2 CD - Livret 16 pages - ENGLISH NOTES
Voilà certainement le double CD le plus somptueux paru depuis bien longtemps dans le domaine de la compilation qui peut aller, nous l'avons dit souvent, du pire au meilleur. Sans conteste, nous avons ici le meilleur dans ces enregistrements réalisés entre 1930 et 1934 au c�ur de la grande époque swing et regroupés sous le titre "Ballads in Jazz". La ballade, comme le remarque si justement Alain Gerber dans le Livret, "est à la fois ce qu'il y a de plus facile à entendre et de plus difficile à jouer". Le jazz sur tempo lent se doit impérativement de conserver le swing. Il doit également Echapper au piège du romatisme sirupeux. On ne pouvait faire de choix plus judicieux que celui qui nous est proposé ici et si la place ne nous était comptée, il conviendrait de citer chacune des 36 plages.
Totalement incontournable! Henri MARCHAL, LA SEMAINE DES SPECTACLES
Most of us will recall having eaten too many delicious chocolated or icecreams or whatever and then feeling a touch over-indulged. Two hours of ballads are a bit much even if manu here offered are classics. Someone somewhere said that ballads sound easy to play but the fact is that they're difficult. Something to do with the slow tempo being a potential trap for the unwary. Of course, no one on these 36 tracks falls into that one. Nor would anyone agree that just because a piece of music is at slow tempo does it become a ballad. One of the Collins music dictionary definitions is "a sentimental drawing room song" which might be near enough for a few items under consideration. Mostly, they are by jazz musicians enjoying good and familiar tunes on which they can weave attractive embellishments. Just about everything is or should be familiar and to talk about it all is not necessary. The pleasures abound : Hawkins, Berry, Freeman, Webster, Young, Bechet, Hodges - Teagarden, Holiday, Anderson, Cole, Fitzgerald, Armstrong, Sinatra - are among the best. You can't fault it at all, really. But it's not for one long listen or, even, one whole CD at a sitting.
Bert WHYATT, JAZZ JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL
DUKE ELLINGTON : MOOD INDIGO (ELLINGTON, BIGARD, MILLS) � LOUIS ARMSTRONG : I'M CONFESSIN' (THAT I LOVE YOU) (DAUGHERTY, REYNOLDS, NEIBURG) � BILLIE HOLIDAY : EASY LIVING (RAINGER, ROBIN) � TEDDY WILSON : DON'T BLAME ME (MC HUGH, FIELDS) � COLEMAN HAWKINS : BODY AND SOUL (GREEN, HEYMAN, SOUR, EYTON) � JIMMIE LUNCEFORD : I'M ALONE WITH YOU (ESTES) � CHU BERRY : ON THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET (MC HUGH, FIELDS) � GLENN MILLER : MOONLIGHT SERENADE (MILLER, PARISH) � FATS WALLER : TWO SLEEPY PEOPLE (CARMICHAEL, LOESSER) � BEN WEBSTER : ALL TOO SOON (ELLINGTON) � LIONEL HAMPTON : AIN'T CHA COMIN' HOME! (HAMPTON, BERNARDI, HATHAWAY) � BUNNY BERIGAN : I CAN'T GET STARTED (DUKE, I. GERSHWIN) � REX STEWART : MY SUNDAY GAL (ELLINGTON) � IVIE ANDERSON : I GOT IT BAD AND THAT AIN'T GOOD (ELLINGTON, WEBSTER) � BENNY CARTER : MORE THAN YOU KNOW (YOUMANS, ROSE, ELISCU) � JOHNNY HODGES : FINESSE (HODGES, ELLINGTON) � ROY ELDRIDGE : STARDUST ( CAMICHAEL, PARISH) � DUKE ELLINGTON : WARM VALLEY (ELLINGTON) � JACK TEAGARDEN : STARS FELL ON ALABAMA (PERKINS, PARISH) � SIDNEY BECHET : SUMMERTIME (G. GERSHWIN, HEYWARD) � HELEN HUMES : BLAME IT ON MY LAST AFFAIR (NEMO, MILLS) � ART TATUM : OVER THE RAINBOW (ARLEN, HARBURG) � COLEMAN HAWKINS : HOW DEEP IS THE OCEAN (BERLIN) � COUNT BASIE : BLUE AND SENTIMENTAL (BASIE, LIVINGSTONE, DAVID WARNER) � BENNY GOODMAN : THE MAN I LOVE (G. GERSHWIN, I. GERSHWIN) � FRANK SINATRA / TOMMY DORSEY : I'LL NEVER SMILE AGAIN (LOWE) � NAT KING COLE : GEE BABY, AIN'T GOOD TO YOU (REDMAN, RAZAF) � BEN WEBSTER : CHELSEA BRIDGE (STRAYHORN) � BUD FREEMAN : MEMORIES OF YOU (BLAKE, RAZAF, LAWRENCE) � HENRY "RED" ALLEN : ROAMIN' (SMITH) � LESTER YOUNG : I WANT A LITTLE GIRL (MENCHER, MOLL) � ELLA FITZGERALD : CAN'T HELP LOVIN' THAT MAN (KERN, HAMMERSTEIN) � BOBBY HACKETT : EMBRACEABLE YOU (G. GERSHWIN, I. GERSHWIN) � JOHNNY HODGES : DAY DREAM (STAYHORN, ELLINGTON, LATOUCHE) � CHARLIE CHRISTIAN : STARDUST (CARMICHAEL, PARISH).
DIAPASON D'OR - JAZZ MAN **** - DISQUE D'OR LE GUIDE DU CD
BALLADS IN JAZZ NEW YORK - CHICAGO - LOS ANGELES
