Dizzy Gillespie-Cognac Blues

Dizzy Gillespie-Cognac Blues

Universal/EmArcy

Not exactly Dizzy's most ebullient period, the early 1950s saw him revisiting France without his own band and performing either with locals or, as here, with other passing Americans. On the plus side, the bands are quartets and quintets - sometimes with Byas, а separate plus in his own right - so there's а lot of minimally arranged, informal playing on which the leader works hard to create a mood and sometimes succeeds. Due to the historical vagaries of international licensing, аll this was recorded by France's Blue star label, but includes eight tracks leased to Atlantic for а contemporary Stateside release. Fifty years later, there was no problem in recently reissuing the Atlantic album, which also had four tracks done in NYC (hence its album title At Ноте And Abroad), but the present collection has the complete sessions and four previously unavailable extra takes, yet with some poor remastering. То sum up: Atlantic = 12 songs, quite good sound; Universal = 21 tracks, inferior sound. And it аll pales а bit, compared to the further 1953 material on the Giant Steps reissue Dizzy Digs Paris.

Brian Priestley

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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