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New from Lake in July 2004 Lake jazz releases gather pace Jazz specialist Lake Records gathers pave this month with the release of yet more landmark titles licensed from Universal's Record Supervision Series in first ever reissues of work by HUMPHREY LYTTLETON, ALEX WELSH, SANDY BROWN & AL FAIRWEATHER, CHRIS BARBER and ACKER BILK.
CAT NO: LACD202 ARTIST: HUMPHREY LYTTLETON & HIS BAND TITLE: HUMPH RETURNS TO THE CONWAY GENRE: JAZZ TRACK LISTING 1. Love For Sale 2. Prelude To A Kiss 3. Ida Sweet As Apple Cider 4. Willow Weep For Me 5. Blue Lou 6. Undecided 7. Body & Soul 8. All Of Me 9. Solitude 10. Concerto For Tortoiseshell Piano 11. Never Mind Eh! 12. I Can't Give You Anything But Love 13. Joshua 14. Ti-Re-Lee 15. Billy's Bounce 16. Bugle Call Rag 17. The Song Is Ended.
Humphrey Lyttelton is a household name. This CD, comprised of tracks from two LPs from his musically fertile period of the 1960s, showcases why. He had a very strong and creative band featuring some of the leading players in the Mainstream genre: Tony Coe, Joe Temperley, Jimmy Skidmore, John Picard, Ian Armit and Eddie Taylor. Humph himself was at the peak of his powers. In 1954, he had made an LP, which became a collector's item, in "Humph At The Conway". Much of this new CD is the 1961 follow-up: "Returns To The Conway" and as with everything Humph does, the tunes here command attention from the off - played with drive, swing and subtlety, they reflect a fine band on fine form, doing what they did best.
CAT NO: LACD203 ARTIST: ALEX WELSH & HIS BAND TITLE: IT'S RIGHT HERE FOR YOU GENRE: JAZZ TRACK LISTING 1. Fidgety Feet 2. Exactly Like You 3. Dardanella 4. Lazy River 5. Montmartre 6. Chinatown My Chinatown 7. It's Right Here For You 8. Hindustan 9. Nuages 10. Stan's Dance 11. I Hadn't Anyone Till You 12. You're Driving Me Crazy 13. Tansy 14. Memphis March 15. Auf Wiedersehen My Dear 16. One, Two, Drink Up 17. My Heart & I 18. When The Lilacs Bloom Again
The Welsh band's brand of hard driving Chicago style jazz made it the first choice of many touring American Jazz artists including Bud Freeman, Wild Bill Davison, Ruby Braff and Red Allen. There were two renowned front line teams in the band and this set features the earlier one of Roy Crimmins and Archie Semple; a previous LAKE release featuring Archie Semple (LACD187) has proven one of the best sellers of the series. The line-up also features guitarist Diz Disley who was instrumental in Stephane Grappelli reactivating his career in the 1970s. This new CD has Django Reinhardt's brother Joseph guesting on two tracks, including Django's own tune Nuages. The final four tracks were recorded as novelty singles featuring drummer Lennie Hastings doing Richard Tauber impersonations accompanied by the rest of the band.
Cat No: LACD193 Artist: SANDY BROWN & AL FAIRWEATHER Title: AL & SANDY Genre: JAZZ Track Listing 1. Maple Leaf Rag 2. Big Bill 3. Up Above My Head 4. Gone To Earth 5. Tidy 6. Mountain Music 7. Fifth Wind 8. St. Louis Blues 9. Ol' Man River 10. Careless Love 11. Worksong 12. Music Goes Round 13. Love Is All 14. Four Or Five Times 15. Jump For Me 16. Beat Meat 17. Rosetta 18. Jim Jam 19. Let The Zoomers Drool 20. Berry Well 21. Sue's Blues
Sandy Brown was probably the most prodigious talent to emerge from the British Jazz revival. Even as a student, he was one of the most technically adept and inventive clarinettists. Although he started as a traditional Johnny Dodds/Sidney Bechet style player he quickly developed a style which matured with every year that passed and became totally original. Along with Al Fairweather, Sandy was writing original material and Al was his natural musical partner: a majestic player with a broad, smoky tone. In the Trad Boom years they, like Humphrey Lyttelton, were ploughing a fairly lone furrow in adopting a more mainstream approach, which has consequently turned them into cult, rather than popular, figures. This fabulous album boasts other high quality players such as Joe Harriott, George Chisholm, Tony Coe, Bruce Turner, Tommy McQuater and Stan Greig.
Cat No: LACD194 Artist: CHRIS BARBER'S JAZZ BAND Title: BANDBOX NO. 1 Genre: JAZZ Track listing: 1. Hiawatha Rag 2. Si Tu Vois Ma Mere 3. Darling Nellie Gray 4. Give Me Your Telephone Number 5. I'm Gonna Wash that Man Right Out Of My Hair 6. How Long Blues; Hot House Rag; Swanee River 7. Squeeze Me 8. Creole Song 9. There'll Be A Hot Time 10. Golden Striker 11. Don't Go 'Way Nobody 12. Well Alright, Or, You Win 13. Taint Nobody's Business 14. Li'l Liza Jane 15. Tell It To The Marines 16. Lonesome 17. Swanee River
In the 1950s and 1960s, Chris Barber led (and still leads) the most popular Traditional Jazz Band in the UK. This CD reissue comprises his first studio album after his move from Pye Records to EMI Columbia's Lansdowne Jazz Series, plus an EP featuring Ottilie Patterson and some singles tracks. All the usual suspects who made the band so popular at the time (Monty Sunshine, Ottilie Patterson and Pat Halcox) feature on the CD, which also includes the band's follow-up to their hit single, Petite Fleur , Lonesome which entered the charts on the 10 October 1959. An eclectic release, the mix of material ranges from Ragtime to a piece by the Modern Jazz Quartet. The first Chris Barber CD in this series (LACD185) is the best selling release so far; Chris Barber meanwhile remains an active performer with his own band and with other artists such as Van Morrison.
Cat No: LACD195 Artist: Mr ACKER BILK & HIS PARAMOUNT JAZZ BAND Title: Mr ACKER BILK'S LANSDOWNE FOLIO Genre: Jazz Track listing: 1. Buona Sera 2. Imperial Echoes 3. Lord Let Me In The Lifeboat 4. Club Foot 5. Stomp Off, 6. Let's Papa Dip 7. My Heart Belongs To Daddy 8. Gospel Train 9. Maryland March 10. Stars & Stripes Forever 11. That's My Home 12. Go Tell It On A Mountain 13. Creole Jazz 14. House Rent Stomp 15. My Bucket's Got A Hole In It 16. Tishomingo Blues 17. Sing On 18. Frankie & Johnny 19. In A Persian Market
By 1961, when the bulk of these recordings were made, the Acker Bilk band line-up had been stable for some time making the act quite simply the most popular Traditional Jazz band in Britain with three best selling LPs under their belts. A combination of driving rhythm section, a loose, hot front line, Acker's laconic vocals and some excellent material ensured their popularity. Whilst Acker had still not had his hit single, Stranger On The Shore yet, this CD contains four singles charting between December 1960 and March 1962. Jazz audiences have tended to dismiss Acker Bilk's band because of their trademark bowler hats and the hype attached to them at the time. But the first release in this series (LACD186) opened a few ears and more music lovers are beginning to recognise what a fine band this was and investigate it further. And so the revival gathers pace!
EDITOR NOTES: The 30 album-strong Lake reissue programme during 2004/5 represents most of the major British traditional jazz bands of the era with titles reissued here for the first time. The man behind the series, the late Denis Preston, is regarded as one of the unsung heroes of the British Traditional Jazz Revival of the 1950s and 1960s. As a producer, he was responsible for some classic records during that time and created two significant series of recordings: the 'Jazz Today Series' (Pye) and 'The Lansdowne Jazz Series' (Columbia) as well as a number of 'hit' singles. Preston died in 1979, at which time the Sunday Times cited him "probably the most important figure to emerge from the British jazz business". A colourful and maverick figure about London, Preston employed the young Joe Meek to engineer his releases.
Issued July 2004 by Singsong Entertainment Publicity Contacts: Peter Muir tel 01296 715228 peter@singsongpr.biz Pat Tynan on 01895 636935 pat@singsongpr.biz
http://www.singsongpr.biz/
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