Friday, July 3, 2020

Bob Wilber And The Tuxedo Big Band Of Toulouse France - More Unrecorded Arrangements

Styles: Clarinet Jazz, Big Band   
Year: 2003
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:54
Size: 137,7 MB
Art: Front

(4:13)  1. Tuxedo Stomp
(4:16)  2. Blue Interlude
(3:15)  3. I'm Coming Virginia
(2:09)  4. All The Things You Are
(3:02)  5. I Want To Be Happy
(3:23)  6. Guess I'll Go Back Home This Summer
(2:58)  7. Some Of These Days
(3:19)  8. Ballad For Benny
(3:56)  9. Royal Garden Blues
(3:15) 10. Song Of The Plow
(3:54) 11. I Know That You Know
(2:23) 12. Mendelssohn Mowed Down
(2:47) 13. Limehouse Blues
(2:48) 14. The Thrill Is Gone
(3:03) 15. Conversation
(6:04) 16. Clarinetta
(3:59) 17. Benny's Bugle

This marvelous new recording by clarinetist Bob Wilber and the Tuxedo Big Band from Toulouse, France, is akin to finding buried treasure and it’s no wonder, as these sparkling arrangements by Fletcher Henderson were “buried” for many years in collections donated by Benny Goodman to the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts and the Yale University Music Library. Wilber was given access to them in 1984 as he planned a 75th birthday tribute to the King of Swing at Waterloo Village in New Jersey, and spent more than a decade after Goodman’s death in 1986 planning an album to showcase Henderson’s unrecorded gems as he searched for a big band capable of expressing their notable spirit and charm. Wilber found his band in Toulouse, France. Tuxedo, formed in 1990 by clarinetist Paul Chéron and named in honor of the Tuxedo Club in turn of the century Manhattan, is devoted to music of the Swing Era. 

The band has recorded two CDs of material by Jimmie Lunceford, Rhythm Is Our Business and Siesta at the Fiesta, on its own TBB label, and recently released a third album, To Ella and Chick, dedicated to Ella Fitzgerald and Chick Webb. Even more important, Wilber and Chéron have become friends and Wilber has performed with the band on a number of occasions. 

The surprisingly accomplished TBB is present on all save one selection, Jerome Kern / Dorothy Fields’ “Bojangles of Harlem,” played by Wilber and the rhythm section. With the exceptions of “Bojangles,” Neil Moret’s “Song of the Wanderer,” Antonin Dvorak’s “Humoresque” and the Dixieland staple “Milenburg Joys,” the songs were adapted by Henderson from the Great American Songbook, the sturdy bedrock on which every Swing Era band rested. Make no mistake, these charts are by no means “modern”; they are typical of the period in which they were written, the mid ’30s to late ’40s when Goodman’s orchestra was at the height of its popularity. 

The Tuxedo band stays in character throughout, sounding for all the world like a pre–World War II era ensemble; even the solos are swing-derived carbons. Wilber, who says Goodman was his "first inspiration to play clarinet," is a masterful replacement for the King, flexing his impressive chops on most numbers and building to a toe-tapping finish on "Bojangles" (which also features inspired drumming by Jean-Luc Guiraud). Those who remember and / or appreciate America's golden age of big-band music will find a lavish storehouse of riches in these previously unheard arrangements.~ Jack Bowers https://www.allaboutjazz.com/fletcher-hendersons-unrecorded-arrangements-for-benny-goodman-bob-wilber-arbors-records-review-by-jack

Personnel: Clarinet – Bob Wilber;  Alto Saxophone, Clarinet – Stéphane Lourties; Baritone Saxophone, Clarinet, Flute, Bass Clarinet – Guy Robert (2); Bass – Pierre-Luc Puig; ; Drums – Jean-Luc Guiraud; Guitar – Henri Chéron ; Music Director, Alto Saxophone, Bass Clarinet, Clarinet – Paul Chéron; Piano – Thierry Ollé; Tenor Saxophone, Clarinet – Gérard Batbie, Jean-François Bonnel; Trombone – Didier Pascal, Laurent Hotta, Michel Chalot; Trumpet – Eric Robert (2), Jacques Sallent, Jean Imbert, Philippe Laudet

More Unrecorded Arrangements

Willie Nelson - First Rose of Spring

Styles: Vocal, Country
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:26
Size: 97,7 MB
Art: 

(3:41)  1. First Rose of Spring
(4:35)  2. Blue Star
(2:49)  3. I'll Break Out Again Tonight
(3:07)  4. Don't Let the Old Man In
(3:15)  5. Just Bummin' Around
(3:51)  6. Our Song
(4:03)  7. We Are the Cowboys
(3:41)  8. Stealing Home
(4:11)  9. I'm the Only Hell My Mama Ever Raised
(4:34) 10. Love Just Laughed
(3:33) 11. Yesterday When I Was Young (Hier Encore)

Willie Nelson’s 70th solo studio album, released in his 88th year, is a reflection on life experience, love and mortality. If that sounds morbid, it’s not: there’s catharsis in the country legend’s beguiling delivery. The slow-paced title-track opener sets the tone with plaintive harmonica, pedal-steel guitar and tender, but weary, vocals. It’s followed by Nelson and his long-term friend and producer Buddy Cannon’s atmospheric “Blue Star”, which reassures a younger lover that they will meet once again beyond the pearly gates (“And when we reach the heaven’s bright/ I’ll be the blue star on your right”). Subtle harmonising backing vocals, sliding guitar and organ combine beautifully.

Though Nelson laments failed relationships in “Love Just Laughed” (“We can look back and smile and say/ Whatever happened brought us down to today”), it’s not all downbeat. Listen to his cover of the hammond-driven “Just Bummin’ Around” (by Pete Graves) and you’ll feel a surge of jauntiness. Nelson’s first release since winning a 2020 Grammy for Best Country Solo Performance with last year’s “Ride Me Back Home” features just two new songs “Blue Star” and “Love Just Laughed”. On First Rose of Spring, Nelson is more interested in paying tribute to the artists he admires, imbuing their songs with his gravelly emotion. “In this time that I’ve been given/ To fill my life with livin’/ I hope I’ve done the best that I can do”, he sings on “Our Song”. That this is a cover of Chris Stapleton who has hailed Nelson “one of my biggest influences” acknowledges his mutual respect for the younger star and suggests he could be ready to hand over the mantle to his successor. But First Rose of Spring is the work of an artist wwho will never grow old. https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/willie-nelson-review-first-rose-of-spring-denai-moore-modern-dread-stream-a9596686.html

First Rose of Spring