STAN TRACEY - From Stan, With Love
Resteamed Records RSJ115 (2CDs)
Disc One:
With Love From Jazz/Stan Tracey Quartet
Bobby Wellins – Tenor; Dave Green, Lennie Bush – Bass; Jackie Dougan, Ronnie Stephenson – Drums; Stan Tracey – Piano, Vibraphone, Celesta
Recorded October 12th & 31st, 1967
Disc Two:
We Love You Madly/Stan Tracey Big Brass
Saxophones - Don Rendell – Soprano, Tony Coe – Tenor, Joe Harriott – Alto; Ian Carr – Flugel; Acker Bilk – Clarinet;
Trombones – Bobby Lamb, Chris Pyne, Chris Smith, Don Lusher, Keith Christie;
Trumpets – Derek Watkins, Eddie Blair, Kenny Baker, Les Condon, Paul Tongay;
Stan Tracey – Piano; Bass – Lennie Bush; Drums – Barry Morgan
Recorded August 20th & 21st, 1968
Following on from the excellent Wisdom In The Wings released earlier this year, this latest set again presents two full albums from the great man's catalogue. Featuring music from a year or two prior to Wings and the last recording of Stan's quartet with Bobby Wellins, With Love From Jazz certainly lives up to the title. Tracey and Wellins really were a match made in heaven as the immortal Under Milk Wood testifies, and their performances together were never less than magical. The material on disc one is considerably lighter in mood that Milk Wood, and brings forth another side of this remarkable musical kinship. There are the cheeky undertones of 'Undercover Lover' and the sheer exuberance of 'Everywhere Derriere' that has some sparkling interplay between tenor and piano, but it is the ballad that plays on the emotions. A brief introduction from Stan sets the mood beautifully for Wellins' entry on tenor and his warm and tender delivery of the lovely theme that is 'Sweet Used To Be'.
Wellins and Tracey have much fun on 'Lover's Freeway', aided and abetted by the deep swing and propulsion created by the axis of Dave Green's bass and the drumming of Jackie Dougan drawing up out some fine solos, and there is more fun to be had on the wonderfully titled 'Three Times Loser, Three Times Blueser'. On this final cut Lennie Bush and Ronnie Stephenson replace Green and Dougan, and proceed to set up a polyrhythmic groove for overdubbed saxophones and Stan on vibes on an exhilarating journey that I'm positive would have laid the seeds for another altogether different outing from the quartet should there be more in this vein be in the can.
Less than a year later, Stan was back in the studio, this time leading Big Brass, an all-star ensemble playing music from his idol, Duke Ellington. The repertoire is surprisingly broad and given a unique impetus and flavour by Stan's arrangements, from a reworking of Duke's 'Blues With A Feeling penned in 1928 to a superb reading of 'In A Sentimental Mood' featuring some exquisitely moving alto saxophone from Joe Harriett (I'm sure Johnny Hodges would have approved).
What is remarkable about these performances is that it is not just as a British big band playing the music of Ellington, but the fact they are doing so with a totally fresh approach and arrangements that enhance the music rather than simply seeking to copy. This is achieved not only by to the writing but also the choice of the musicians and their ability to bring their own stamp on some top-notch solos.
Reigning in his natural modesty, and wearing his heart on his sleeve, Stan steps into the spotlight for a sparklingly inventive and individual solo on 'I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart', with single note lines and splashes of colour that belong to no other. Tracey's penchant for a good, hard swinging arrangement is the Ellington/Strayhorn composition, 'Lay-By' with the rhythm section teeing things up nicely for the band's entry and the whole is topped off nicely by an exemplary solo from tenor saxophonist, Tony Coe. Past and present are melded together superbly with Stan's arrangements of a couple of Ellington staples. 'Creole Love Call' is magisterial with Mr Acker Bilk taking the solo honours, and a very original take on 'I'm Beginning To See The Light' with Ian Carr's lyrical flugel as the featured soloist.
This is valuable release from Resteamed Records produced for re-release by Clark Tracey (with hopefully many more to follow), that once again highlights the calibre of British Jazz. Listening to this music again, it is clear for all to hear that the music performed by the British musicians on this album are not in awe of their American counterparts but ready to stamp their own distinctive and individual stamp on the music, and embarking on new and exciting journeys that have brought forth the rich and diverse jazz scene that the UK enjoys today.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
Resteamed Records RSJ115 (2CDs)
Disc One:
With Love From Jazz/Stan Tracey Quartet
Bobby Wellins – Tenor; Dave Green, Lennie Bush – Bass; Jackie Dougan, Ronnie Stephenson – Drums; Stan Tracey – Piano, Vibraphone, Celesta
Recorded October 12th & 31st, 1967
Disc Two:
We Love You Madly/Stan Tracey Big Brass
Saxophones - Don Rendell – Soprano, Tony Coe – Tenor, Joe Harriott – Alto; Ian Carr – Flugel; Acker Bilk – Clarinet;
Trombones – Bobby Lamb, Chris Pyne, Chris Smith, Don Lusher, Keith Christie;
Trumpets – Derek Watkins, Eddie Blair, Kenny Baker, Les Condon, Paul Tongay;
Stan Tracey – Piano; Bass – Lennie Bush; Drums – Barry Morgan
Recorded August 20th & 21st, 1968
Following on from the excellent Wisdom In The Wings released earlier this year, this latest set again presents two full albums from the great man's catalogue. Featuring music from a year or two prior to Wings and the last recording of Stan's quartet with Bobby Wellins, With Love From Jazz certainly lives up to the title. Tracey and Wellins really were a match made in heaven as the immortal Under Milk Wood testifies, and their performances together were never less than magical. The material on disc one is considerably lighter in mood that Milk Wood, and brings forth another side of this remarkable musical kinship. There are the cheeky undertones of 'Undercover Lover' and the sheer exuberance of 'Everywhere Derriere' that has some sparkling interplay between tenor and piano, but it is the ballad that plays on the emotions. A brief introduction from Stan sets the mood beautifully for Wellins' entry on tenor and his warm and tender delivery of the lovely theme that is 'Sweet Used To Be'.
Wellins and Tracey have much fun on 'Lover's Freeway', aided and abetted by the deep swing and propulsion created by the axis of Dave Green's bass and the drumming of Jackie Dougan drawing up out some fine solos, and there is more fun to be had on the wonderfully titled 'Three Times Loser, Three Times Blueser'. On this final cut Lennie Bush and Ronnie Stephenson replace Green and Dougan, and proceed to set up a polyrhythmic groove for overdubbed saxophones and Stan on vibes on an exhilarating journey that I'm positive would have laid the seeds for another altogether different outing from the quartet should there be more in this vein be in the can.
Less than a year later, Stan was back in the studio, this time leading Big Brass, an all-star ensemble playing music from his idol, Duke Ellington. The repertoire is surprisingly broad and given a unique impetus and flavour by Stan's arrangements, from a reworking of Duke's 'Blues With A Feeling penned in 1928 to a superb reading of 'In A Sentimental Mood' featuring some exquisitely moving alto saxophone from Joe Harriett (I'm sure Johnny Hodges would have approved).
What is remarkable about these performances is that it is not just as a British big band playing the music of Ellington, but the fact they are doing so with a totally fresh approach and arrangements that enhance the music rather than simply seeking to copy. This is achieved not only by to the writing but also the choice of the musicians and their ability to bring their own stamp on some top-notch solos.
Reigning in his natural modesty, and wearing his heart on his sleeve, Stan steps into the spotlight for a sparklingly inventive and individual solo on 'I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart', with single note lines and splashes of colour that belong to no other. Tracey's penchant for a good, hard swinging arrangement is the Ellington/Strayhorn composition, 'Lay-By' with the rhythm section teeing things up nicely for the band's entry and the whole is topped off nicely by an exemplary solo from tenor saxophonist, Tony Coe. Past and present are melded together superbly with Stan's arrangements of a couple of Ellington staples. 'Creole Love Call' is magisterial with Mr Acker Bilk taking the solo honours, and a very original take on 'I'm Beginning To See The Light' with Ian Carr's lyrical flugel as the featured soloist.
This is valuable release from Resteamed Records produced for re-release by Clark Tracey (with hopefully many more to follow), that once again highlights the calibre of British Jazz. Listening to this music again, it is clear for all to hear that the music performed by the British musicians on this album are not in awe of their American counterparts but ready to stamp their own distinctive and individual stamp on the music, and embarking on new and exciting journeys that have brought forth the rich and diverse jazz scene that the UK enjoys today.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
