as his trademark tightlymuted work, Webster is inincomparable form and thematerial is beautifully chosen. Theonly point of argument is thequality of the vocal performance.I guess listeners divide equallybetween those who can’ttolerate the distressed state ofBillie’s vocal powers and those

who love the evidence of a lifelived on the edge. I tend to amiddle view, though inclining tothe latter. Billie is superblyexpressive (it’s not just thepresence of lines such as ‘Weboth have a lifetime before us’that makes We’ll be together againso moving), the voice is oftensurprisingly buoyant, but thetimes when the notes just aren’tthere do jar. Through the 1950sand 1960s Coleman Hawkins,his powers undimmed, seemedsometimes unsure how far heshould run with the newgeneration and THE HAWKRELAXES (Essential JazzClassics EJC 55530: 79.08)presents one way out of hisdilemma: timeless performancesof seven classic ballads, glorioustreatments of the likes of Morethan You Know, with fine supportfrom Kenny Burrell amongothers. I guess you can’t do balladalbums all the time and the bonusalbum, Soul, is a less satisfactoryaffair. Nobly EJC includes adamning review by Charles Fox(‘rowdy...as fuzzy as a kazoo’) andit’s better than that, but Hawkins’lushness of tone is rigorouslyexcised and his creativeimagination gives way torepetition: even I Hadn’t Anyonetill You comes out surprisinglyfunky. However, there is moretension that on ....Relaxes andBurrell, mostly wearing his blueshat, is excellent, as is Ray Bryant.Count Basie’s trumpet star of the1950s, Joe Newman can be

heard on three albums ofunpretentious excellence fromaround the time he left: THECOMPLETE SWINGVILLESESSIONS (Fresh Sound FSRCD 672: 2 CDs, 109.01). Fromthe opening track, the Basieclassic Taps Miller, Newman iscompletely at ease with hisfellow-‘midget’ Frank Wess. Thesecond album, with the otherFrank, Foster, is a little edgier, lessBasie-influenced (despite Li’lDarlin’) with Foster at hispowerful best on the original Mo-Lasses. Finally, Newman, always aversatile swinging and subtleplayer, reverts to quartet modeand reveals a taste for standards.Throughout the three sessionsthe impeccable pianist is TommyFlanagan.

Of the less famous musicianswhose 50-year-old albums aregetting a hearing, Joyce Collinshad a solid career as a pianist,with plenty of work in television,but her first album, GIRL HEREPLAYS MEAN PIANO (FreshSound FSR CD 712: 50.44), wasfollowed by a 20-year hiatus –and it’s not difficult to see why.The patronising tone of the titlesuggests a bid for novelty value,but it’s the lack of novelty thattroubles me. Collins was acapable pianist and herperformances are assured andstudied, with nice variations inher melody statements, but thereis nothing to grab the attention,despite the presence of the greatRay Brown and busy drummerFrank Butler. The bonus tracksfrom an album by vibist GeneEstes are lively and find Collinssounding more spontaneous. Igot much more out of ANDYAND THE BEY SISTERS(Blue Moon BMCD 1634: 45.14),though not consistently. AndyBey, who has had a distinguished,if not prominent, career as a jazzpianist/singer, operated in a triowith his sisters for some 10years. I don’t think it did themany favours to put Chet Atkins incharge of their debut album. Thevoices are great, the multi-tracking effective, the materialvaried, but they keep remindingme of different groups (in pop orgospel, maybe) and it’s only whenthey remind me of Lambert,Hendricks and Ross (on ArnettCobb’s Smooth Sailing) that I

THE JAZZ RAG

realise what I’ve been missing.Smooth Sailing returns as one offour bonus tracks recorded inEurope with a small jazz groupfeaturing Kenny Dorham andBarney Wilen – and that’s whenthings become really interesting!I’m not sure how wellremembered Milt Buckner issome 35 years after his death, buthe was a pioneer of the electricorgan and at one time a veryprolific and popular recordingartist. I find it impossible not toenjoy Milt’s playing, full of hisebullient personality, but it’s notthe most profound jazz around.Solar Records have issued twoCDs, each consisting of twoBuckner albums from 1957 to1961, with a few extra bonustracks. MIGHTYHIGH/MIDNIGHT MOOD(4569916: 74.42) benefits fromKenny Burrell on the first named;PLEASE MR ORGANMAN/SEND ME SOFTLY(4569921: 77.51) has, on the firstalbum, probably the strongestselection of songs: Gee Baby Ain’t IGood to You and Blue Prelude aremade for Buckner and there is adelicious version of Sermonette.Most of the time he is operatingwith a quintet, including alto sax,with hefty rhythm and bluesinterspersed with rather delicateand melodic offerings, notablywhen Earle Warren is in the saxchair for Send me Softly.

Two releases in TCB’s SwissRadio Days Jazz Series make uptwo-thirds of the programmewhen Norman Granz’s 1960 Jazzat the Phil tour landed in Zurich.In the first half the Stan GetzQuartet followed the OSCARPETERSON TRIO (02302:42.28), then after the interval itwas the turn of the MILESDAVIS QUINTET (02312:58.53). In musical terms thePeterson set is the moresatisfying, the immaculate pairingof Ray Brown and Ed Thigpenbacking a pianist at the height ofhis powers in a challengingprogramme, the intricacies of TheMaidens of Cadiz in contrast tohis finger-busting assault onvarious bebop favourites.However, it’s the Miles set thatgrabs the attention. For a start Irather liked the slogan ‘officiallyreleased for the first time’, then,as Olivier Senn’s excellent littleessay in the booklet makes clear,these were fraught times for theMiles Davis Quintet. JohnColtrane was already going his

own way musically and onreturning to the States went hisown way physically. In four longnumbers Miles’ concise control isin stark contrast to Trane’s‘sheets of sound’, relentlessly fastarticulation, leading to a tensionthat may not be always creative,but makes for an exciting session,with Jimmy Cobb’s aggressivedrumming adding to the conflict!

There’s nothing to say aboutEssential Jazz Classics’ LouisArmstrong collection,COMPLETE HOT FIVE ANDHOT SEVEN (EJC 55563:4CDs, 310.22), except that it’smagnificent in every way,including documentation. You cantake your pick of themasterpieces on offer, from theoriginal Hot Five of 1925 (therevelatory cornet introduction toCornet Chop Suey or thesupposedly accidental scatting onHeebie Jeebies) through theaddition of tuba and drums forthe dynamic Potato Head Blues onto the already developingsophistication of the 1928 bandwhich produced the mighty WestEnd Blues and the astonishingduet of Weather Bird with EarlHines. Or you can wait to theend for my favourites, the tracksthat look forward to his greatwork with the Luis Russell Band,especially the incomparableMahogany Hall Stomp. But thequality of performance isexcellent throughout exceptfrom some of the singers (this isa very generous interpretation of‘Hot Five and Seven’, includingtracks by differently named bandsand ones accompanying singers),proving the point thatSweethearts on Parade onlybecame a good song when Louissang it – here it’s Lillie DelkChristian – ho hum! Lesscomprehensive, but also superb,is IN A MIST (Phoenix Records131535: 74.27) concentrating onBix Beiderbecke’s 1927recordings under his own nameand Frank Trumbauer’s, mostlywith Adrian Rollini, Eddie Lang,Don Murray and the rest. Singin’the Blues is pure magic of course,but so are plenty of others,notably the Bix/Trumbauer/Langtrio performances. Every time Ihear these different thoughtsstrike me: this time the sheerauthority of Bix’s cornet (nevermind poetry and romance); thequality of the arrangements (BillChallis, no doubt) and the factthat Eddie Lang’s early death was

as big a loss to jazz as Bix’s. Butevery time I feel sorry for FrankTrumbauer, brilliant technicianand musical innovator. Nowadayshis C-melody sax solos impress,but sound dated – most thingsdo after 85 years, but not Bix andLang. The other side of 1920sreissues comes withAMERICANS IN EUROPE(Jazz Oracle BDW 8068: 70.18),meticulously researched andpresented (44 page bookletbrimming with rare photographs)and musically interesting andpleasant. The two bands are theNew Yorkers, originally led byGeorge Carhart (Berlin, 1927-28)and Frank Guarente’s WorldKnown Georgians (Geneva,1926). This is very much musicfor raccoon coats and HispanoSuizas, with the New Yorkers themore interesting band, buildingup a head of steam on numberslike Clarinet Marmalade andfeaturing Danny Polo (arrangerand alto as well as clarinet), anunder-recorded Dave Tough andnotable contributions fromtrumpeter Evelyn ‘Buzz’ Bazelland guitarist/banjoist TonyMorello.

With only two new recordingsthis time, I found one of themdifficult to relate to, certainly injazz terms. UKITUSAQUINTET (Schema Records

RW 144 CD: 61.24) involvesmusicians from three countries,identifiable from the group name.The liner notes make much ofthe recording being made in ‘anopen mountainous region ofNorthern Italy’ and the musicactually reflects that, wordlessvocals being the main ‘front lineinstrument’ in originals notablefor stillness and a sense of space.It didn’t involve me, but theexpressive range and trueintonation of the UKrepresentative, ClevelandWatkiss, impress throughout. Ialways expect a sense of spacewith Scandinavian jazz andacclaimed young tenor saxistSarah Elgeti’s compositionsoften reflect that. However,INTO THE OPEN (YourFavourite Jazz yfjcd 020: 61.37)reflects a comprehensive talent.For instance, the influences onthe opening three tracks (withtitles such as Home and Out in theFields) are clear enough, thenSarah launches into the powerfulbluesy Downstairs and switches toflute – in neat interaction withMarianne Markmann-Eriksen’sbaritone sax – for the gentlydancing Ringe I vand. My onecomplaint is that it’sinconsiderate for a relativenewcomer to fill the bookletwith at least eight photographs ofherself and very few words.

BEGINNING TO CD LIGHT BEGINNING TO CD LIGHT

32

RON SIMPSON’S ROUND-UP OF RECENT CDS

Harry Edison

Hoagy Carmichael

34 35THE JAZZ RAG

Just answer the questions currently and send your answers to Jazz Rag Competitions, PO Box 944,Edgbaston, Birmingham, B16 8UT. First out of the hat are the lucky winners. Please write the name of therelevant competition in the top left hand corner of your postcard or envelope. If possible, add your numberor email as well as your address.Closing date: 9th November, 2012

LOUIS ARMSTRONG CDsDiscovery has kindly provided ONE copy of Essential Jazz Classics’ magnificent four CD set of LouisArmstrong Hot Five and Seven.1. Which pair of brothers played clarinet and drums in the Hot Seven?2. Which pianist who played on many Hot Five recordings re-joined Armstrong in the late 1940s?

JAZZ AT THE FORGEThe Forge has established itself as one of London’s most exciting performances spaces, with beautifulacoustics, stunning architecture and a relaxed atmosphere. ONE lucky reader can obtain a pair of ticketsfor a concert during the London Jazz Festival, with a glass of Prosecco on arrival. The venue offers a choiceof singer Randolph Matthews with guest Acer Maple (November 11) and Loop Collective, with RorySimmons and Fyfe Dangerfield (November 14).1. Headlining the London Jazz Festival is the New York-born saxophonist who cemented his 1950s

reputation with the album, Saxophone Colossus. Who is he?2. Also headlining is the keyboard star who played with Miles Davis for much of the 1960s and is a

renowned composer, notably of Watermelon Man. Who?

JAZZ: BODY AND SOULEvans Mitchell Books are generously supplying THREE copies of Bob Willoughby’s superb book of jazzphotographs, Jazz: Body and Soul.1. Which one of Willoughby’s subjects was portrayed by Diana Ross in the film Lady Sings the Blues?2. Which one of his subjects first attained fame as trumpeter with the Gerry Mulligan Quartet, became as

celebrated for his wispy vocals as for his trumpet playing and died after a fall from a window in Amsterdam?

THE JAZZ RAG

COMPETITIONS

SUPER PRIZES TO BE WON!

NEWS OF THE NEWSThe Sandy Brown SocietyNewsletter is always full ofsurprises, not least how JohnLatham has found enough materialfor nearly 200 newsletters! There’salways a comic touch, in recentissues from Steve Voce’s account ofBenny Green (the current bêtenoire of the SBS) accepting AndrePrevin’s congratulations for a radioscript he’d been too lazy to write(August) and Dick Laurie’sanecdote of the humiliation of anover-busy sound engineer(September). Among the moreserious items is Don Mutch’saccount of the set of AlFairweather’s music played at thisyear’s Norwich Jazz Party (andcertainly one of the mostinteresting sets of the weekend)

and a story we had missed fromJune – the publication of GrahamBlamire’s Edinburgh JazzEnlightenment: The story of EdinburghTraditional Jazz (Fastprint Publishing:www.fastprint.net).

There can be just a little element ofeccentricity in one or two jazz andjazz-related publications and APictorial History of Gargling (Newsfrom David Christie’s Doo DahDiaries) comes into that category. Infact Issue 8, published in July, hassome pretty useful stuff in it,notably a full listing of the gigs ofall the post-Bonzo bands: Bob Kerrand his Whoopee Band, ThreeBonzos and A Piano, Idiot BastardBand, Bill Posters Will Be Band, andthe rest. An interview with ex-Bonzo Dave Clague and a piece byMark Prescott headed I’m a Fan are

the most substantial chunks ofeditorial.

September’s Just Jazz is,astonishingly, Number 173 and, asalways, is full of interesting newsand reflections, CD and festivalreviews and characterful images.No shortage of those in asplendidly detailed obituary ofGraeme Bell by Bill Haesler. JustJazz is proud enough of its tag ‘Thetraditional jazz magazine’ to includea 4-page feature A Jazz Banjo LifePart 1 (by Cynthia Sayer) andopen-minded enough to includeZoot Sims in the CD reviews.

Sandy Brown Newsletter:01792 390055Email doo.dah.diaries@mac.comwww.jazzuk.com/justjazz.html

JAZZ AT THE FORGEThe intimate Camden venue offers jazz and jazz-related events onThursdays and Fridays, the latter night adding fine dining to thepackage in association with neighbouring restaurant The Foundry.Yazz Ahmed brings a fine quintet to the Forge (Shabaka Hutchings,Naadia Sheriff, Dudley Phillips, Jim Hart) on October 4, followed by

Nikki Schrire (5), Sam Crowe (11), the Adriano Adewale Group (12),Nick Smart’s Jazz Matanzas (19), Mick Coady’s Synergy featuringAmerican alto saxist David Binney (25) and the Rob Hughes Quintetwith Roger Beaujolais (26). November begins with Sailing toByzantium: the Christine Tobin Quintet (2) before the London JazzFestival brings a packed programme for November 9 to 18.www.forgevenue.org/whats-on/

WINNERS &ANSWERS NO. 122

JACKIE McLEAN BOOK Congratulations to C.K.LEE of StockportThe Connection/Miles Davis

SINATRA BOOKCongratulations to: STANJAMES of Ashford; JANERATCLIFFE of Swindon andMRS. M. BARNES ofNewcastle-on-Tyne.Harry James/Nelson Riddle

SHAI MAESTRO CDCongratulations to: ALANBRINKWORTH ofRedditch; MIKE HODGESof Abergavenny andLAURIE STEAD ofWakefield.Gilad Atzmon/Berklee

BARNES/MATHIESON CDCongratulations to: HEINZHENSCHKE of Berlin,Germany; BILL WOOD ofManchester and TONYCHARLTON of Darlington.Count Basie/Fats Waller

(We seldom get manywrong answers to acompetition, but this wasan exception. Cab Callowayappeared on some 70% ofthe answers, but, though hewas in Stormy Weather, itwas Fats’ band that BennyCarter appeared with – notthe usual Rhythm, but a 7-piece with, unusually, atrombonist Alton Moore,plus Gene Porter, IrvingAshby, Slam Stewart andZutty Singleton.)