Monday, October 17, 2011

CD Review: Jazz at the Flamingo (1961)- Tenth Anniversary Tribute


Jazz at the Flamingo (1961)- Tenth Anniversary Tribute(Fantastik Voyage FVCD125. CD Review by Frank Griffith)

Jazz at the Flamingo (1961), the first of 2 CDs, celebrates the 10th anniversary of the fabled club which opened in 1952 on Wardour Street. A plethora of dynamic and innovative British jazz groups are featured including the Ronnie Ross Quintet, the Eddie Thompson Trio, The Tommy Whittle Quintet, The Tony Crombie Orchestra and The Jazz Couriers.  Generally, the music is striking and refreshing throughout, but details of sidemen are very sparse.

The British Jazz Trio, consisting of three Brits who emigrated to New York - Derek Smith on piano, John Drew on bass and Kenny Harris, drums, also appear on four tracks.

The London Jazz Quartet CD comprises four leading lights of the day - Tubby Hayes, Alan Branscombe, Tony Crombie and Jack Fallon - with Tubby and Alan doubling on all sorts including saxes, vibes, flute and piano (to name a few) amongst them. This 1959 session was clearly ahead of its time and flavoured by fourteen original pieces composed largely by Crombie along with contributions from the likes of Tony Kinsey (who I 'm happy to report is still composing away today) and the late Bill Le Sage and Alan Clare.  Scintillating stuff.

Jazz at the Flamingo 1961 will be released on October 24th
Fantastik Voyage website

No comments:

Post a Comment