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Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band: Handle With Care
This album comes from 1962 and was recorded not long after the C-BBB was organized as a permanent ensemble. Even though these recordings are 40 years old, they sound fresher than ever. Virtuosic straight ahead big band jazz of the type featured by the C-BBB sounds a hundred times more contemporary than the fusion and jazz-rock experiments from the same period. Therein lies the greatness of the C-BBB. Francy Boland, who did almost all of the writing for the band, was a highly adventurous arranger whose harmonic palette was extraordinarily sophisticated and modern; yet his arrangements always swang. Indeed, with sidemen the likes of Benny Bailey, Billy Mitchell, Sahib Shihab and Idrees Sulieman, it would have been almost impossible to do anything but swing.
In addition to its great soloists, the C-BBB featured ensemble work of unmatched quality. In this regard the late Derek Humble must be singled out as one of the greatest lead altos of all time.
Other outstanding performances are by Sahib Shihab on flute in "Long Note Blues" and "Om Mani Padme Hum." On the latter tune Benny Bailey displays his usual pyrotechnics and shows why he was always considered to be one of the most exciting trumpet players in the jazz scene.
But for its sheer hipness quotient, nothing can beat Francy Boland's arrangement of Kenny Clarke's tune, "Sonor." It has that rare quality of being simultaneously laid back and urgently pressing forward.
The C-BBB disbanded in 1973 after a 12-year run. Fortunately, we have recordings like this CD that allow us to hear what all the fuss was about.
Track Listing
Long Note Blues (Here Is Cecco Beppe); Get Out of Town; Sonor; Speedy Reeds; Old Stuff; Om Mani Padme Hum
Personnel
Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band
band / ensemble / orchestraBenny Bailey, Roger Guerin, Jimmy Deuchar, Ahmed Muvaffak Falay, Idrees Sulieman, Edmund Falay, trumpets; Ake Persson, Nat Peck, Erich kleinschuster, Raymond Katarsynski, Frederic "Keg" Johnson, trombones; Derek Humble, Carl Drevo, Billy Mitchell, Ronnie Scott, Sahib Shihab, reeds; Francy Boland, pianist & arranger; Jimmy Woode, bass; Kenny Clarke, drums; Joe Harris, tympani; Sadi, bongos
Album information
Title: Handle With Care | Year Released: 2002 | Record Label: KOCH International Jazz
Comments
About Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band
Instrument: Band / ensemble / orchestra
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