KENNY CLARKE – Plays the Arrangements of Andre Hodeir, Christian Chevallier, Pierre Michelot and Francy Boland.
Fresh Sound Records: FSR-CD 864
Kenny Clarke (drums) and featuring Don Byas, Lucky Thompson (tenor sax) Billy Byers (trombone) Rene Urteger, Martial Solal and Francy Boland (piano) Pierre Michelot (bass) in various combos with a host of other European musicians.
Recorded in Paris and Cologne at various locations between 1956 and 1960.
One LP and three EPs worth of music make up the content of this excellent compilation of sessions recorded by Kenny Clarke hard upon his re-location to Europe. He is joined in these several enterprises by fellow Americans, Billy Byers, Lucky Thompson, Don Byas and, on a single track, clarinettist, Tony Scott, all of whom, along with a premiership league of French and Belgian jazzmen, present their talents in the service of four noted arrangers.
The first twelve tracks where originally issued as` Kenny Clarke’s Sextet Plays Andre Hodeir` and as well as showcasing the trombone of Billy Byers give prominent solo space to the celebrated Algerian born pianist, Martial Solal. Of the four arrangers featured Hodier’s work is probably the most technically ambitious, as one might expect given his academic antecedents: as well as being a violinist and noted musicologist he was the author of the (then recently published) scholarly tome. `Jazz: Its Evolution and Essence`. There is plenty of written music for the band in terms of section work and he makes full use of the instrumental resources at his disposal in a programme that offers three of his original compositions as well as a slew of modern jazz standards all of which are all re-imagined in a novel fashion with sufficient opportunities for Kenny Clarke to remind us that he is the leader of the band.
The same is true of the four tracks attributed to Pierre Michelot – he of Jacques Lousier Trio fame – who performs as a member of an eleven piece ensemble. This set finds him in robust company with Lucky Thompson joining Byers to augment the American contingent and they begin with a spirited rendition of `Love Me or Leave Me` replete with crackling percussive interludes. The remaining tracks are Michelot originals which reveal him to be a resourceful composer though more conventional than Hodier in his writing for riff sections. There is some particularly attractive muted trumpet to be heard in a gentle theme entitled `Jackie, My Little Cat`. Michelot also plays bass on the Chevalier tracks, all original compositions with a distinctly West Coast jazz feel and featuring solid solo work by Roger Guerin on trumpet; some very nice Art Pepper influenced alto as well as the unmistakable sound of Tony Scott’s clarinet, he being the only American participant apart from the leader.
Three tracks of arrangements by Francy Boland complete the disc and feature a septet of fellow Belgians playing host to the lugubrious tenor of Don Byas who has a solo feature with the ballad `More Than You Know`. Originally issued as `Don Wails with Kenny` the session presages the collaboration between the pianist and the drummer that was to occur the following year in the formation of what was to become the most highly regarded modern jazz big band on this side of the Atlantic. Of the musicians featured here, vibist Fats Sadi was to become an alumnus of that band and his solo on the final track confirms him as a musician of considerable competence and distinction.
Indeed the same could be said of all the musicians whose performance is captured in these recordings: of the Americans no case need be made, but the Europeans rise magnificently to the challenge of performing with people who created the genre and produce music that is wholly idiomatic and stands the test of time as a fine example of modern jazz of its era.
Reviewed by Euan Dixon
Fresh Sound Records: FSR-CD 864
Kenny Clarke (drums) and featuring Don Byas, Lucky Thompson (tenor sax) Billy Byers (trombone) Rene Urteger, Martial Solal and Francy Boland (piano) Pierre Michelot (bass) in various combos with a host of other European musicians.
Recorded in Paris and Cologne at various locations between 1956 and 1960.
One LP and three EPs worth of music make up the content of this excellent compilation of sessions recorded by Kenny Clarke hard upon his re-location to Europe. He is joined in these several enterprises by fellow Americans, Billy Byers, Lucky Thompson, Don Byas and, on a single track, clarinettist, Tony Scott, all of whom, along with a premiership league of French and Belgian jazzmen, present their talents in the service of four noted arrangers.
The first twelve tracks where originally issued as` Kenny Clarke’s Sextet Plays Andre Hodeir` and as well as showcasing the trombone of Billy Byers give prominent solo space to the celebrated Algerian born pianist, Martial Solal. Of the four arrangers featured Hodier’s work is probably the most technically ambitious, as one might expect given his academic antecedents: as well as being a violinist and noted musicologist he was the author of the (then recently published) scholarly tome. `Jazz: Its Evolution and Essence`. There is plenty of written music for the band in terms of section work and he makes full use of the instrumental resources at his disposal in a programme that offers three of his original compositions as well as a slew of modern jazz standards all of which are all re-imagined in a novel fashion with sufficient opportunities for Kenny Clarke to remind us that he is the leader of the band.
The same is true of the four tracks attributed to Pierre Michelot – he of Jacques Lousier Trio fame – who performs as a member of an eleven piece ensemble. This set finds him in robust company with Lucky Thompson joining Byers to augment the American contingent and they begin with a spirited rendition of `Love Me or Leave Me` replete with crackling percussive interludes. The remaining tracks are Michelot originals which reveal him to be a resourceful composer though more conventional than Hodier in his writing for riff sections. There is some particularly attractive muted trumpet to be heard in a gentle theme entitled `Jackie, My Little Cat`. Michelot also plays bass on the Chevalier tracks, all original compositions with a distinctly West Coast jazz feel and featuring solid solo work by Roger Guerin on trumpet; some very nice Art Pepper influenced alto as well as the unmistakable sound of Tony Scott’s clarinet, he being the only American participant apart from the leader.
Three tracks of arrangements by Francy Boland complete the disc and feature a septet of fellow Belgians playing host to the lugubrious tenor of Don Byas who has a solo feature with the ballad `More Than You Know`. Originally issued as `Don Wails with Kenny` the session presages the collaboration between the pianist and the drummer that was to occur the following year in the formation of what was to become the most highly regarded modern jazz big band on this side of the Atlantic. Of the musicians featured here, vibist Fats Sadi was to become an alumnus of that band and his solo on the final track confirms him as a musician of considerable competence and distinction.
Indeed the same could be said of all the musicians whose performance is captured in these recordings: of the Americans no case need be made, but the Europeans rise magnificently to the challenge of performing with people who created the genre and produce music that is wholly idiomatic and stands the test of time as a fine example of modern jazz of its era.
Reviewed by Euan Dixon
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