Count Basie-Small Group Studio Recordings Complete 1952-1956

Count Basie-Small Group Studio Recordings Complete 1952-1956

The two Dance session albums, originally released on Norman Granz's Clef imprint and here reissued together, marked the resurrection of the Basie Orchestra after its brief dissolution in 1950. There was a good deal of continuity between the so-called "Old" and New Testament' versions of the band, although the 50s incarnation was less soloist-oriented. Its sound also boasted a new dynamism, with evertighter ensemble work and a host of fresh voicings. But, above all, as the title of these early recordings suggests, propelled by Freddie Green's guitar, the music was intended to be danceable - the mood is accordingly generally serene and stately rather than stomping. This fresh direction was determined by the introduction of new arrangers, notably Neil Hefti, a major contributor to Woody Herman's outfit in the Forties and the реп behind some of the sleeker, more insinuating numbers here. This Jazz Connections reissue also adds two cuts from the Clef album Basie, Blues Backstage' and `Rails'. If Dance Sessions shows the orchestra moving forward - albeit gently - to accommodate the shifting tastes of postwar audiences, there are times on the contemporaneous small Group Studio Recordings when Basie's own playing recalls that of his early hero Fats Waller, especially when his instrument of choice is the organ. Key to the main body of songs here, recorded as а sextet in December 1952, is the spirited interplay between trumpeter Joe Newman and Paul Quinichette, whose insistent Lester Young-isms earned him the nickname `Vice Pres'. Two numbers from an earlier session team the Count (again on organ) with an emergent Oscar Peterson, while the fast swinger `Parry Blues' pairs Ella Fitzgerald with Joe Williams (by this time - 1956- vocalist with the Basie Orchestra) for а goodnatured scatting duet. The last five tracks are from sessions featuring but not led by Basie.

Robert Shore

Christophe Wallemme-Namaste

Christophe Wallemme-Namaste

Bee Jazz

Wallemme is an in demand bass player on the Paris and French scene, and this well executed, well conceived album reflects much the cultural melting pot of contemporary Paris. France's colonial past has meant over the latter half of the twentieth century it has assimilated а wide range of immigrants from the African, North African and Mid-Eastern Diaspora, аll with their own musical traditions and traditional instruments. These have been thoughtfully integrated into Wallemme's music in а wholly organic way; the use of bass clarinet and percussion (dholak, ghatam, tabla, Kanjira) on ‘Holi' or the swirling mid-Eastern feel of Mon Jules' and 'Le Temps Des Moussons' using tabala, ghatam and various Indian percussion together with soprano lead lines and guitar unisons perfectly evoke an Arabian bazaar. This music is tastefully conceived and executed - even down to the framing of Wallemme's bass solo on ‘Namaste' - it may be world jazz, but it is not writ large, rather you hear the music first then the devices used in its construction, which is as it should be.

Stuart Nicholson

Robert Wyatt-Comicopera

Robert Wyatt-Comicopera

Domino

Comicopera is like meeting an oid friend. Conversation begins immediately where it last left off. What's new? How you been? Has it really been that long? No, really? Shame about so and so. It's not that nothing has changed. Static friendships die. The capacity to accommodate difference and change that revitalises the friendship. There are new influences and new songs. There are life-changing events. New loves and old ones rekindled. Life happens somewhere between comedy and tragedy - Comicopera. Robert Wyatt, his partner Alfie Benge and their comrades understand this well. There's observational comedy in 'А Beautiful Peace' and ‘А Beautiful War', romantic comedy in ‘Just As You Are' and slapstick in Orphy Robinson's ‘Pastafari'. We feel pity and loss for Hattie in ‘A.W.O.L.', while Richard Dawkins pops up cartoon-like on 'Be Serious' There's solidarity with the oppressed in `Haste Siempre Comandante' and in Robert's setting of Lorca's ‘Cancion dе Julieta' and righteous anger in Out Of The Blue'. We shared those thoughts and those emotions and then we danced together. Oh, how we danced to On The Town Square'. And then we laughed and laughed again, as if we were the very last ones to get the joke of ‘Anachronis’.

Duncan Heining

Tony Smith-The Window

Tony Smith-The Window

www.tonysmithguitar.com

In a similar way to the ‘Parental Advisory' label seen on many heavy metal and hip-hop/rap albums, Tony Smith's fifth solo album The Window really ought to carry a "Smooth Jazz free zone" label on the jewel case. Recorded live over three days, the three vocal tracks included on Smith's previous release Loyalty have on this occasion been dispensed with entirely. A long-standing featured guitarist with the touring band of US vibes legend Roy Ayers, the guitarists eight-track instrumental collection ranges from the catchy opener ‘Blister' to the oasis of calm provided by The Window, by way of the Zawinulesque chromatic bass line and memorably orgiastic climax of 'suspicious'. The guitarists catholicity of style is impressive. Even within the confines of a single track such as ‘Jekyll and Hyde' he can switch between James Brown style funk to a wailing, take no prisoners rock solo: Jimmy Page, Muddy Waters and Wes Montgomery all inform the Smith sound. Including keyboardist Jason Rebello and drummer Jerry Brown, the hand-picked band seem to revel in their surroundings. Fusing a jazz brain with a dues heart, Smith's coruscating signature sound and passionate intensity continues to impress.

Peter Quinn