The Bebop Shop : A Swingin' Affair: Blue Notes & Hard Bop Classics : Lars Gullin & Other Europeans
4 CD set with detailed booklet featuring a series of quartet, quintet, sextet, septet and octet recordings showcasing both his instrumental and compositional skills. (Discovery Records) Price: £54.99
Despite a life occasionally beset by personal problems, throughout his career he produced music that was consistently good and sometimes sublime. And during 1956-1960, the period covered in this collection, he was at his peak. Surrounded by outstanding members of that Scandinavian golden generation, including Rolf Billberg, Åke Persson, Arne Domnérus, Jan Allan, Rune Öfwermann and Bengt-Arne Wallin, he made a series of recordings that stand as testimony to his multiple gifts as a player, composer and arranger.
4 CD Box Set including a 36-page booklet with comprehensive essay written by Ray Comiskey, session details, photos, original art & liner notes. (Absolute Distribution) Price: £49.99
Arne Domnérus has an assured place among Swedish jazz musicians who have broken new ground and established Sweden as one of the top European jazz nations. He is a revered name in the USA and in the rest of the jazz world and he will ever remain in the "Hall of Fame".
Arne Domnérus, alto saxophone, clarinet; Bengt Hallberg, piano; Lars Erstrand, vibes; Georg Riedel, bass; Egil Johansen, drums and others. Price: £14.99
This album is dedicated to one of them in particular: trumpeter Roger Guérin (1926-2010). Despite having very few recordings under his name and spending most of his career as a sideman, Guérin was never underappreciated by jazz fans and critics: after all, he was chosen as the best French jazz trumpeter ten years in a row (1955-65) by the “Jazz-Hot” readers’ and critics’ poll. In these sessions we find him alongside great American jazzmen like James Moody, Jimmy Raney, Benny Golson and Bobby Timmons, but also in the company of his French comrades, giving his best in every performance.
• He was involved in many of the projects that pushed the evolution of modern jazz in France. An arranger of the stature of Billy Byers, who worked in Paris for a while in 1956, described him like this: “There are some very good musicians in France: Roger Guérin is a great jazzman.” (Discovery Records) Price: £17.99
This, in turn, piqued the interest of the Versailles label, which asked René to record a new trio album, which he led with hard swinging imagination. There is a free-wheeling, coasting sort of feeling to his playing that is, still today, truly exhilarating. He was described by André Hodeir as “one of the European musicians who swings the best.” Listening to these recordings, there’s little doubt why René Urtreger was the favorite accompanist of most of the American stars who visited Paris in the prolific jazz scene of the Fifties and early Sixties. A true living legend. (Discovery Records) Price: £17.99
'La Note Bleue' was awarded the Grand Prix Jazz de l'Académie Charles Cros as "The Best French Jazz Album of 1987", and features Barney Wilen on tenor and soprano saxophones, Alain Jean-Marie on piano, Philippe Petit on guitar, Riccardo Del Fra on double-bass, and Sangoma Everett on drums.
Bonus CD consists of a previously unissued 1989 Radio France live broadcast by the Barney Wilen Quartet. Recorded on September 27, 1989 at the Parisian jazz club Le Petit Opportun, the broadcast features Wilen offering fresh new interpretations of songs from La Note Bleue. It is issued here thanks to the collaboration of the INA (Institute National de l`Audiovisuel). Wilen is backed here by Jacky Terrasson on piano, Gilles Naturel on double-bass, and Peter Gritz on drums. (Proper Music) Price: £29.99
The programme of standards includes 'Round Midnight, Summertime, Someday My Prince Will Come and All The Things You Are. The 2-CD set includes a 24-page booklet with liner notes by Ashley Kahn, Philippe Vincent (Jazz Magazine France), Riccardo Del Fra and Patrick Wilen. (Proper Music) Price: £29.99
Gerard had always been a huge fan of Peter King, and the good rapport between Gerard and Tete was obvious, so the circumstances seemed perfect. Everyone gave their best, showing an explosive collective spirit, with passionate performances and meaningful jazz improvisation in this splendid free-blowing date in the bebop mold. (Fresh Sound Records) Price: £17.99
