·. Lucky Thompson witl} West Coast Jazz flavour, especially Requiem with the State Symphony Dave Pochon~t All Stars on Thompson's originals Home Free Orchestra of'St. Petersburg. Gitanes 016 496-2 and Easy Going, and on Neil Hef- If we set aside all temptation toti 's Bluebird Blues, wards special pleading for this disc Paris Blues Lucky Thompson's flexibF!ity and - proceeds from the sale of this disc Lucky Thompson deep roots are on display in Paris go td the fight against AIDS in Af- Gitan~ 013 038-2 Blues frdm July 1957, by which time rica - what do we have here, m_usi- Laura he had become a French resident. cally speaking? We have a CD by Don Byas It's rea.lly a Saminy Price session, an essentially amateur choir that is 013 027-2 with the blues pianist/singer up front in many' respects up to professional on the blues (and a couple of stan- A couple of issues back, I surveyed dards). Thompson's right at home hardest swinging groups I've ever standards. Dyck's interpretation is thoroughsome recordings from the hundred- here and the release, which ·never heard, live or on re~ord. ly romantic: warm and nuanced, strong "Jazz In Paris" series from 'takes itself too seriously, is great fun. Recorded in two sessions, straight favouring broad, stately, tempi. His Gitanes/Universal. Earlier, we While I should point out those to tape 'with no overdubs and few choir is well trained and responsive, looked at .some fine French saxo- three discs are relatively short by CD takes, Nature Boy gives listeners an and very impressive in fortissimo phonists; here, we'll look at a cou- standards, about 40 minutes each honest portrayal of the musicians' passages _just listen fo the powerple of Americans who were active being straight copies of LPs, LOura skills and imparts an energy that's ful singing in the successive entries in Paris in the '50s. The french ~ap- combines two IO-inch Blue Star LPs lacking on many jazz recor.dings in the fugal "Herr, du bistWiirdig"_ ital was a welcoming place socially and runs close to an hour. It fea- these days. section, for example. Unfortunately for black Americans still feeling ra" tures Don Byas, a monster musi- McBirnie's selection of tunes · we don't hear as n:iuch excitement cial pressures at home post-WW cianwhowasinDonRedman's1946 .would appear at first to be some- inthepianosa:ndpianissimosaswe Two, and while the general musical band when it was the first Amerii;an what quirky: the opener is What A might. When singing softly, this level may have been a little lower, · · · · F ft th Friend We Have In Jesus. The per- choir tends to sound merely soft, in ṫhere were some excellent native group to visit ranee a er e war, · fu f th · and who simply. never returned to formance here though is II o e a pleasant but rather generic way. jazzmen to play with, .. as well as oth- . the U.S. warmth and gospel feel that this . tune . Mark Pedrotti is a solemn bari.- er expatriates and v1s1tors. Aharmonically sophisticated play- so often lacks. The eleven selections tone presence, and soprano Laura One restless man who found.the er of the Hawkins school, Byas' sav- include tunes by Thelonius Monk Whalen warbles prettily. The Rus-. scene inviting was Lucky Thomp- vy (Johnny Griffin called him the (Monk's Dream and Bye Ya), John slan orchestra is excellent. Recordson. He paid a visit in early 1956. "Tatum Of The Saxophone") al- Coltrane (lazy Bird) . and ing producer Doµg Doctor captured ii.qd immediately found his way into lowed him to work comfortably Lester Young ~Blue Lester). ~y a well-balanced sound on this live the studios, making some six albums alongside younger boppers, but it . personal favounte on ~e recordmg recording - but whose strange idea in two months! A big-toned terior was his prowess as a ballad player 1s the wond~rfully languid, _str~tched was it to tack nearly three minutes man of the Hawkins/Webster school that the French seemed to like. The out vers10n of Poinciana. of applause on the end? (though his sound became more as- eighteen tracks here are from small . . I highly re~o~end this record- Colin Eatock tringent in later years), he walked group.sessions with just rhythm sec-. mg: the music 1s J?Y~Us ~nd _enerthe line of swing/bop more effec- tions, and are indeed dominated by getlc ~roughout. I mJ~St 1tch1~g to tively'than almost anyone else, de- late-night interpretations ofStandards play· 1t fo{ ~ome_ class1cal flutists I fying labels. He had already achieved like the title tune, Georgia On My ~ow. I can .t wan to see the expresmusical success in America, but was Mind (before Ray Charles did it) smns on their faces when they hear f~st'.ated by 'the business' of mu- . and Summertime. The flame is turned · Bill practically turn the · flute i'nside s1_c, and sought .a less-stressful am- up a bit on Night and Day, A Pretty out on Teaneck. biance. Mode:n Jazz Gro~p fin?s Th- Girl Is Like A Melqdy and the only original, Byas' RiViera Blues. Merlin Williams ompson m ~arch of 5~ ~Ith two Three different groups back him, groups fea~rmg the fme piaru~t/~m- and all acquit themselves well, but poser Henn Rena~d (who .died JUSt the six selections with fellow Amer ~ast year) and bassist ~e?o1t Quers- icans Art Simmons, piano; Joe Benm, stalwarts of the Pan~Jazz worl?. jamin, bass; and Bill Clark on . Thompson of c?urse 1s the mam drums, are the most relaxed. soloist, but there s also a sti;ong baritone saxist, William Boucaya, and Ted O'Reilly trumpeter Roger Guerin has several good spots. . Lucky Thompson with Dave Pochonet INDIE LIST All Stars also comes from two sessfons, with drummer-leader Brahms - Ein Deutsches Gerard (Dave) Pochonet, a fute player Nature Boy Requiem and promoter. of jazz. The session Bill McBirnie Consort Caritatis; from April of 1956 has Thompson's Extreme Flute EF03 Howard Dyck tenor with trombone and baritone sax Nature Boy is a welcome addition to (Independent) CC201I in the front line,' and a four-piece my collection. Flutist McBirnie is (www.consort-caritatis.ca) rhythm 5ec.tion featuring pianrst just that: a Flutist, not a sax.ophone Since 1994 Howard Dyck's 'con Martial Sola! (still one of France's player doubling on the instrument. sort Caritatis has been riding choral best jazz musicians) and the excel- You can tell from the full-bodied warhorses around Canada and the lent guitarist Jean-Pierre Sasson. . tones on the opening track that this world, in aid of humanitarian caus Highlights include the interesting is a guy who has serious flute chops. ' es. It was on one of their, European· Fascinating Blues, and a lovely Lull- McBirnie's accompanists on this re- excursions, in 2002, that the choir aby of the Leaves. cording are no slouches either- the had the opportunity to record The May session features as many · Mark Eisenman Tr.io is one of the Brahms' gorgeous Ein Deutsches as 10 musicians, and has a definite DISCS OF THE MONTH: Hommage a Marius Barbeau Eric Beaudry; Andre Marchand; Lisan Hubert Danielle Martineau; Lisa Ornstein; Daniel Roy CBt Records _TRCD 3004 Authentic performance practice hits the oral-tradition field! This delightful disc aims to reproduce the singing style of rural francophone Canada a hundred years ago. Danielle Martineau and her colleagues use as a d
