Peter Friedman Posted April 2, 2006 Report Posted April 2, 2006 I have always liked the two albums by this big band recorded at Ronnie Scott's Club in London. The excitement on those recordings is contagious. I also like" Sax No End" a great deal. Johnny Griffin's solos on this band are highlights for me. The one criticism I have is that when they added a second drummer the sound gets somewhat muddy at times. Quote
ghost of miles Posted April 2, 2006 Report Posted April 2, 2006 During my one-year spell of hosting The Big Bands, I did two programs devoted to CBBB... if anyone wants to take a listen, check out the Sept. 23, 2005 and May 20, 2005 programs in the archives. Just got the MIDNIGHT MOOD cd and haven't had a chance to play it yet. I think CBBB is, hands-down, my favorite post-1960 big band. Quote
Guest Posted April 2, 2006 Report Posted April 2, 2006 We must also not forget how much Sahib Shihab contributed to the "sound" of this band ... his flute and baritone are indispensible to what Francie Boland was trying to achieve, and his career was revitalized in this ensemble ... I agree with you completely! I forgot to write something about Shihab (and he really deserves a thread of his own). His solos always have a degree of unpredictability; the results are sometimes wonderful, sometimes a bit weird, but always interesting and always deeply personal. I am a Clarke/Boland Band lover too. I'd reccomend you all to look for Sahib Shihab's "And All Those Cats", if you don't know it already. One of the VERY best CBBB studio recordings I ever heard (althought here an occtet, just Kenny at the drums). Superb playing. I love very much this and "Griff'n'Bags"cd, where the Clarke/Boland/Woode combo is joined in 5 tracks by Milt Jackson. These are kind of compilations made in the '90s by italian Rearward/Schema, with rare and unissued material recorded around the same period and musicians each(recording dates span 3-5 years). Great, great music, believe... Wonderful sound. Another recent reissue of the group's glorious music is indeed the beautiful Mark Murphy's "Midnight Mood", where these wonderful musicians play with the american singer in the peculiar CBBB musical mood. Recorded in Cologne 1967. Quote
jazzbo Posted April 2, 2006 Report Posted April 2, 2006 I'm a big big fan of this band as well. I'm a Klook fanatic, and I think that Boland was amazing in this band, his arranging and his conception and soloing. I see this as an Ellingtonian extension into the sixties and beyond and I want anything I can get of the large and small ensembles. The Shihab on Argo needs mentioning here as well! I have seen a number of broadcasts listed here and there that I would love to see issued! Maybe someday! Quote
Daniel A Posted April 2, 2006 Author Report Posted April 2, 2006 I'd reccomend you all to look for Sahib Shihab's "And All Those Cats", if you don't know it already. The Shihab on Argo needs mentioning here as well! I believe the full contents of the Shihab Argo album ('Summer Dawn', 1963), which is otherwise downright impossible to find, is scattered around the two compilations CDs from Rearward, Sahib Shihab 'And All Those Cats' and Francy Boland 'Calypso Blues', as well as all the cuts from another album in the 1000 dollar range, Kenny Clarke Francy Boland 'Swing Im Bahnhof' (1967, originally on Columbia). Quote
sidewinder Posted April 2, 2006 Report Posted April 2, 2006 During my one-year spell of hosting The Big Bands, I did two programs devoted to CBBB... if anyone wants to take a listen, check out the Sept. 23, 2005 and May 20, 2005 programs in the archives. Thanks - Just checking this out. Some great shows on this list, how did I miss them? Quote
jazzbo Posted April 2, 2006 Report Posted April 2, 2006 Hmmm. . . maybe. I still think "Summer Dawn" on Argo is worth mentioning; it really holds sequenced as it is. Quote
Daniel A Posted April 2, 2006 Author Report Posted April 2, 2006 Hmmm. . . maybe. I still think "Summer Dawn" on Argo is worth mentioning; it really holds sequenced as it is. Absolutely! It should have been reissued straight. There's the old CDR trick... Quote
Chuck Nessa Posted April 2, 2006 Report Posted April 2, 2006 Loos like Jazzbo has "turned" one of these tricks. Quote
jazzbo Posted April 2, 2006 Report Posted April 2, 2006 Yes, shamed to say I have. . . . Listening to one right now. . . The Cosmic Scene (the RSD cdr edition) --- remastered from lp by the excellent engineer Robert Shawn Dudley. Quote
jazzbo Posted April 3, 2006 Report Posted April 3, 2006 (edited) I also like those Francy Boland Orchestra lps on MPS. . . . And the Quartet lp. Edited April 3, 2006 by jazzbo Quote
jazzbo Posted April 3, 2006 Report Posted April 3, 2006 There were some covers designed for men to smile about too. Quote
brownie Posted April 3, 2006 Report Posted April 3, 2006 This one seems to be missing from the previous posts... A good one, and a Blue Note release! Quote
sidewinder Posted April 3, 2006 Report Posted April 3, 2006 Yep, a good one. Almost a prototype of the later sessions with the bigger lineups. Karl Drevo on tenor sax. Wasn't that one recorded by Pathe? Quote
brownie Posted April 3, 2006 Report Posted April 3, 2006 Yep, a good one. Almost a prototype of the later sessions with the bigger lineups. Karl Drevo on tenor sax. Wasn't that one recorded by Pathe? The back cover to the LP has: 'Recording by WOLFGANG HIRSCHMANN' 'Mastering by RUDY VAN GELDER' 'Produced by GIGI CAMPI (May 18 and 19, 1961 - Cologne, Germany) Quote
sidewinder Posted April 3, 2006 Report Posted April 3, 2006 Ah - Cornet Studios I guess. Thanks ! (Not sure why I thought there was a French connection to this one..) Quote
mikeweil Posted April 3, 2006 Report Posted April 3, 2006 This one seems to be missing from the previous posts... A good one, and a Blue Note release! One more track from this excellent session, A Ball For Othello, was issued on a French CBS anthology about drummers, Les Rois de la Batterie. Quote
Daniel A Posted April 3, 2006 Author Report Posted April 3, 2006 I also like those Francy Boland Orchestra lps on MPS. . . . Lon, I have not heard the later Boland albums. How are they compared to the earlier CBBB albums in terms of style? Quote
jazzbo Posted April 3, 2006 Report Posted April 3, 2006 They seem to me to be a tad more. . . Ellingtonian? maybe? They're nice! Quote
Daniel A Posted April 3, 2006 Author Report Posted April 3, 2006 Sounds intriguing; I'll keep my eyes open for these... Quote
Guest Posted April 5, 2006 Report Posted April 5, 2006 Hadn't seen any of the FB solo albums before - must look out for these. Just found (what looks to me at a cursory glance in near mint condition) a copy of At Her Majesty's Pleasure on the Black Lion label, secondhand in Harold Moores Record shop in London which has just started selling jazz in its basement. Played Pentonville and immediately realised why I love the CBBB. They were just so great. It would be invidious to compare them to Ellington but they did have the luxury of having most of their key works recorded in the 1960s when hi fi and stereo recording techniques were beginning to develop. Nonetheless their personnel, compositions and arrangements are pretty well unbeatable as a big band. Ellington of course had the advantage of him and Strayhorn writing classic standards which could be used not just for a big band. But I digress, I do hope At Her Majesty's is re-issued on CD sometime. By the way All Smiles has a pretty nifty cover too (must have been More Smiles sister). I blame Ronnie's Frith Street influence. Quote
Tony Pusey Posted April 5, 2006 Report Posted April 5, 2006 So what is available on CD? This thread got me playing the Golden Eight 3 times in a row, cant say that I actually HEARD it before! So I am intrigued and thirsting for more. Quote
Daniel A Posted April 5, 2006 Author Report Posted April 5, 2006 (edited) So what is available on CD? In print: 'Jazz Is Universal' (Atlantic, 1961) Reissued by Collectables Jazz Classics 'Handle With Care' (Atlantic, 1963) /Collectables Jazz Classics 'Now Hear Our Meanin'' (Columbia, 1963) /Collectables Jazz Classics 'Our Kinda Strauss' (Rearward, 1966-1972) /Reaward 'Sax No End' (Saba, 1967) /Universal Japan (OOP release: Polygram, "Two Originals") 'All Smiles' (MPS, 1968) /MPS 'Fellini 712' (MPS, 1968) /MPS 'More - Jazz in the Movies' (Campi, 1968) /Warner Japan 'My Kind of World' / Gitte & The Band (Hörzu/Columbia, 1968) /Bureau 'More Smiles' (MPS, 1969) /MPS 'TNP - Oct. 29th, 1969' (Trema) 'Off Limits' (Polydor, 1970) /Rearward 'November Girl' / Carmen McRae (Black Lion, 1970) /Rearward OOP: 'All Blues' (MPS, 1969) /Polygram (on "Two Originals") 'Faces' (MPS, 1968) /Emanon (on 2-CD set "Historically Speaking") 'Latin Kaleidoscope' (MPS, 1968) /Polygram (on "Three Latin Adventures") 'Volcano' (Polydor, 1969) /Emanon (on 2-CD set "Blowing the Cobwebs out) 'Rue Chaptal' (Polydor, 1969) /Emanon (on 2-CD set "Blowing the Cobwebs out) 'At Her Majesty's Pleasure...' (Black Lion, 1969) /Emanon (on 2-CD set "Blowing the Cobwebs out) 'Change of Scenes' / Stan Getz & Francy Boland (Verve, 1971) Never on CD: 'In the Background' (Saba, 1967) 'Out of the Folk Bag' (Columbia, 1967) 'Open Door' (Muse, 1967) 'Kenny Clarke Francy Boland' (Supraphon, 1967) Edited October 25, 2006 by Daniel A Quote
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