HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BLOG!

Celebrating 3 years of blogging

My first post was on December 8, 2010

As Groucho Marx once rightly said:

"Time flies like an arrow

Fruit flies like a banana"

And talking about bananas, I've got a whole bunch of LPs ripe for ripping.   Rare, long forgotten or just plain obscure, never seen in the blogworld (mostly but not solely) jazz LPs,10" and EP . A bit of patience, please,  I'll start ripping 'em between Xmas and New Years.

I wish to thank again the contributors to this blog, the regulars (onxidlib and Paul D.) and the many occasionals. And a  special word of thank to the visitors who take time to leave a comment. 

This blog would not exist without you.  Blogging is about sharing.

RARITY # 52

IVON DE BIE and his ORCHESTRA - DANCE-HITS vol.2

Vocal by DAN COOPER

25 cm FIESTA 10.041 (BELGIUM, 1956)

Belgian Pianist Ivon (or Yvon) De Bie (Bruxelles, 1914-1989) is known among swing jazz aficionados for the four tracks he recorded on 16^th April 1942 in Brussels with Django Reinhardt in Brussels.  He is the only pianist to have ever recorded a duo with Django on violin.

During the fifties Ivon Debie was active as a dance band leader and made several popular “dance” records in Belgium, among others two 25 cm 33 rpm for the small label FIESTA.

I have always been attracted to those FIESTA 25cm with their extraordinary “naïve minimalist” cover art.  Until recently, they could be found easily on flea markets for an euro or two but they have begun to attract the attention of 50s Memorabilia collectors.  They are often in fairly poor condition – they were party records … The rip I post today does not escape this condition. 

I bought these FIESTA 10" initially for the naïve charm of their covers rather than the music.  I had no idea who played on these sessions – apart from DeBie - until I got a copy of the Belgian Jazz Discography by Robert Pernet and found the details of the musicians, and first class musicians they were! 

The band features Nick Kletch’, future bassplayer in Marc Moulin’s Placebo and Jean Warland who will make a career as a studio bassplayer in Germany (not to mention his stint in the Clarke-Bolland Big Band and Peter Herbolzheimer RCB), and a very competent sax section that will reappear later in the Francis Bay Dance Orchestra (and its famous 1958 albums on OMEGA) and the BRT Jazz Orkest.

Yvon DeBie was an excellent swing pianist influenced by Billy Kyle, Bob Zurke, Earl Hines and Art Tatum.  He had obviously listened to Basie (One O clock Jump) and was a proficient boogie woogie player but obviously not much into rock and roll … it was just a different generation, they could lindy hop and jitterburg, jump and jive but could not rock.  The band plays two (very short) versions of Bill Haley songs  – Rock Around the Clock and Razzle Dazzle – but they play them in a pre-rock / jitterburg style, sounding not unlike some of the white boogie woogie orchestras of the late thirties (Bob Zurke or Bob Crosby e.g.).  As for Dan Cooper (who was he?), he did not have a clue how to sing rock and roll.   But remember, that was 1956, rock and roll had not yet pervaded Europe.  In a way, they were precursors, like a few other musicians with a jazz background, such as guitarists Freddy Sunder and Jean Douchamps (aka John Sweetfield or Juan Dos Campos), or trumpeter Ferry Barendse, they laid the foundation of rock and roll in Belgium.

This whole period of Belgian popular music is not documented on CD (or even on LP), most of the cats recorded long forgotten 78 rpm on small local labels (Ronnex, Hi Tune …) for the juke box market. 

Dance hits –vol.2  (Fiesta (B) LPIS10041)

Frans L'Eglise, Freddy Lhost, Ayal Jacob, Albert Godfrinnes, José Paessens (saxes) Ivon De Bie (p) Nicolas Kletchkovsky (g) Jean Warland (b) Jean Verworst (d) Dan Cooper (vcl)

Brussels, February 9, 1956

Side A

·        One o'clock jump

·        Hold my hand (dc vcl) -

·        Rock around the clock-

·        From here to eternity (dc vcl) -

·        Something's gotta give (dc vcl) -

·        Tina

Side B

·        The man from Lamarie (dc vcl)

·        The little boy and the old man-

·        Razzle dazzle -

·        Love is a many splendored thing

·        Sluefoot -

In 1958, Yvon Debie became an artistic director for RCA Victor Belgium. He was instrumental in bringing to the studio some of the earliest Belgian rock/twist groups (cfr Les Croque Morts - here too).

There’s a good bit of cracks and pops but it’s still perfectly listenable and enjoyable.  The rip is from my own fairly scratched copy.  I’m not especially good at cleaning rips, I’m still learning.

Paul D. told me he has the Dance Hits volume 1 (1954) and will send us a rip (which will certainly be cleaner than mine).

SWISS & FUNKY

BARONE-BURGHARDT ORCHESTRA
MAIDEN SWITZERLAND   
LP Discovery Records  - Switzerland, 1978

OK, I'm cheating, this is not my rip, I've DL it a few of years ago from a blog (can't remember which one but it seems it's no longer there. So many good blogs have vanished). 

The reasons I repost it are many:

(i) it's a great record that deserved to be heard, 

(ii) it's a Swiss album and there ain't many funky Swiss big bands around, 

(iii) it features Pierre Cavali on guitar and Alan Skidmore on tenor, two musicians I'm especially fond of. It also features Sal Nistico, who'sa  great tenor too, pianist Peter Jacques, drummer Pierre Favre and some lesser known but no  less talented Swiss players.
(iv) Bumper Thumper is an absolute killer!  And the rest ain't bad either.

The details are taken from Discogs:

Tracklist

A1       Maiden Switzerland  4:15

Tenor Saxophone [Solo] – Sal Nistico

A2       Bumper Thumper      5:15

Guitar [Solo] – Pierre Cavalli / Tenor Saxophone [Solo] – Alan Skidmore

A3       The Day Before Yesterday   4:15

Tenor Saxophone [Solo] – Sal Nistico

A4       Note Resistant                      5:14

Tenor Saxophone [Solo] – Sal Nistico

B1                   La Fiesta        6:50

Piano [Solo] – Klaus Koenig / Tenor Saxophone [Solo] – Alan Skidmore, Sal Nistico

B2                   Concept         6:30

Piano [Solo] – Klaus Koenig / Soprano Saxophone [Solo] – Fernando Vicencio / Tenor Saxophone [Solo] – Alan Skidmore

Written-By – Victor Burghardt

B3                   Half Unison   5:16

Tenor Saxophone [Solo] – Sal Nistico

Credits

Trumpet – Al Porcino, Horst Fischer, Hotsy Katz, Lennart Axelsson

Trombone – Bertil Strandberg, Bob Hankle, Mike Barone

Trombone [Bass] – Jean-Pierre Beltramy, Richard Hager

Soprano Saxophone – Fernando Vicencio

Alto Saxophone – Hans Peters, Markus Kühne, Victor Burghardt

Tenor Saxophone – Alan Skidmore, Fernando Vicencio, Sal Nistico

Baritone Saxophone – Fernand Fantini

Flute – Fernando Vicencio, Hans Peters, Markus Kühne

Guitar – Pierre Cavalli

Keyboards – Klaus Koenig, Peter Jacques (2)

Bass [Acoustic] – Peter Frei

Bass [Fender] – Peter Keiser

Drums – Pierre Favre, Walter Keiser

Percussion – Kurt Treier

With thanks to the original blogger.  Excellent rip. Merci.

------------------------------------------------------------------

RECENT RE-POSTS: (new link in comments of original post)
Julio Finn Band 

RARITY #51

HANS KOLLER NEW JAZZ STARS
"HANS KOLLER COOL JAZZ"
EP MANHATTAN 66035C (EP)        GERMANY, 1958  

Onxidlib sent me a rip of this rare little EP several months ago.  I hesitated a long time before posting it because it was not in too good condition despite onx' efforts to clean it.  

But there is only so much one could do and  

it is the only occasion probably for most of us to hear this beautiful music ... so here it is.

If anyone has a better copy or the complete Bertelsmanm LP, I'd be delighted to post it.

Albert Mangelsdorff is especially good on these tracks.


Albert Mangelsdorff, trombone
Hans Koller, tenor saxophone
Helmuth Reinhardt, baritone saxophone  
Hans Hammerschmid, piano
Peter Trunk, bass
Rudi Sehring, drums

A1. Hard Blues (Mangelsdorff)
A2. Back In Paradise (Hammerschmid)

B.  I'll Close My Eyes (Reid)

Recorded March 26 - 28, 1958 in Baden-Baden, Germany.

Original (?) release on BERTELSMANN 7753 (LP) with seven more titles.

P.S :  at the request of visitors, I am reposting Wolfang Lauth's Life Dance and the last track of Stanley Cowell 's Blues for Viet Cong.

Get' em while it lasts!!!

LIVE MUSIC IN MOROCCO & IN BRUSSELS

AIN'T NOTHING LIKE LIVE MUSIC !

If you're in Morocco

And if you're in Brussels

ICELANDIC STRING SWING

KURAN SWING  (Iceland, 1992)

I'm always curious about music from exotic places, especially if it is jazz-oriented.  I've posted Jazz albums from Fiji Islands, Mauritius, Faroes, New Zealand ... This one is from Iceland.  I found the CD in the discount bin of a second-hand records shop in Brussels in the 90s.  I must confess that I did not know anything about the Icelandic jazz scene.  

I was intrigued by this album. Moreover I ‘m always drawn to albums by musicians with unpronounceable names.  If you want to impress your mates in any conversation about obscure musicians  just drop the names of Bjorn Thoroddsen or Olafur Poroarson between some dithyrambic ravings about Zbyniew Namyloswski or Joel Vandroogenbroeck.(an easy one if you're flemish or brusseleir).

There isn’t anything revolutionary about the music, jazzy folk rather than straight jazz.  I wouldn’t call it Gypsy Jazz (although the influence is obvious). Still it’s fairly original within the genre as it avoids the usual clichés of gypsy swing and the “look how fast I can play” syndrome.

The overall feel is often closer to country jazz than gypsy jazz as the band uses instruments more commonly heard in country / western swing (mandolin, dobro, banjo) than in jazz.

All the songs are original composition by the band members.  It gives the album a “fraicheur” and originality not always found in a style too often plagued by clichés and a repetitive repertoire (If I want to hear Minor Swing, I listen to Django ... who need another version?).

Jazzy, folksy with country and eastern European flavors.  If that's your cup of tea, give it a try.

LOTSA GUITARS

GUITAR UNLIMITED – same

Double LP BARCLAY – FRANCE (1965 – 69)

Cover of the double LP

This double LP is an absolute must for fans of jazz guitar.

This French aggregation is completely different from the L.A.-based instrumental studio band of the same name (feat. Howard Roberts a.o.) although the overall concept is rather similar.  I assume they must have been aware of each other but while the American band played mostly arrangement of country and pop music, the French band dug deeper into jazz material.  Nevertheless if you want to find this double LP (or the two single LPs), you’d better look in the “easy listening” section.  That ‘s where I found my copy.  The main advantage is that you can usually find them at bargain price considering the little of interest for “easy listening” compared to jazz or rock, especially that the “bachelor pad” fad seems to have faded away.

According to Eugene Chadbourne (AMG), in addition to the L.A.-based Guitar Unlimited, there are at least two French bands called Guitar Unlimited and a Swedish guitar duo also operating under the same name, featuring Ulf Wakenius and Peter Almqvist.

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/guitars-unlimited-mn0001867340/biography

Francis LeMaguer, Pierre Cullaz, Raymond Gimenés, Paul Piguillem, Victor Apicolla (g)
René Urtréger (p) Raymond Le Sénéchal (p-1) Jacques Denjean (p-2)
Paul Rovère (b) Frank Houplain (d)

Paris, March 19, 1965

FANTAIL (1)

SHINY STOCKINGS (1)

Paris, May 11, 1965

IN A MELLOWTONE (2)

OPUS DE FUNK      SAME

Paris, May 27, 1965

FLIGHT OF THE FOO BIRDS (1)

EARLY AUTUMN

APRIL IN PARIS (1)

Guy Pedersen (b-3) replaces Rovère

Paris, June 10, 1965

TAKE THE "A" TRAIN

SOPHISTICATED LADY

Paris, July 1, 1965

FOUR BROTHERS

SATIN DOLL (3,remake)

same guitar players + Maurice Vander (p) Jacques Denjean (p-1)
Paul Rovère (b) Frank Houplain (d)

Paris, June 3, 1966

TEDDY THE TOAD (1)

BLUES IN HOSS FLAT (1)

NUAGES

Maurice Vander (p) replaces Denjean

Paris, June 9, 1966

DO NOTHING TILL YOU HEAR FROM ME

Gilbert Rovère (b) replaces Paul Rovère, rest same

Paris, June 16, 1966

COTTON TAIL

LAURA

Paul Rovère (b) replaces Gilbert Rovère, rest same

Paris, June 27, 1966

GUITARS BOUNCE

Georges Arvanitas (p) Pierre Michelot (b) replace Maurice Vander and Paul Rovère

Paris, June 28, 1966

DJANGO

Paris, June 30, 1966

NITE BLUES

Francis Le Maguer, Pierre Cullaz, Raymond Gimenés, Paul Piguillem, Tony Rallo (g)
Raymond Le Sénéchal (p) Paul Rovère (b) André Arpino (d) Fats Sadi (arr)

Paris, April 5, 1968

ROUND MIDNIGHT

Just squeeze me

Paris, June 19, 1968

BLUES UNLIMITED

Paris, September 13, 1968

CHEROKEE

Paris, September 27, 1968

FOUR OR FIVE TIMES (fs arr)

Paris, February 8, 1969

CHET

Paris, February 15, 1969

BROADWAY

 Barclay 80927/28

Cover of the single LP

With thanks to Paul D. for the rip.  

RE-UPS

HAPPY NEW YEAR!    

It's New Year in Morocco, the moon was seen last night so today is a public holiday. First day of the first month of the Muslim year.   

As a new year present, a few re-ups that were requested recently.  I had a problem with my external hard drive. It isn't completely fixed but I managed to recover a great deal of the files (my own mistake: I hadn't done any back up for a good while ... Never again!).

Go to the original posts if you want to learn more about these records and artists.  The links are in the comments of the original posts.

Get 'em while the links last, ain't gonna re-post 'em no more.

Rare early Martial Solal 10" :  HERE

My favorite Brom.
Highly recommended, cleaned rip.  HERE

Canadian jazz-rock: HERE

Accordion Jazz (highly recommended).  HERE

Very rare French 10" , featuring arrangements by a very young Yvan Jullien.  Don't miss it this time!  HERE

More French jazz.  Errol Parker piano trio.  A classic album.   HERE

Underrared French Tough Tenor with solid blues and deep jazz credentials   HERE   

TOMMY DOYLE & RAW JAZZ QUARTET (Thailand)  : new link kindly provided by bungel (see comments).

BOOTLEG - 1970

DEUTSCHE JAZZ FESTIVAL BIG BAND  "FRANKFURT, 1970"

Frankfurt

Pretty busy these days and not much time for blogging,  Moreover I need to go back home and rip some new material  (I have over 50 LPs never re-issued on CD and never seen in the blogsphere waiting to be cleaned, ripped and posted). That's what I'll do between Xmas and New Year, ripping LPs and drinking muled wine.

Luckily, the one and only onxidlib came to the rescue with another piece of modern archeology, an unreleased live performance of a large German All Stars Big Band recorded in 1970 at the 12th Deutsches Jazz Festival.

Just look at the names, they're all there.  The music is ambitious, very much a reflection of its time.  It means some controled madness - the influence of free jazz is still very prevalent in European jazz of the early seventies, and the band is led by Mr. Albert Mangelsdorff!  But the sun  always shines after the storm.  

For instance the Gunter Lenz's composition "Intoxication" starts in a fairly free manner but rapidly everything falls into place and order succeeds to chaos.    

If you dig seventies progressive big bands, this one 's for you.

  

Albert Mangelsdorff - Volker Kriegel (1973)
source: wikipedia - commons

Band

Conny Jackel, trumpet

Frédéric Rabold, trumpet

Manfred Schoof, trumpet

Ferenc Aszodi, trumpet

Albert Mangelsdorff, trombone

Rudi Fuesers, trombone

Egon Christmann, trombone

Peter Herbolzheimer, trombone

Emil Mangelsdorff, alto saxophone, flute

Heinz Sauer, alto & tenor saxophone

Gerd Dudek, soprano & tenor saxophone

Walter "Joki" Freund, soprano & tenor saxophone

Günter Kronberg, baritone saxophone

Volker Kriegel, guitar

Fritz Hartschuh, vibes

Günter Lenz, bass

Ralf R. Hübner, drums

Kurt Bong, drums

Wolfram Röhrich & Joachim-Ernst Berendt, announcer

Tracks

1. Introduction (Röhrich & Berendt)                    02:16

2. Intoxication (G. Lenz)                                    14:03

3. Jazzminers Dance In Frankfurt (J. Freund)      11:30

4. Palazzo Blue (V. Kriegel)                               06:12

5. Noisy Silence, Gentle Noise (V. Kriegel)        06:27

Recorded at the Kongresshalle, Frankfurt on March 21, 1970.

Frankfurt, 12th Deutsches Jazzfestival 1970, first concert.

The tune "Noisy Silence, Gentle Noise" has been issued on LP (Born Free: The 12. German Jazz Festival, CBS Scout Sc-S 11).

NEW LINK - Sept. 2017