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George Duvivier leader album


Daniel A

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The Wikipedia article on George Duvivier refers to a recording I have not found any reference to elsewhere. 

"Although he spent most of his career as a sideman, he recorded as a leader in 1956 with Martial Solal for Coronet."

Coronet seems also as a somewhat unlikely label for such an album, but before making an edit of the article, I'd like to ask the members here whether they recognize this supposed album.

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My best shot at what could be meant...

More info there... Apparently there's overdubbing so Duvivier and Solal will really be heard together... Coronet seems to be Columbia... And whether Duvivier should be considered a Co-Leader here I wouldn't want to judge

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Thanks, interesting! But I cannot find any examples of this recording anywhere else.

On Discogs, there are a couple of Coronet releases with calalog numbers starting with "CX" in the 50-60 range, some of which have a French connection:

https://www.discogs.com/master/919517-François-Chantal-Accordeon-De-Paris

However, not this one.

 

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George Duvivier’s final session listed in the excellent bio/discography published by Scarecrow Press was a duo with pianist James Williams. I asked him about it and he said that his own playing wasn’t up to his standards, though Duvivier was great. I have no idea if the unissued tape is in the James Williams archives left to William Paterson University, they never responded to my query.

In Ed Berger's Bassically Speaking, an oral history and discography of George Duvivier, there is no listing of a recording by the bassist with either Michel Hausser or Martial Solal, though he did make a recording in Paris in May 1956 with Bill Coleman and another with Sacha Distel.

 

Edited by Ken Dryden
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On 4/27/2024 at 1:34 AM, jazztrain said:

I suspect the reference is to this:

  Paris, May 22, 1956
COR56-139 Rue Dauphine ? Coronet
COR56-140 Nautilus  
COR56-141 No whiskey for George  
COR56-142 You go to my head  
COR56-143 Just for kicks  
COR56-144 Fine and dandy

 

FWIW, this session is also listed in the Bruyninckx discography (the version released in instalments as PDF files - but which certainly predates any publications in the Lord discography). So rumors about the existence of this release must have been around for a while.

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As I recall, Ed Berger had access to Duvivier’s appointment books to confirm record dates and gigs, though in a quick look I didn’t find the relevant citation. It has been more than a few years since I read it.

Edited by Ken Dryden
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I think I know him mostly from his bass parts on Bud Powell Volume 2 and maybe on some Verve or Victor also from the 50´s. He was a very good bassist. I saw him also on video on a thing that was called Dizzy Gillespie Dream Band from the 80´s with an All Star Big Band and an All Star Quintet. 
My hope to see him live was not fulfilled: He was scheduled to be with Woody Herman in an All Star small group also in the mid 80´s, but in the last minute he had been replaced by an unkown young bassist, who was very good, but he was not George Duvivier. I remember that concert very well because it had Al Cohn AND Buddy Tate on tenor and Woody himself played some fine clarinet and even some vocal...... the last time I saw Woody Herman......

I don´t remember to have seen Duvivier´s name on later jazz albums from the 60´s or 70´s . Maybe it was the times changing. Like the way Paul Chambers slowly disappeared from being the most recorded bassist, when other bass greats like Ron Carter, Richard Davis and Jimmy Garrison took that role.......

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6 hours ago, Gheorghe said:

My hope to see him live was not fulfilled: He was scheduled to be with Woody Herman in an All Star small group also in the mid 80´s, but in the last minute he had been replaced by an unkown young bassist, who was very good, but he was not George Duvivier.

Possibly, he was replaced because of his terminal illness; he died from cancer in 1985, aged 64. I read somewhere that he then still lived with his mother, who outlived him by 19 years!

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On 5/10/2024 at 2:50 PM, Daniel A said:

Possibly, he was replaced because of his terminal illness; he died from cancer in 1985, aged 64. I read somewhere that he then still lived with his mother, who outlived him by 19 years!

oh, that´s bad, I knew he eventually died but didn´t know when, It would have been a chance to see him live and anyway I thought as more the kind of mainstream bassist he would have sounded great with Woody Herman. 

He is mentioned in a book of contemporanous musicians who remember Bird, I think it is a compilation published by Robert Reisner, nothing musical interesting, but nice to read and there is also o photo of Bird with Duvivier, so they played and maybe recorded together......

I musts admit, when I first read his name as the bassist on "Amazing Bud Powell Vol. II" that he is French, since I thought that "Duvivier" is pronounced in french and since I had heard that Bud lived in France before I got to know his music, I had thought that that´s the reason, Bud in France, logical: French Bass Player "Duvivier". 

 

Living with his mother ? Strange, Didn´t he have his own family ? 

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