SWISS JAZZ

DRS BIG BAND – LIVE

Gold Records LP 11098    Switzerland, 1979

It’s always a pleasurable experience to rediscover an album one hadn’t listened to for a good while. Here is another testimony to the excellence of European Radio Big Bands in the Seventies.  There was a time when every radio and television station – often Government owned – had its own big band / jazz orchestra.  It used to provide steady job for professional musicians, European and often a few American expats. Practice makes perfect.  These guys were so good because they were gifted players who played all the time.  They did a lot of studio work and television work, commercial stuff mostly, but when they got a chance to play straight jazz, they really let go.

Great solists (Dusko Gojkovic, Lennart Axelsson, Fernand Fantini, Victor Burghardt, Raymond Droz, Thomas Moeckel, Peter Jacques …), excellent arrangements, a lot of swing and obvious pleasure of playing.

A word about the rip: it is not mine, I downloaded it over three years ago but I can’t remember where from.  Probably one of the many excellent jazzblogs that were in full bloom a few years ago but have since disappeared from the blogsphere.  A blog is ephemeral by nature. 

Many thanks to the original ripper who did an excellent job in cleaning the record (and excellent scan too). Hope you won’t mind me re-posting it, the music certainly deserve the exposure.

I did a search on Google and couldn’t find any trace of the album.  I do not think it has ever been re-issued on CD.

DRS Big Band directed by Peter Jacques - feat. Dusko Gojkovic

See the sleeve note for the detail of the musicians.

Tracks

A.1.     Paper Dragon

A.2.     Hobo Flats

B.1.     Be Bop

B.2.     Easy

B.3.     Mama Lou

Recorded in various locations between 1977 and 1979 (details on the cover).

Since we’re on the topic of Swiss Jazz, I recommend the LP Maiden Switzerland by the Barone-Burghardt Orchestra (feat. Sal Nistico, Alan Skidmore and Pierre Cavali a.o.).  It used to be available in the blogsphere.  If you can’t find it, let me know, I’ll re-post it.