Swing From Paris: I Love Paris (swingfromparis.co.uk)
Gypsy jazz quartet Swing From Paris are adept at creating new arrangements of music inspired by the likes of George Gershwin, Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli. Hot clubbing on the heels of their 2022 album, Afternoon In Paris, they’ve now released I Love Paris.
This excellent band comprises Fenner Curtis on violin, Andy Bowen electric guitar, Sam Hughes acoustic guitar and Tomasz Williams on double bass.The successful partnering of acoustic with electric guitar distinguishes the band’s sound from other gypsy-swing outfits on the circuit. Check out how with their version of Cole Porter’s I Love Paris, which pays tribute to electric guitarist and Charlie Christian adherent, Mary Osborne.
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Charlie Shavers’ Undecided salutes George Barnes, the first musician to record on electric guitar. Other diverse numbers include smart arrangements of Artie Shaw’s Grabtown Grapple; Bronisław Kaper’s Green Dolphin Street; Jimmy McHugh’s I Can’t Give You Anything But Love; a Beethoven-inspired No Moon At All and nuevo tango master Astor Piazzolla’s Oblivion. Also look out for Dizzy Gillespie’s Afro-Cuban influenced Tangorine and Lenoir’s cabaret masterpiece, Parlez-moi d’amour with its symphonious violin, soulful guitar and heart-rending arco bass. The album’s closing number is Angel Cabral’s La Foule, the waltz made famous by Edith Piaf.
Full setlist and album details can be found on the band’s bandcamp page.
Tubby Hayes: Four Classic Albums Plus (Avid Jazz AMSC1456)
Avid have collected four remastered LPs spanning Hayes’ earlier years on two CDs. First we hear Modern Jazz Scene by the eight-piece Tubby Hayes Orchestra live at London’s Festival Hall in February 1956. Alongside a 21-year-old Hayes on tenor are Ian Hamer and Dickie Hawdon (t), Mike Senn (as), Jackie Sharpe (bar), Harry South (p), Pete Blannin (b) and Bill Eyden (d). Hayes introduces each band member in the opening track but his voice is faint as he speaks through the PA instead of the recording mike. The album’s seven numbers are an interesting mix of early British bop, swing and popular dance music of the time.
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Next, After Lights Out, recorded in July 1956, has Hayes stretching out on tenor with his quintet. Joining Hayes again are Hawdon, South and Eyden with Pete Elderfield replacing Blannin on bass.Two of the tracks, Nicole and Hall Hears The Blues were recorded after a pub lunch; studio lights were dimmed (hence the album’s title) and the playing becomes markedly relaxed. Two bonus tracks, Jordu and May Ray are from Hayes’s 1955 EP, The Little Giant.
CD2 opens with The Last Word, the fourth and parting album from the hard-bop oriented Jazz Couriers, co-led by Hayes and Ronnie Scott. Hayes plays tenor on four numbers, combines flute with tenor on Yesterdays and plays vibes on Whisper Not and Autumn Leaves. Terry Shannon’s on piano, Phil Bates bass and Phil Seamen drums. Recorded in the July 1959, the album’s seven arrangements were probably the most requested of the band in their last months together – it’s a great session. Ironically, requests from fans to play these numbers every night became a contributory factor to the band folding, as members felt it left little time to try out new material.
Early British jazz artists might often feel inferior to their American counterparts, but the final LP, Tubbs In N.Y., clearly reveals that Hayes had no such self-doubt. On his first visit to New York in October 1961 we hear him playing on more than equal terms with Clark Terry on trumpet, Horace Parlan piano, George Duvivier bass and Dave Bailey on drums. Brimming in confidence, Hayes’s performance is a tour de force.
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A booklet containing the original liner notes by Tony Hall and Benny Green accompanies the package. The full track list is available here.
Augie Haas + 8: Live At The Speakeasy (self released)
Trumpeter, composer and bandleader Augie Haas has played with Maria Schneider, Birdland Big Band, the Gil Evans Project and the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra amongst others. He’s performed in various Broadway shows and released eight previous albums, three of them for children.
All the numbers on his new album were recorded live in a single take at the Gin Mill, New York, one night in May this year. It’s a high-voltage performance in a party atmosphere by a cracking nine-piece band. Hot jazz, rock and roll and fast-paced big-band swing are all in the mix and the enthusiastic audience are clearly having a ball.
Every band member is on top form and there are three singers to boot. The band’s dexterous trombonist, Hailey Brinnel, sings the The Sound at breakneck speed amidst an alto / tenor sax battle. Guest singer, Kacie Sky features in a dramatic delivery of I Put A Spell On You and another guest, Major Attaway, sings Fly Me To the Moon. The latter’s vocals verge on the histrionic though and the jury’s out as to whether it’s a serious attempt or intended to add a further spot of levity to the increasingly boisterous proceedings.
For a live and lively jazz-party album look no further – this one is the real deal. Details are at Augie Haas’s website here.
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