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Billy Strayhorn: Out Of The Shadows
by Chris Mosey
An elaborate box set from the Danish Storyville label: seven CDs and one DVD, paying tribute to Duke Ellington's arranger and composer Billy Strayhorn that--alas--doesn't quite live up to the ambitions of it's makers. Ask yourself, was Strayhorn truly the shadowy figure implied by the title? While the bulk of ...
Duke Ellington And His Orchestra: The Treasury Shows, Volume 18
by Chris Mosey
As Duke Ellington leads his band into the opening bars of “Take The A Train," a mighty roar goes up from the radio audience. The moment comes four tracks into the first CD of this double Storyville release, after a somewhat shaky start. With it there's a marvellous feeling of being back in ...
Duke Ellington: Duke Ellington In Grona Lund
by Chris Mosey
Midsummer is a quite magical time to be in Sweden. The long, dark winter is over and now, as the sun stays resolutely above the horizon, the Lutheran natives shed their somber demeanor, dress in traditional costumes, dance around maypoles decorated with garlands of flowers, drink far too much aquavit and have such a good time ...
Dorothy Donegan: Strength, Energy, Imagination
by Chris Mosey
With this double album, Storyville Records--surely the greatest Danish invention since pastry--tells the story of a legend that never was. Dorothy Donegan, born in Chicago in 1924, trained as a classical pianist before switching to jazz and being hailed as “the female Art Tatum." She made her recording debut when ...
Christina Dahl: Life's Carousel
by Chris Mosey
Christina Dahl, wife of Carsten Dahl, Denmark's No. 1 jazz pianist, is that rare phenomenon: a woman saxophonist. She is a very forceful player, guilty perhaps, on occasion, of over- compensating for her femininity. Still, the saxophone has always tended to encourage extremes of expression, from the raucous, macho honking of rhythm 'n' ...
Buddy Tate: The Texas Tenor
by Chris Mosey
When Herschel Evans died in 1939, Buddy Tate took his place in the Count Basie band. Basie used Tate's muscular, blues- based tenor as a foil to the lighter toned playing of Lester Young. Tate played with Basie for the next nine years fulfilling the same role with Young's successors, Don Byas, Illinois Jacquet, Lucky Thompson ...
André Fernandes: Wonder Wheel
by Chris Mosey
André Fernandes, guitarist with the Orquestra Jazz De Matosinhos, one of Portugal's most dynamic big bands, is an accomplished musician and was obviously hoping for great things with this one. He commissioned Maria Bouza Pinto, an artist who is the epitome of “ le cool Lisboa“ to design the cover. And he recruited Ines Sousa from ...
Cine Qua Non: Cine Qua Non
by Chris Mosey
Sine qua non is a Latin term meaning something absolutely needed, or essential. This Portuguese quartet is exactly that in terms of bringing melody and accessibility back to the fore in European jazz. However, their name is mis-spelt because accordionist Joao Paulo Esteves da Silva says their music “alludes to the cinema." With ...
Orquestra Jazz De Matosinhos: Jazz Composers Forum
by Chris Mosey
In 1937 Duke Ellington's recipe for big band jazz was: “It don't mean a thing, if it ain't got that swing." Count Basie later added a caveat defining swing as something “you can really pat your foot by." Times sure have changed. Portugal's Orquestra Jazz de Matosinhos commissioned pieces by eight modern composers ...
Swedish indie label Volenza relaunches
by Chris Mosey
At the age of 82, Torgil Rosenberg has decided that the time has come to take a back seat in the running his Swedish independent jazz label Volenza. “It's time for a new generation to take over," he says, “My future role in the company will be a purely advisory one."
