Kenny Clarke Francy Boland : Golden Eight

[dova]

Hello: Has anybody heard this session made up of Boland, Clarke, and some foreign players to form an octet. I can't find any reviews or sound bites anywhere. It came out as a japanese cd and now a paper sleeve mini Lp. Thanks! dova

[jazzbo]

Dova, if you are familiar at all with any of the small group (or even the full blow orchestra) work led by Francy Boland and Kenny Clarke, then I would say that this is a very good example of their style. . . .

It's quite a nice release in my opinion; I'm a fan of all the Francy Boland Kenny Clarke Big Band and small group recordings, so my opinion is not exactly unbiased. I don't quite know how to describe this. . . very modern music of the time but very swinging with great soloists doing their thing is probably the clearest I can come up with. This was a session that I believe was not produced by Lion but bought from Gigi Campi (who I believe produced this, and was the producer/manager (?) of this/these bands.)

Edited November 25, 2003 by jazzbo

[sidewinder]

I believe that Campi was a bit of a self-made tycoon in the ice cream industry and basically dominated the market in Koln, Germany. The CBBB was sort of his hobby, funded by the profits. Must have cost a fortune to fly those guys in from all over Europe but thank goodness that Campi covered the bill. All those superbly produced albums on Saba are also evidence of a generous investment in recording facilities and rehearsal time.

Thumbs up for 'Golden Eight'. Sort of like a typical CBBB album but with reduced lineup and nice features, I recall, for tenorist Karl Drevo.

Don't miss those nice recent releases either on Rearward of additional CBBB material held by Campi.

[DrJ]

This would make a really nice Connoisseur entry some day...

[jazzbo]

Yeah. . .too bad it's not a likely candidate for an RVG instead!

[mikeweil]

This is a goodie. I especially like the rhythmic qualities of Boland's writing on this - fits Klook's drumming like hand in glove.

[JohnJ]

I have read a few complementary articles about the CBBB and am interested in listening to some of their work. Anyway, I saw a used double CD set called 'Historically Speaking' in a long metal box with no information on the outside other than the label name (ECCM, I think) and address in Cologne and the fact that it is a limited edition of 1,000.

As I am unable to find any information regarding the contents of this set I was wondering whether anyone could kindly provide any information on the music contained. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Chuck Nessa]

I used to have the original lp, but sent it to Japan for "big bucks" about 10 years ago. It is fine, but unless you have 5000 jazz cds, you don't "need" it.

[mikeweil]

Regarding the Historically Speaking box:

If the price is reasonable, go get it, it's a great rarity!

Disc 1:

The Inferno Suite (4 tracks)

previously unissued, not available elsewhere, recorded April 15, 1967

5 tracks from the New World Session recorded January 26-28, 1963

3 tracks from the Faces Suite, unissued recording December 14, 1967

not available elsewhere

4 tracks from Sax No End, June 18, 1969

Disc 2:

10 tracks from the All Smiles and More Smiles sessions, May 1968 and May 1969

4 tracks from the Folk Songs session, July 31, 1967

previously unissued, not available elsewhere

5 tracks from the Gyson session, December 15, 1967

previously unissued, not available elsewhere

The unissued material makes it worth the price alone. The music is great throughout. It was originally sold for the equivalent of 75 $.

Edited February 17, 2004 by mikeweil

[JohnJ]

Thanks Mike, I will buy it today (assuming it is still there!). The price had been marked down to less than $20, so pretty reasonable I guess.

[mikeweil]

Thanks Mike, I will buy it today (assuming it is still there!). The price had been marked down to less than $20, so pretty reasonable I guess.