FRENCH PRESERVATION
NEW ORLEANS JAZZ BAND
New Orleans Revival Jazz Band
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FRENCH PRESERVATION NEW ORLEANS JAZZ BAND New Orleans Revival Jazz Band |
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REVIEW UK
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French Preservation New Orleans Jazz Band in Denmark 2008
Wouw !!!! - And it was right before the bottle-stoppers blew off. What a tremendous and outstanding finish of the first half of this jazz-year. These six Frenchmen and a single Dane were just full of POWER, POWER and more POWER. I am sure they used the very best DURACELL batteries - or was it pure play-enthusiasm - that made them able to keep this fast speed, which right from the beginning to the end characterized their way of playing. A bandleader as JP Alessi, almost looked like a yo-yo- jumped up and down - all the time he was moving, chased himself and his skilful other players to their very best. Little charming Fred Vigorito offered a very beautiful and lyrical trumpet, and what about the young Cyrille Quanich, when he gave a hot Boogie Woogie. Kjeld Brandt amused us with more clarinet-solos, and certainly he managed to send the tones - with the real New Orleans sound - out in the hall. Delicacies for our ear-holes. They were all – individually and together – just wonderful. Besides I think it was lovely to watch and listen to them standing up. This makes a greater power and abundance, when all their stored amount of air release out through the wind-instrument. With a fantastic drive a volume got created, so much that I momentarily thought the stage was almost too small for them. The used every given centimeter. An incredible band, full of playing-delight and stage-radiation. Don´t you think we all felt very comfortable in their company. They managed to create a lovely spirit and therefore keep an extraordinary great atmosphere. Such a wonderful evening has an end, unfortunately, but they were almost impossible to stop, and to the sound of “Oh, when the Saints go marching in” they marched down from the stage, changed place up on a couple of tables and got into close contact to a very following audience. I am quite convinced, that we have to experience these French musicians again in our jazz-club. Do you listen, Mr chairman Ole ********** 22 Years later in Charnay-les-Mâcon Charnay-les-Mâcon, Friday June 24, 1983, fifteen hundred people giving a five minute standing ovation to the greatest New Orleans band ever, before the concert even had started. It is something you’ll never forget. That night, the Kid Thomas band was playing a concert at the auditorium in Charnay. And not just a Kid Thomas band, no this was a great band with Louis Nelson on trombone, Sammy Rimington on clarinet, Manny Sayles on banjo, Frank Fields on bass, Jon Marks on piano, Stanley Williams on drums, the leader on trumpet and Manny Paul on tenor. A very moving experience. In the audience, a guy who was very interested in the playing of Manny Paul, JP Alessi. 22 Years later, JP was back in the same hall to play the music of his hero together with one of his other great examples, Sammy Rimington, and with Fred Vigorito. In May 1990, at the invitation of the Jazz Macon Club, Fred came to Macon together with Bill Sinclair and Dick Griff Griffith to play with great success some concerts in and around Macon. So also for him, returning to Macon, meeting Gérard, Mario, who he had already met the day before in Irigny, Michel and all the others, was a great experience. By the way, after the concert, we all, JP, Fred, myself and my wife, ended up at Gérard place for a last drink which lasted until 3.30 AM, nobody feeling tired. The concert started with an opening speech and introduction of the musicians by Gérard. Not only he was very moved by this and the memories of 22 years ago, also some in the audience had some difficult moments. The only change in the band, compared to the night at Irigny, was the bass player, who in my honest opinion fitted better in the band, playing often 2/4 and not immediately 4/4, which made that the band had more swing. Compared to Irigny, the band played some numbers you don’t often hear like ‘Chloe’, ‘Don’t Give Up The Ship’. I also had the impression that the tempos of most of the numbers were more relaxed. At the request of Mario, the band played ‘What Am I Living For’. Here also, there were some 600 people, waiting at the entrance to get in more than an hour before the concert started. And here also, the organiser had left sufficiently space in front of the band to host all the dancers. To be honest, there were so many people who wanted to dance, that they were dancing in the aisles and in the back. When Fred announced ‘Algiers Waltz’ (‘Dream Moon of Indiana’), I wondered what the reaction of the audience was going to be. Nothing special, they continued dancing, waltzing all over the floor. Up there, the Kid and his Dixieland Band members watched it all, smiled and saw it was ‘the same old soup bone’. Jempi de Donder Jazz Gazette ********** Dancing to real New Orleans music at IRIGNY When I first met Gérad Guichardon in the early 1980’s, he was always talking about ‘Le Pépé’, ‘Le Père André’, Le Diapason and le BC Blues. These were mythical places for him and Mario, and all the others form the Jazz Mâcon Club, la Renée, Momo, Robert, Michel, Jean-Claude, etc. In 1986, I finally visited the famous BC Blues in Lyon, a small cave like cellar with a few tables, blue, red and green light and a dance floor. But above all a DJ way above the age of retirement, the legendary ‘Père André’. Le Diapason and le BC Blues weren’t like the ordinary night clubs. People came here to dance. And they danced to the music of some old guys from ‘La Nouvelle Orléans’, New Orleans. In May 1986, I drove Bill Sinclair and Bill Bissonnette down to Mâcon where they were to play a few jobs at the invitation of the Jazz Mâcon Club. Gérard had taken us to the BC Blues in Lyon on the night we arrived in Mâcon. The two Bill were amazed the most when they visited the BC Blues and they could not believe their eyes and ears : this old man was playing and the dancers were dancing to their music, the music of the Easy Riders, the music issued on Jazz Crusade! They were soon to find out that dancing to New Orleans music wasn’t limited to the cellar of the BC Blues. The next night they played a concert at Senecé-les-Mâcon in front of 600 enthusiastic people, most of them often on the dance floor. Even if the once very successful Jazz Mâcon Club is now defunct, the enthusiasm for New Orleans music generated by these jazz lovers is still very intact. One of the things they never achieved was to have a local band playing this music. There were some attempts, such as by Alain Meaume, a very dedicated clarinet player. Now finally there is JP Alessi. I remember an evening at Mario’s place on our way to Tuscany when I showed a video cassette of the Kid Thomas Band in Denmark recorded during there 1971 world tour, Gérard told me about a guy from Lyon, a certain JP Alessi who wanted to play just as Emanuel Paul. Now so many years later, JP is a very successful tenor saxophone player who already made some great recordings. I have to admit at first I was not too fond of his approach to the Manny Paul tenor. I thought he wanted to do things too well and played too many notes. I had some lengthy discussions about this with Marcel. During these two concerts, I heard a different JP, letting things go more and just filling in where it suited. Before the concert and several times during intermission JP came up to me and asked me if I liked his music and I told him, just watch the people, they having fun, they are dancing to your music, that is the most important thing this evening. There were more than 600 people there and most of them stayed until the last encore. The dance floor was never empty. And the best proof that the music was great, was the fact that Sammy and Fred were having fun playing these concerts. Bill Sinclair often told me Fred Vigorito is one of the most exciting trumpet players in the New Orleans idiom, but he is not always aware of his capacities. During these nights, Fred was the leader of the band, playing some great trumpet, often spiced with some Kid Thomas tricks, leaving space for his fellow musicians. Sammy Rimington is one of the other Lyon-Mâcon heroes. He is probably one of the musicians who performed the most in the area during the 15 years the Jazz Mâcon Club existed. Like I said before, Sam was having fun playing, meeting old friends. Writing these liner notes, I don’t know if JP will issue ‘Burgundy Street’ on this CD, I do hope, it was a very moving moment. So, now put this CD in your machine and do the same thing the people in Irigny did, invite your partner and dance away on this great music. JEMPI DE DONDER. JAZZ GAZETTE ********** LAISSEZ LES BONS TEMPS ROULER Lyon is the culinary capital by excellence, not only of France but also of Europe. The regions North of Lyon provide the city’s best chefs, such as Bocuse, with the best products a chef needs to prepare exquisite dishes. Wine form the Beaujolais, Mâcon, Burgundy area, le poulet de Bresse and the Charolais beef. This region also has a long and rich jazz tradition. Gérard, Robert, Mario, Momo, Renée, Jojo and all the others were for long years the inspirers of the Jazz Mâcon Club. Most of Europe’s best bands and musicians played at the club’s concerts and festivals. The Fondy, Waso, Dan Pawson, the late Walter De Troch, Philippe De Smet, Maurice Van Eyck, Les Haricots Rouges, Louis Nelson, Sam Lee and Sammy Rimington. They combined the passion for good food and wine with their passion for good New Orleans music. I remember excellent diners at La Maison de Terre in Mâcon with the complete Kid Thomas’ band and entourage during their 1983 tour, or, a year later, a lobster diner with Sammy Rimington and his band and Wendell Brunious who was their guest player. If a remember correctly, a proof of their love for this music could be found on the counter of The Palm Court Cafè in New Orleans, a statuette honouring George Lewis. Most of the times, the concerts which were due to start at 9 P.M., started with an half hour to 45 minutes delay. I remember one night when Fred Vigorito and Bill Sinclair were anxiously watching their watch while we all were at the restaurant waiting for the coffee at 9.15PM and wondering why nobody was getting ready to leave to go to the hall. Arriving at the hall and getting on the stage, they were even more surprised to see that the audience was having a good time, talking, drinking and eating and that they were not angry because the musicians showed up with delay. Once the music started, the people started dancing and enjoying the music and continued the happy times they spend together with their friends, having a nice evening out. The highlight in the history of the Jazz Mâcon Club was on Friday June 24, 1983, when at the auditorium of Charnay-les-Mâcon, fifteen hundred people gave a five minute standing ovation to the Kid Thomas Band, the greatest New Orleans band ever, before the concert even had started. One of these fifteen hundred people was JP Alessi, who was impressed by Manny Paul’s tenor playing. Since that day, JP has worked hard to master Manny Paul’s tenor sax playing. He is not a slavish copier, he worked slowly but constantly developing his own interpretation of this New Orleans great tenor sax player. Since 2001, JP first as a sideman with other bands or since 2003, with his own band, The French Preservation Jazz Band, has performed with increasing success during the annual French Quarter Festival. They made some nice recordings which were well received by the critics and the fans. One was with Danish clarinet player and band leader, Kjeld Brandt and with piano player and New Orleans resident, John Royen. The other Cd was with Big Bill Bissonnette and with Fred Vigorito. All these ingredients of this Stew Lyonnais-Mâconnais were present during these concerts at Irigny and Charnay-les-Mâcon, great music, dancing, good food and wines, and an ‘ambience’ which I only can compare with the local dance halls I visited with my parents when I was young, a neighbourhood fair, where people are enjoying themselves, having a good time. In Belgium, we have often the occasion to see and hear Sammy Rimington, with his own band or with a local band, but during these concerts I saw a Sammy Rimington who was having a lot of fun playing with Fred and with JP, and having fun seeing so many old friends and acquaintances. Sammy Rimington was one of the heroes of these people who discovered New Orleans music through the Jazz Crusade records. They dance to this music in obscure cellars, like the BC Blues in Lyon or the Diapason. They came to listen to Sammy when he played a concert for the Jazz Mâcon Club and they came to dance to his music. They know New Orleans music from listening to Big Bill Bissonnette, Bill Sinclair, Griffith, Mouldy Dick and Fred Vigorito, the music of the Easy Riders. The members of the Easy Riders were often welcome guests in both Mâcon and Lyon, Big Bill and Bill Sinclair already in 1986, Griff, Bill Sinclair and Fred in 1990. Sammy told me he was still amazed to see that the local people had not lost their habits, the band having a nice, long and copious diner before the concert and nor paying attention to the time, and the audience enjoying themselves in anticipation of the band’s arrival. Once the music started, the people got on their feet, inviting who ever was free and willing to dance. When the band announced the Algiers Waltz (Dreamy Moon Of Indiana), I thought the dance floor would stay empty during that number. It seemed I underestimated the people from Mâcon, they waltzed like real pro’s. And the friends? They were all there, Gérard, Mario, Momo, la Renée, Michel, With Fred and JP we ended up at Gérard’s place for a night-cap which ended around 4 A.M., laissant les bons temps rouler! Jempi de Donder Jazz Gazette
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BCD499 :
New
Orleans Living Legends CD FPCD11 - notes
