Gunhild Carling: Jazz Is My Lifestyle (Jazz Art)
Swedish swing-based trombonist and trumpeter Gunhild Carling is a talented composer who plays flute, harmonica, banjo, ukelele, piano, harp, violin, cello, bagpipes, theremin and drums as well. She sings and dances too. She appears regularly at New York’s Birdland Jazz Club, can play three trumpets at once and has performed for the King of Sweden.
All 11 compositions on Jazz Is My Lifestyle are Carling originals delivered in 1920s/30s hot jazz and 1940s big-band styles. Her musicians include family members, guests such as trumpeter Scotty Barnhart (director of the Basie Orchestra), clarinettist Chloe Feoranzo and the Prague Strings Chamber Orchestra.
Recorded in Los Angeles, this is a lively, upbeat album. Try Shaking The Bangkok where Carling plays trumpet or Fire Alarm, playing trombone with the WDR Big Band. She’s a veritable force of nature – there’s no one else like her on the planet. Full tracklist and details are available here.
Matthew Gee: Jazz by Gee! Matthew Gee All-Stars (Fresh Sound Records FSRCD1153)
Texan trombonist Matthew Gee earned huge respect from his peers but never gained the public recognition that his talented playing warranted – probably due to recording only one LP as leader with much of his time spent as in-demand sideman for others.
Before he was drafted into the army, Gee was playing with Erskine Hawkins. After the war he worked with Dizzy Gillespie and later on with Count Basie, Illinois Jacquet, Gene Ammons, Sonny Stitt, Duke Ellington and Johnny Griffin, among others.
His favoured trombonists were Benny Green and J.J. Johnson and some of their influence can be heard in this CD release, originally recorded in 1956. Gee’s quintet has Ernie Henry (as), Joe Knight (p), Wilbur Ware (b) and Art Taylor (d) playing five standards including Out Of Nowhere and I’ll Remember April. Then his septet, with Kenny Dorham (t), Frank Foster (ts), Cecil Payne (bar), John Simmons (b) and Taylor (d) deliver three foot-tapping Gee originals.
Owing to the trombonist’s limited output as leader, Fresh Sound have added five bonus tracks from his time as sideman: three from the Lou Donaldson Sextet, Volume 2 LP (1954) and one each from the LPs Groovin’ With Jacquet (1953) and Joe Newman And His Band (1954).
This swinging, bop and post-bop album comes with an eight-page booklet containing track details, photos of Gee and each of his all-stars plus original liner notes by Orrin Keepnews. Full album details here.
Oscar Peterson: Plays The Cole Porter Songbook (Essential Jazz Master Sessions 2616)
Oscar Peterson recorded two collections of Cole Porter’s songs. The first was Oscar Peterson Plays Cole Porter, recorded in 1951/52 with Barney Kessel (g) and Ray Brown (b). The second was Oscar Peterson Plays The Cole Porter Songbook with Brown and Ed Thigpen (d) in 1959. Essential has digitally remastered both LPs and presents them in their entirety on this CD.
Peterson’s swinging arrangements of Porter’s compositions cover established standards such as Love For Sale, Let’s Do It, In The Still Of The Night and Night And Day. If you should need a reminder of the pianist’s classic trio in action here’s a snippet of another of the album’s notable numbers – I Love Paris.
There are also three bonus tracks – I Get A Kick Out Of You from Peterson’s Jazz Portrait Of Frank Sinatra album with Brown and Thigpen; a 1952 quartet recording of Just One Of Those Things with Kessel, Brown and Alvin Stoller (d) and the pianist singing and playing From This Moment On with Herb Ellis (g) and Brown in 1954.
In all the CD has 26 tracks. The handful of duplicates arising from the compilation successfully retains interest as each delivery varies according to band configuration, instrumentation and musical approach. Total playing time is good value at 73.50 minutes and the album comes with an informative 16-page booklet comprising original and current liner notes, track details and artist photos.
