Dave Chandler's Quintet
Vol. 1, and Vol. 2
The album opens with Mary Wilkinson singing on the lovely ballad "Sunday" over which, bands like Les Brown, Jean Goldkette, Claude Hopkins with singer Beverley White, have all taken a shine to in the past, and which, Ruby Braff on his visit to London last year gave his followers great delight with a lovely Ellington expression of it.Nice even spaced trumpet triplets showed evidence on "Singing the Blues" a hallmark of Bix. An important controlled timer is place by the bass sax to a beautiful clarinet sound, but an extrapolation of the violin on this tune would have worked wonders for me, as can be heard on "I Can't Get Started" and elsewhere, and if I add "Clarinet Marmalade" to those two mentioned numbers, one could look for a battle of the trumpet giants, but will add, that in no way should one expect cutting contests here, and if there were signs of, I would not be able adjudicate.
If one is looking for trombone stardom then go for "Blue Heaven" where I can't name another band in the country producing as great a stop-ending, as this one has done, but to return to the Bone, I do so give "Undecided" too a worthy mention.
A female voice a la the Bessie Smith style has to be good for jazz on our circuit, and this can be heard on "Organ Grinder Blues" where the group show warmth, feeling and sentimental accord with the singer. The volume ends on the very popular "Wabash Blues" played in earlier days by Boyd Senter, Harry Roy and many other notables.
The juxtapose of the eleven tunes makes for a great beginning to end of this session.
The driving beat on "You're Driving Me Crazy" the opening tune of Vol. 2, sure will send the jivers into hair-raising spins. From a passion rousing Blues of the "Five Birmingham Babies" stuff, and in this the era of the 90s with only a few months to go off a new millennium, it's noticeable now the women taking more to the fore on attempting over-riding the male, only stymied by the diehards, the Quintet turns sentimental over a clutch of Duke Ellington tunes thus demonstrating the broad range of the group's musical book, which, affords the opportunity to hear the best of tenor sax and guitars as they shine through.
The sound quality is good but one of the main beat instruments needed to be more favourably positioned in diminution and in selectivity.
Attempting note for note playing, and thus paying homage to perhaps the greatest trumpet player ever, gives me for one, a great pleasure to listen to, especially as is heard as per the interpretation of "West End Blues" on this album. Even with a pulse or two short of the four and a quarter measures played in top C by Louis - here in perfect pitch, and thus is therefore very highly rated - sheer trumpet delight as one can say, so therefore, it nips "Getting Sentimental Over You" in the bud for me in volume two.
Much of the area around Garrick Street and Rose Street, just off Leicester Square in London in 1635 was owned by the 4th Earl of Bedford. Three years later, the property fell into the hands of Captain Thomas Constable of Kings Street. Prior to 1772 it became an Ale House under the name of the Coopers Arms with a door leading into Lazenby Court, and its back room was called the Bucket of Blood because of the bare-fist fights which took place there. In that year it became known as the Lamb & Flag, the pub moving there from a different place in the vacinity. The logo became the cap badge of the Queens Regiment and I believe still is to this day.
In Charles Dickens' day, it was his haunting grounds, and I'm sure that our American friends when on a visit to London will enjoy a pint or two there under the direction of "Mine Host" Terry Archer and hear the best of jazz by the Dave Chandlers Quintet.
The choice is all of yours as you get around, for I no longer do so much anymore.
Ian King KJR
26th March 1999