SWEET & HOT RECORDS FAIR, BRUSSELS, 29/04/2017

See you there!
I'll be back soon posting new rare albums and reposting enhanced rips of previously posted albums.

This will be my last post ... for a while.

JAN JANKEJE ‎– Zum Trotz feat. B. LAGRENE

LP Jazzpoint Records ‎– 1016 Germany, 1983

 This is not gypsy jazz despite the presence of Birelli Lagrene and a violinist.  It is high-energy contemporary jazz with hard bop and latin jazz influences.  The themes are all original.  Highly recommended!

Credits

Piano – Klaus Wagenleiter

Violin, Viola – Matthias Buck

Guitar – Bireli Lagrene (guest)

Bass – Jan Jankeje

Drums – Werner Braun

Tracklist

A1       Doo In Peru     3:58

A2       Zum Trotz       3:00

A3       Mitti    3:53

A4       Rue De Pierre   4:41

A5       Paris     4:14

B1        Berga   3:50

B2        Reinsburgstrasse          3:56

B3        Down In Town 2:27

B4        3rd Type Blues 4:15

B5        Elsa-Marie        3:16

Recorded at Studio Westend Ton, Stuttgart

See updated link in comments (17/07/17)

FAREWELL EVERY ONE ....

This will be my last post for quite a while I’m afraid.  I have taken a new long term overseas job which will leave me with little free time for the blog.  Moreover all my LPs will remain in Belgium, I won’t be able to rip anything any longer.

I wish to thank the "old" bloggers who've inspired me (Bacoso, Simon, El Rezah, Ish, Katonah, Arkadin, Inconstant Sol , E-mile, Rodney at BritJazz and many more...), all the contributors, friends and fellow bloggers who have contributed to the success of this blog (onxidlib and Paul D. especially), all the visitors, the regulars who always left a comment … but also the (more numerous) anonymous visitors (about 15 000 every months, sometime even more).

I will continue to visit the blogworld and see how it develops.  If circumstances permit I may revive the blog at a later date, I still have a good number of obscure albums never seen in the blogs to this date.  In a few years, I’ll have much more free time  and, hopefully, improved equipment and skills.

In the meantime, farewell every one, thanks for your support.

A SWISS LADY IN BRUSSELS

CHRISTINE SCHALLER – REAL LIFE

MLCAR.80062 - SELF PRODUCED / PRIVATE PRESSING

BELGIUM, 1980

This one is pretty obscure.  Swiss vocalist / pianist / composer Christine Schaller recorded in Belgium in 1980 in big band format (with ACT Big Band) on side A and in quartet format on side B.  The quartet features the inspired guitar of the late Paolo Radoni (listen to his superb playing in the title track -"Real Life" or in “Jonction” a.o.). 

This album is also the first featuring the ACT Big band (led by drummer Felix Simtaine)

.

side 1 + ACT 12 Big Band

Tracks:

1.      Ventura (Pavel Pesta)               3:53

2.      Fidji (C. Schaller)                    4:56

3.      New One (C. Schaller)             4:10

4.      Scoubidou (C. Schaller)           4:55

Credits

Christine Schaller: vocal

Richard Rousselet: trumpet, fluegelhorn

Nicolas Fissette: trumpet

Jean-Pol Danhier: trombone

Paul Bourdiaudhy: trombone

Steve Houben: alto sax, flute

Robert Jeanne: soprano and tenor sax

John Ruocco: tenor sax

Henry Solbach: barytone sax

Guy Cabay: vibes

Paolo Radoni: guitar

Charles Loos: piano

Jean-Louis Rassinfosse: double bass

Félix Simtaine: drums

side 2 + TRAVELERS

Tracks:

1.      Foxie (C. Schaller)                               3:49

2.      Morning’s Scrawl (C. Schaller)            2:44

3.      Real Life (Paolo Radoni)                      6:11

4.      Jonction (Paolo Radoni)                       6:32

Credits

Christine Schaller: vocal, piano

Paolo Radoni: guitar

Pavel Pesta: bass

Philippe Staehli: drums

Recorded in Brussels (May 1980).

(...) Le travail de Christine Schaller s'inscrit dans une esthétique moderne, swinguante, et tend vers des audaces plus contemporaines quand la chanteuse improvise en scat. Celui-ci se caractérise par des passages sans transition dans les différents registres de la voix et s'avère du même coup assez original. La première face voit Christine évoluer en compagnie de l'Act Big Band de Félix Simtaine dont c'est la première manifestation discographique: nous y retrouvons la plupart des solistes dont nous vantions les mérites dans le précédent Jazz-Hot et sur des arrangements efficaces et colorés, chacun donne la pleine mesure de ses possibilités (...)   (Philippe Bourdin, Jazz Hot)


Updated link  (17/07/17).

PALS FROM BERKLEE

STEVE HOUBEN – MAUVE TRAFFIC

OH BOY ...

LP MD035                            BELGIUM, 1979

I’d been looking for this album for a very long time. Earlier this week, I stopped by a vinyl dealer that specializes in 60s-70s rock but also has a small “jazz” section.  The guy behind the counter told me he had recently found a box of Belgian jazz albums and put them all in a small crate labelled “Belgian Jazz”.  I had a look and there, among the usual Toots Thielemans albums, there it was ... Mauve Traffic feat. Bill Frisell!

In 1979, for the second time, Steve Houben brought over some musicians he knew from his days in Berklee, (where he also met Michel Herr) and formed "Mauve Traffic", a fusion band with : Bill Frisell (guitar), Vinnie Johnson (drums), Steve Houben (flute), Kermit Driscoll (electric bass) and Michel Herr (Fender Rhodes).  A second saxophonist, Greg Badolato (also from Boston) soon joined the band, which recorded the LP “Oh boy ...” in Belgium in 1979.

Tracklist

A1       Monsieur Love             Composed by Steve Houben     2:37

A2       Carol    Composed by Bill Frisell          5:02

A3       Doggone It       Composed by Kermit Driscoll   5:37

A4       Francesca         Composed by Bill Frisell          5:19

A5       Extrait Du Second Improptu Pour Une Raison D'être    Composed by Steve Houben     0:30

B1        De Luxe           Composed by Steve Houben     3:53

B2        Sparks  Composed by Magdalena Thora                        3:59

B3        Oh Boy                        Composed by Bill Frisell          6:40

B4        Growing Carrots           Composed by Bill Frisell          5:33

Credits

Alto Saxophone, Flute – Steve Houben

Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Flute – Greg Badolato

Guitar – Bill Frisell

Keyboards – Michel Herr

Electric Bass – Kermit Driscoll

Drums, Voice – Vinnie Johnson

Recorded & mixed at Michel Dickenscheid's Studio, Ougrée, Belgium

NB : there is some surface noise at the beginning of track B1, I assume it could be cleaned but I’m not proficient enough and was afraid that it would dim the sound.

UPDATED LINK (17/07/17)

The next one on my wish list was “STREAM” (Philip Catherine, Marc Moulin, Jiggs Whigham, Freddy Deronde, Freddy Rothier ), another seventies Belgian jazz rarity that never made it to CD.  Have seen the original  a few time but it was way out of my budget!  Luckily it has been (unofficially) reissued on vinyl by Charlevoix Music, Inc. (Canada).
 https://www.discogs.com/Philip-Catherine-Stream/release/8806570..
Get it while you can! 

PIERRE CARDIN PRESENTE …

Pierre Cardin Présente Jean-Luc Ponty "Experience"

Live In Montreux 72

Les Disques Pierre Cardin ‎– STEC 133                                    France,  1972

Jean Luc Ponty’s performance in the 1972 Montreux Jazz Festival was on the more experimental side of fusion.  Not the most memorable Ponty’s album but I still prefer it to the more commercial fusion and histrionics he went for later in his career.  This album was released on the short lived Pierre Cardin label, in a sleeve with round corners. 

There are a few other LP on the Pierre Cardin label well worth searching for:  Bernard Lubat & his Mad Ducks / Lubat, Louiss, Engel – Montreux 72 / Jean Claude Fohrenbach – Electronic Band / Phil Woods & his European Rhythm Machine

Tracklist

Sonata Erotica 17:55

A) Preludio     

B) Pizzacato Con Fuocco E Con Echo (Did You See My Bow?)           

C) Appassionato          

Sonata Erotica 23:27

D) Con Sensualita       

E) Accelerando E Rallentando 

Credits

Jean-Luc Ponty - Electric Violin, Composer

Joachim Kuhn - Piano [Fender]

J.-F. Jenny-Clark - Acoustic Bass, Electric Bass

Nana Vasconcelos - Berimbau, Congas, Gong, Percussion

Oliver Johnson : Drums

Recorded live 19.06.1972 at the Festival International du Jazz Montreux.

UPDATED LINK (18/07/17)

RARITY # 59

THE DIAMONDS  FIVE (NL)

45 rpm EP OMEGA (Dutch band, Belgium label, 1959)

Fellow blogger Peer57 who runs the Dutch Jazz (private) blog has shared some records with us.  If you are a visitor to his blog(s), you probably know these records already.  If not, enjoy them here while they last.  We’ll start with a fairly rare and collectible EP recorded in Brussels, in 1959, by one of the better-known groups of Dutch Boppers, the Diamond Five.  Great music!

Pianist Cees Slinger was the frontman of the famous Dutch harbop-quintet "Diamond Five". They used the Amsterdam jazzclub "Sheherazade" as their base, and played there night after night.

Tracks:

Side A :            Diamondate

Side B:             Alone together

Credits

Trumpet– Cees Smal

Tenor Saxophone– Harry Verbeke

Piano, leader– Cees Slinger

Bass– Jacques Schols

Drums– John Engels

Recorded in Brussels, sept. 1959

UPDATED LINK (18/07/17) 

P.S.: I have reposted the Guidelines 4tet feat Kaz Lux  (see post "Going Dutch" - March 9, 2013)

RARITY # 58

HACKE BJÖRKSTEN & ÅKE PERSSON  QUINTET

METRONOME MEP 353 (EP)   - Sweden, 1956

For some time now, Onxidlib has been the main purveyor of rare EP in the Rarity Series.  He still has a few surprises for us.  Here is his latest contribution, that will rejoice fans of Scandinavian jazz: a fairly rare EP by the HACKE BJÖRKSTEN / ÅKE PERSSON QUINTET, recorded in 1956.

I assume these tracks have been re-issued on LP and/or CD , I still have to check the discographies. 

Personel:

Gunnar "Hacke" Björksten, tenor saxophone

Åke Persson, trombone

Jan Johansson, piano

Bengt Carlsson, bass

Svante Thuresson, drums

Tracks

A1. Song Of The Volga Boatmen 2:36

A2. Don’t Get Around Much Anymore 3:54

B1. Tubeless Tires 3:23

B2. Number Six 2:33

Recorded March 8 + 9, 1956 at Metronome Studio, Stockholm.

UPDATED LINK 18/07/17

RE-POST & CROSSBORDER COLLABORATION

BABS ROBERT & The LOVE PLANET (re-up)

Crossborder collaboration, that's what blogging is all about!  I made a new rip of Babs Robert & Love Planet and sent it to onxidlib who cleaned and declicked it (a time-consuming and laborius task).
It is a significant improvement on the previous rips posted here (the first one was especially dreadful, I was learning).
Eternal gratitude to you, Onxidlib!

See comments.

Over 3 years ago I wrote:  Will someone eventually take the initative to re-issuing this little gem?  Now is the right time as there is a growing demand among collectors ... and the price for an original puts it out of reach of the average collector.  I hope someone at Heavenly Sweetness (or any other specialized label) read this message.

Well , apparently, someone did hear the request.  The album is now available in CD format from JUNO records (UK):
http://www.juno.co.uk/artists/Babs+Robert+%2526+The+Love+Planet/

Since it is available, I won't repost the rip.  

AN AMERICAN IN GERMANY

JIGGS WHIGHAM - HOPE
LP Telefunken (Germany) / Pausa (USA)
Germany (1977)

Another forgotten piece of top-notch Eurojazz. Even if the leader is American - as is the drummer - the result has a definite European feel.   

American trombonist Jiggs Whigham had a long and fruitful career as a jazzman, arranger, band leader and educator in Europe since the mid-sixties. During the seventies he played regularly in Belgium, often appearing as guest soloist with the BRT radio orchestra and playing the local clubs (Pol's in Brussels) and festivals (Middelheim in Antwerp).

HOPE is one of my favortie Wigham's albums.   I do not think it has ever been re-issued on CD.

Just look at the caliber of the guys in the band ... need I say more?  La Creme de la creme!

Credits

Trombone, Percussion, Producer, Arranger – Jiggs Whigham

Saxophone, Flute – Ferdinand Povel

Piano, Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes] – Rob Franken

Bass – Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen

Drums – Grady Tate

Tracklist

A1                   Bodge  3:36

A2                   The Healer       6:00

A3                   Hope    4:57

A4                   Absolutely Knot           5:50

B1                   Owa Tagu Siam (Oh What A Goose I Am)       4:46

B2                   Sunflower Chant          6:48

B3                   Chant   4:48

B4                   Going Home    2:35

Original LP rip.  WAV.

LINK UPDATED 18/07/17

RARE, GROOVY AND SO TYPICALLY EUROPEAN!

COLOURS IN JAZZ

FRANCIS COPPIETERS SELECTION

featuring: Rolf Roemer – tenor sax, flute / Klaus Osterloh – flugelhorn / Francis Coppieters: piano & percussion /  Jean Warland: bass / Klaus Weiss: drums / Koenraad Ellegiers: violin / Gustav Kedves: French Horn

LP Intersound                                  GERMANY, 1986

If you’re into the MPS / Eurojazz sound, the names of Francis Coppieters and Jean Warland should not be totally unknown to you.  Both are Belgians who made a career working in the German studios and big radio bands.  You’ve probably seen their names credited on several MPS / SABA albums.

Jean Warland is probably the better known of the two due to his participation in the Clarke-Boland Big Band and Peter Herbolzheimer Brass & Rhythm Combination, among many other sessions.

Francis Coppieters‘ career goes back to the mid-forties in Belgium.  In 1949 he became a member of the Hazy Osterwald Orchestra, then of the Kurt Edelhagen Big Band and finally became a studio musician for MPS.

Although they both recorded prolifically as sidemen, they did not record much as leaders which may explain why they remain largely unknown outside a small circle of collectors and aficionados. 

Francis Coppieters is highly regarded among Libray music collectors for his album “Piano Viberations” (1975) issued on the KPM Music Library label.  It features Claudio Szenkar (b),  Jean Warland (bass) and Charly Antolini (drs) - according to Pernet's discography. The names of Fats Sadi (vibes), Roger Vanhaverbeke (bass) and Freddy Rottier (drs) were mentioned also but it does not appear they took part in this session. 

According to the discographies there is another library album by Coppieters – KTS-5 (Koln, 1980)  with an astounding lineup: the van Rooyen brothers, Jon Eardley, Otto Bredl, Peter Herbolzheimer, Wilton Gaynar, Karlheinz Wiberny ... just to name a few – but I’ve never heard or even seen it.

Colours in Jazz recorded in 1986 is a jazz / library jazz /soul jazz album.

If you like the music of Charlie Antolini and Roland Kovac, you’ll like this album.  Groovy  with a typical European feel!  Don’t miss it. I don’t think it has ever been posted elsewhere in the blogworld.

Tracklist

A1                   Mobile            3:03

A2                   Blue Magic     5:22

A3                   Shuffle Bubble           4:52

A4                   Blue Greens    4:14

A5                   Aquarelle        4:40

B1                   Voyage           3:22

B2                   Aroma 3:36

B3                   Sir Francis Drums      3:28

B4                   Easy Going     4:25

B5                   Ritmo Pizzicato         4:45

Credits

Flugelhorn – Klaus Osterloh

Tenor Saxophone, Flute – Rolf Röhmer

Piano, Percussion, Composed By, Arranged By – Francis Coppieters

Bass – Jean Warland

Drums – Klaus Weiss

French Horn – Gustav Kedves

Violin – Koenraad Ellegiers

Francis Coppieters

Notes

Recorded March 1986 at Cornet Sudio, Cologne

(n.b.: scans of  sleeve sourced from Discogs).    

LINK UPDATED 18/07/17

PS: I have re-posted Fats Sadi Combo (Rarity #11)