Art Themen Organ Trio - Live in Soho

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2024
Time: 50:53
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 117,5 MB
Art: Front

(5:10) 1. Chili Peppers
(5:48) 2. Brahms… I Think
(6:06) 3. Country
(5:56) 4. Groovy Samba
(3:54) 5. I’ve Grown Accustomed To Her Face
(5:41) 6. African Market Place
(7:03) 7. And What If I Don’t?
(3:01) 8. Sophisticated Lady
(8:11) 9. Cape Verdean Blues

I heard this band at Swanage (admittedly with trumpeter Martin Shaw added) and thought them a wow. Now comes the acid test of a live album to consider and the good news is that one’s original impression is largely confirmed. The veteran Themen’s open-mindedness comes across as ever, first on the stirring ‘Chilli Peppers’, his tenor often this side of wonky but always with melodic malice in mind, Double’s percussive expertise and Whittaker’s brilliance keeping him on the straight and (fairly) narrow.

It’s Art’s serpentine soprano on Zoot Sims’ ‘Brahms… I Think’, Whitaker resplendent. ‘Country’ is taken slow, Themen on tenor letting the melody breathe and have its way, the total performance a joy. ‘Groovy Samba’ follows, danceably direct, soprano leading, sinuous and slippery, Double keeping an eye on the beat. ‘I’ve Grown Accustomed To Her Face’ is another beauty, Themen again proving his worth as a tenor balladeer, understated, Whitaker compelling on piano.

How about Abdullah Ibrahim’s ‘African Marketplace’ as a contrast? Double again sounding out its shape, Whitaker comping, Themen jubilant and yes, fervent. Hancock’s ‘And What If I Don’t?’ is a bluesy piece, and gets a righteous treatment ahead of ‘Sophisticated Lady’, this given a largely a cappella tenor workout, and the stompy closer, Silver’s ‘Cape Verdean Blues’.

So, an eclectic mix and a set of pleasingly varied performances: no wonder Themen calls his trio mates, ‘the best of musical compadres’. He should know, having enjoyed their company over some 70-plus gigs. Look out for them.https://www.jazzwise.com/review/art-themen-organ-trio-live-in-soho

Personnel: Art Themen (tenor and soprano sax); Pete Whittaker (organ and piano); George Double (drums)

Live in Soho

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Stan Tracey Quartet - Under Milk Wood

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1965
Time: 40:47
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 93,4 MB
Art: Front

(6:52) 1. Cockle Row
(3:51) 2. Starless And Bible Black
(3:19) 3. I Lost My Step In Nantucket
(5:03) 4. No Good Boyo
(3:51) 5. Penpals
(4:55) 6. Llareggub
(6:03) 7. Under Milk Wood
(6:50) 8. A.M.Mayhem

The Sunday Times: January 2, 1966: “Three of the top 1965 LP’s which have given me most pleasure are home-produced with Stan Tracey’s Under Milk Wood likely to become a classic in anyone’s musical language”.

The Sunday Times: February 29, 1976: “I have unsurprisingly, always considered Dylan Thomas’ “Under Milk Wood” a minor masterpiece. The jazz suite which Stan Tracey wrote eleven years ago, inspired by Thomas’s work, has been likewise hailed. Put the two together, though, and you have a transcending experience of triumphant delight, both moving and joyous…… A superb production which deserves an album of its own”.

These extracts reflect the enthusiasm which I have always felt both for Stan Tracey’s music and Dylan Thomas’s words. The only surprise is that it took the best part of a decade to effect the marriage between music and words. Although BBC2 TV had first presented Donald Houston and the Tracey quartet in Under Milk Wood, it wasn’t until February 1976, when the show took to the road, that I enjoyed the “transcending experience” of hearing it at the New London Theatre and writing about it in The Sunday Times.

That experience is what’s now captured on this album, and to have played a part in ensuring that works of art one has believed in for so long should thereby be available to the widest possible audience is the most satisfying possible outcome for any music writer.

What’s so marvellous about it all? Well. the words of Dylan Thomas came first, of course. Under Milk Wood was written for radio, and although it reads beautifully on paper, only when the words are spoken can its full splendour be appreciated. As a portrait of characters, places and events, in a small Welsh seaside town, it is quite marvellous.

The rich language and imagery which were Dylan’s great gift are abundantly deployed. The quick vignettes of character are masterly. Pomposity is slyly debunked; goodness is gently appreciated; the follies, hopes, loves, desires, failings of the people he deals with are treated with warmest understanding. Dylan can be very funny and very witty indeed about Llareggub (this made-up town name, with its irreverant inversion, was typical of his impish nature) bur he can be so kind and moving too. he loved this place, and the love shines through.

Stan Tracey was in the midst of his long and distinguished sojourn (1960-1968) as the resident pianist at Ronnie Scott’s Club, undoubtedly the most famous jazz mecca in the world, when in 1963 he composed his Under Milk Wood suite to reflect his own feelings about Dylan’s splendid work. Suites of this kind are always suspect: can music ever fully convey the moods and nuances of words? Well Tracey’s certainly did. I Lost My Step In Nantucket, for instance, perfectly brought to life Dancing Williams, crew mate of the erratic old sea captain, Cat. Pen Pals mirrored the warmly comic romance of Miss Jones and Mog Edwards, the two middle aged shopkeepers. The title song, a jazz ballad, was as affectionate and beautiful as Thomas’s own overall vision of his Welsh landscape.

Dylan Thomas, I suppose, needs no advocacy from me to underline his honoured place in modern literature. He has, after all, been an examination subject for years. But Stan Tracey’s position is less acknowledged. It’s worth reminding ourselves that his career in music is now well into its fourth decade. Since he began at 16 as a piano accordionist, has has done so much in and for British music. The highlights have included his stay with the Ted Heath band (1957-1959); his eight years at Scott’s where he accompanied virtually every great jazz artist (and style) under the sun – Ben Webster, Roland Kirk, Sonny Rollins, Anita O’Day, Jimmy Witherspoon etc, etc: his big band, Ellington-influenced, of the late 1960’s.

But this is only part of it. He’s never stopped composing, and literature has often been the inspiration of his suites (Alice In Wonderland, for example, sparked off another). Above all, as he nears 50, Stan has never grown old in his attitudes to music. He continues to experiment, to progress, to attack new barriers, often at cost to himself, since some of his more advanced work has not appealed to those who enjoyed him in a more conventional jazz-trio, suite-composer context. He is one of the finest and most underrated musicians in the world.

This album should establish (or re-establish) his place once and for all in the mainstream of music which is of the highest quality and, at the same time, enjoyable and accessible to a very wide audience of diverse tastes. And his partnership with Donald Houston is a most happy one. Houston it was who originated the role of narrator in the first stage presentation of Under Milk Wood at the Edinburgh Festival, and later in the West End, on Broadway and on television. He is a marvellous actor, and I can think of no one in the world who could match his performance of Dylan’s work.

In this presentation of Under Milk Wood, words and music are perfectly complementary. Sometimes the emphasis is musical, with the playing of Art Themen and Tracey incredibly sympathetic. On other occasions music which is perfect in tone and volume enhances both the words and Houston’s musical voice. From time to time there are, rightly, only the words. And I guess that the finest moments of all are those when Houston’s sensitive readings explain, as it were, the shapes and colours of the music, and vice-versa. An example of this … “Eastern music undoes him in a Japanese minute” declares Houston, leading into the spiky melody of No Good Boyo.

As Tracey’s music and Dylan’s words are, separately, now acknowledged to be outstanding works of their separate kinds, so I believe this marriage of the two, performed with love and inspiration, will achieve that status in the future. It’s a whole world of enjoyment, revelation and entertainment.

© Derek Jewell, Jazz and Popular Music Critic, The Sunday Times of London Recorded in London at the Wigmore Hall May 22, 1976.
https://www.resteamed-records.com/product/under-milk-wood-re-issue-with-donald-houston-download/

Personnel: Stan Tracey (piano); Art Themen (tenor saxophone); Dave Green (double bass); Bryan Spring (drums)

Under Milk Wood

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Art Themen - Hanky Panky

Styles: Jazz Contemporary
Year: 2022
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:17
Size: 120,1 MB
Art: Front

(6:20) 1. The Night Has a Thousand Eyes
(7:19) 2. Hanky Panky
(4:38) 3. Black Narcissus
(6:55) 4. Prelude to a Kiss
(6:24) 5. I Mean You
(6:26) 6. Without a Song
(8:19) 7. Invitation
(5:54) 8. Solid

Barry says a session was cancelled so instead he corralled Themen, Williams and Green, all of whom were available at short notice. And thank heaven, for this is a very classy affair indeed. ‘The Night Has A Thousand Eyes’ opens as a free-flowing tenor exposé, Themen shuffling his ideas as only he can, Barry laying down a tidal wave of drum effects. Williams, as ever, is not to be outdone, his improvisations like a cascade of unexpected twists and turns, Themen back in to finish.

Dexter Gordon's title track with its parade ground strut is immediately engaging, Green's purposeful walk allowing Williams to fly, occasional funky figures punctuating the flow, before Themen casts his spell, sinuous and mystical, with Rollins like an unseen guest, Green and Barry playing games.

‘Black Narcissus’ is a soprano feature, the tone a tad peevish, Williams thoughtful and pertinent, a mood that continues with ‘Prelude To A Kiss’, Themen back on tenor, almost reverential as he explores its time-honoured outline, Williams markedly un-Duke-like, as Green takes over. Themen's final solo is of the highest quality; Paul Gonsalves would have approved, I'm sure. Monk's ‘I Mean You’ is a stompier affair and all the more welcome for it.

‘Without A Song’ has Williams in imperious form, Themen tip-toeing around the melody, Green powerful in solo and support, Williams taking the chordal route home. Rollins’ ‘Solid’ is the toe-tapping closer to an impromptu four-star collaboration but its five-stars to label boss Andy Cleyndert for his production, design and photography. A shiny digipack to savour: good to look at and great to play. https://www.jazzwise.com/review/art-themen-dave-barry-quartet-hanky-panky

Hanky Panky

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Greg Foat & Art Themen - Off-Piste

Styles: Soul Jazz, Jazz Fusion
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:08
Size: 99,1 MB
Art: Front

(10:39) 1. Fresh Snow
( 3:54) 2. La Partida
( 7:44) 3. Off Piste
( 4:48) 4. Yrsno
( 8:15) 5. Sis No Hyp
( 7:46) 6. Apres Ski

Pianist Greg Foat, who has been who has been at the forefront of the UK jazz scene for the past decade, has teamed up with 83 year-old London saxophone great Art Themen on a superb new album for the Athens Of The North label, titled Off-Piste.

Admirers of each other’s work, the two were interested in recording an album together for a number of years, however the pandemic put a delay on the session for a while. Once things opened up again, they headed to highly acclaimed Edinburgh-based Chamber Studio with an exciting group of UK musicians that included guitarist Gavin Sutherland, harpist Amanda Whitingm electric bassist Philip Achille, and drummer/percussionist Nadav Schneerson.

This remarkable 6-track recording features a solid dose of breezy instrumental cosmic jazz featuring warm analog tones, meditative grooves, hypnotic effects, atmospheric textures and cinematic soundscapes. The session truly sounds like the album’s peaceful cover photo. https://www.jazzmessengers.com/en/96650/greg-foat/off-piste-s-art-themen-limited-edition

Personnel: Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – Art Themen; Bass – Philip Achille; Drums, Percussion – Nadav Schneerson; Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes], Synthesizer [Prophet 10, Roland SH-101,MK-80,Sequential OB-6] – Greg Foat; Guitar – Gavin Sutherland; Harp – Amanda Whiting

Off-Piste

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