The Bebop Shop : A Swingin' Affair: Blue Notes & Hard Bop Classics : Bebop In Britain
• This previously unreleased recording presents what is, in essence, a microcosm of those times. Taped at North Wembley's legendary jazz mecca, The Hopbine, and centred upon that most traditional of formats – the jam session – the featured cast list makes this set anything but a dull tread over old pub-jazz ground. Take the front-line; alto saxophonist Ray Warleigh and trombonist Chris Pyne, then both in their mid-twenties, were among the most exciting new voices on the UK jazz scene, then both broadening their outlooks in the bands of blues-guru Alexis Korner and avant-garde pioneer John Stevens. (DIscovery Records) Price: £11.99
Another aspect that added fame as well as notoriety to the Phil Seamen phenomenon was his well known drug addiction. Seamen could handle large amounts of drugs, washing them down with a large intake of alcohol. There are countless anecdotes still told about Phil Seamen, some comic, some tragic and some apocryphal, most of them a mixture of all three. He was a born raver. (Proper Records) Price: £16.99
These Tempo recordings, originally released in scattered form on rare EPs, 10 inch LPs and multi-artist anthologies, form an impressive body of work and the line-ups include the cream of his contemporaries – Tony Crombie, Victor Feldman, Tubby Hayes, Derek Humble, Phil Seamen, Terry Shannon, Harry South, Stan Tracey and Ken Wray. (Discovery Records) Price: £12.99
Featuring several rare sessions, this new Acrobat CD finds the great altoist in a variety of settings, including a quartet set highlighting his ballad playing in the company of future doyen of British TV and film scores, pianist Max Harris, hitherto only available on a much sought after EP; a session combining a stellar line-up of Melody Maker poll winners – again long out of print; a previously unissued guest appearance with the German Kurt Edelhagen big band and, finally, another truly all-star session under the direction of John Dankworth, which finds Harriott alongside a dazzling list of other notable British jazz leaders including Kenny Ball, Chris Barber, Sandy Brown, Tubby Hayes and Humphrey Lyttelton. Complete with period photographs – several of them never before published - and an extensive booklet essay by award winning saxophonist and author Simon Spillett, this collection is a mandatory listening for all fans of the Golden Age of British Modern Jazz. (Acrobat Music) Price: £11.99
Personnel includes Shake Keane (trumpet), Hank Shaw (trumpet) Harry South (piano) Pat Smythe (piano) Phil Seamen and Bobby Orr (drums). (Discovery Records) Price: £25.99
Audiophile grade 180g vinyl. Price: £33.99
Recorded in the early 1960s at London’s Lansdowne Studios, they feature the Joe Harriott Quintet at the very top of its game, blending free-from material with more conventional forms of modern jazz. Joe is heard alongside the inimitable Shake Keane, the Carribean-born trumpet and flugelhorn virtuoso whose like we have not seen since his death in 1997. The free-from element is represented on the 1964 Movement album by Joe’s compositions Beams, Movement and Spaces, and there’s a nod in the direction of his erstwhile employer with the inclusion of Michael Garrick’s Face in the Crowd. One of the most beautiful moments comes in Morning Blue, a hauntingly evocative Joe Harriott original that Shake Keane later re-recorded on his 1967 album That’s the Noise.
Going in the opposition direction, the Broadway musical High Spirits might seem like odd subject matter for the Joe Harriott Quintet, given its relentlessly modern outlook. Yet it’s what constituted the music on the second album in this collection, albeit resplendent in pianist Pat Smythe’s colourful, swinging arrangements. In fact, this material is ideal for both Joe and Shake in that it brings out their genius for lyrical, melodic improvisation, particularly so in such numbers from the show as If I Gave You, Home Sweet Heaven and I Know Your Heart. Sterling support is provided throughout both albums by Pat Smythe (piano), Coleridge Goode (bass) and Bobby Orr (drums). What’s more, both the Movement and High Spirits albums were originally issued in mono only, but Vocalion has sourced this reissue from the original stereo master tapes, thereby allowing this wonderful music to be heard in its true splendour. Remastered from the original stereo master tapes. (Dutton Vocalion) Price: £19.99
Hurry, last copy! Price: £15.99
97 tracks are featured within which show what an innovator Shearing is, the 40 page booklet tells the story of this remarkable musician who fought against the odds to become a worldwide success. Price: £16.99
This new Acrobat release tells the whole story of this remarkable transition, containing two PREVIOUSLY UNISSUED broadcast recordings from 1959 and 1961, adding both a prelude and postscript to The Five of Us, the Jazz Five’s sole release for Tony Hall’s famed Tempo label. Throughout the album Ash demonstrates his world-class skills on both his instruments alongside fellow British jazz luminaries including baritone saxist Herry Klein, trumpeter Ian Hamer, pianists Harry South and Brian Dee and drummer Bill Eyden. Complete with rare period photos and press cuttings, the compilation also features an extensive booklet essay by saxophonist and writer Simon Spillett, co-author of Ash’s autobiography I Blew It My Way. (Acrobat Music) Price: £12.99
This 1972 session – only recently rediscovered and never before issued - captures one such night, featuring Morrissey in positively overflowing form in the company of vibraphonist Lennie Best's quartet, and serves not only as a souvenir from an evening which those present can still recall, but as a fitting memorial to Morrissey's no-holds-barred commitment to his bop roots. Packaged with an extensive booklet by award-winning saxophonist Simon Spillett, including rare press clippings and the recollections of some of the musicians and fans on the gig, this release is an indispensable, candid document of an era all too often glossed over in the histories of British modern jazz. (Acrobat Music) Price: £11.99
This compilation traces the first twelve years of her career, beginning with her earliest sides as an uncredited ensemble vocalist in The Johnny Dankworth Seven, in 1951, through to her emergence as a major solo star at the turn of the 60s, when she registered an unlikely mainstream Pop hit, 'You'll Answer To Me'. Laine has been hugely prolific and this compilation is drawn from fourteen singles, five EPs and six LPs. The first comprehensive compilation of this body of her work, a number of these sides are notoriously hard to find elsewhere on CD. (Jasmine Records) Price: £12.99
