Clarke-Boland: "Jazz is Universal"

Source: JAZZWAX BY MARC MYERS
April 23, 2013
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The big band era didn't come to an end at the end of World War II. People just stopped dancing to them. In the late '40s fans went to theaters and concert halls to hear bands, and in the '50s they listened to them on LPs. In the early '60s, with the rise of pop-rock in the States, bands went off to Europe on lengthy tours—thanks to lifting of bans on American artists by musicians' unions there starting in '61 that allowed them to work there for extensive periods. [Pictured above: Kenny Clarke]

Some big bands started outside the U.S. One notable example was the Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band—which was formed in '60 by American expatriate drummer Clarke, Belgian pianist Boland [pictured] and former Ellington bassist Jimmy Woode. The band lasted just over 10 years and recorded 15 albums. Solos were spread among the 13 all-star musicians, and the band's charts were often intricate and laced with European flavor.

Charts were most often written by Boland, a classically trained composer who spent a chunk of the '50s in the U.S. The band's first album was Jazz Is Universal (Atlantic), recorded in December 1961 in Cologne, Germany. As the Atlantic album's liner notes by public relations maven Bob Altshuler point out, musicians from seven countries were in the band—six from the U.S., two from England while one each from France, Belgium, Sweden, Turkey and Austria.

Here's the sterling lineup: Benny Bailey, Roger Guerin, Jimmy Deuchar and Maffy Falay (tp); Nat Peck and Ake Persson (tb); Derek Humble (as); Zoot Sims and Karl Drewo (ts); Sahib Shihab (bar, fl); Francy Boland (p,arr); Jimmy Woode (b) and Kenny Clarke (d).

It took a year and a half to plan this recording due to jagged schedules of musicians, the writing and arranging necessary to fill the vinyl, and the need for rehearsals. Listening back to the album more than 50 years later, it's remarkable how fresh and modern the material sounds.

Among the most notable solos are by tenor saxophonist Drewo on Gloria, Shahib's flute and Sims's tenor sax on Charon's Ferry, pianist Boland on Valutes and Bailey, Shihab, Drewo and Sims on James Moody's Last Train From Overbrook. But truly, there isn't a bad composition on the entire album.

The Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band's sophisticated sound paved a couragous new course—becoming a model or at least an inpsiration for the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra, which was launched in 1965. The international band was jammed with all-star talent who spoke the same musical language and performed accordingly—harmonious together, monsters apart. [Pictured above: trumpeter-arranger Thad Jones and drummer Mel Lewis]

JazzWax tracks: You're in luck: Jazz Is Universal is available as a download at Amazon for $4.83. How long it remains there at that price is anyone's guess. You'll find it here.

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This story appears courtesy of JazzWax by Marc Myers.
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