Continued: CD Reviews

NEW BLACK EAGLE JAZZ BAND: HIGHER GROUND. (Black Eagle Records, Ltd. BE(CD)2909) 70:33min.
Said I Wasn't Gonna Tell Nobody; Peace in the Valley; Lead Me Savior; Come Sunday; Over in the Gloryland; God Will take Care of You; Higher Ground; Sweet Fields; He'll Understand and Say Well Done; The Royal Telephone; What a Friend We Have in Jesus; Only a Look; Just a Closer Walk with Thee; When the Saints Go Marching In.

NEW BLACK EAGLE JAZZ BAND: REMEMBERING WILBUR DEPARIS (Black Eagle Records, Ltd. BE(CD)2012) 70:23 min.
Under the Double Eagle; The Pearls; Flow Gently Sweet Afton; It's All Right with Me; Majorca; Original Jelly Roll Blues; Wunderbar; Wrought Iron Rag; Celito Lindo; Mardi Gras Rag; Toll Gate Blues; Panama; Brahms' Lullaby.

NEW BLACK EAGLE JAZZ BAND: ON THE ROAD, VOL. II (Black Eagle Records, Ltd. BE(CD)2011) 74:23 min.
Salutation March; Old Stamping Ground; Trog's Blues; Rent Party Blues; All the Girls Go Crazy; Delia's Gone; Love Songs of the Nile; Oriental Man; Snag it.

Reviewed by Bill Mitchell

The New Black Eagles are now in their 37th year, still flying high, playing classic jazz with a British trad flavor. This is not surprising since the leader, Tony Pringle, is from Liverpool, where he played in trad bands before emigrating to the Colonies many years ago. He was in Tommy Sancton's Black Eagle Jazz Band in the Boston area in 1969-70, which morphed into the New Black Eagle Jazz Band a year later after Sancton's departure. The band's current line-up includes Pringle, cornet; Stan Vincent, trombone, Billy Novick, reeds; Bob Pilsbury, piano; Peter Bullis, banjo; Garry Bockus,  bass, and C. H. "Pam" Pameijer, drums.  All except Bockus and Novick were members of the original crew.

Based in Massachusetts, the NBEJB has a regular weekly gig at J. P. O'Hanlan's Pub in Ayer. They have performed at community concerts in the New England area and played frequently on cruises and at festivals in North America, Europe, and Singapore. They have built a repertoire of over 600 numbers, an impressive book. Their online store lists a goodly sum of 28 available CDs. Needless to say, they are one of the most popular and respected of contemporary bands playing in the classic New Orleans style of polyphonic improvisation.

Higher Ground is a collection of hymns and gospel music Most are in 4/4 time, but "Peace in the Valley," "God Will Take Care of You," and "Only a Look" are in lilting 3/4 time. Butch Thompson mentions in his liner notes that "Peace in the Valley" was sung by Elvis Presley for his mother on an Ed Sullivan show. "Only a Look" was recorded by George Lewis as a solo in 1964. "Down by the Riverside" is not included in the program, but the jaunty and joyous "Said I Wasn't Gonna Tell Nobody" is quite similar and does quite nicely as a replacement. The inclusion of "Come Sunday" presents something of an anomaly. It is taken from "Black, Brown, and Beige," a suite Duke Ellington wrote for a Carnegie Hall Concert in 1943. It is structurally more complex than gospel music. Lee Wiley chose to sing this haunting, plaintive number in her 1972 Carnegie Hall Concert. The NBEJB version, sans vocal, captures the bittersweet harmonies of this lovely composition. "The Royal Telephone" is jolly and buoyant. The vocal elucidates the title. An obligatory "Saints" concludes the service.

Remembering Wilbur de Paris pays homage to a memorable outfit of the 1950s: Wilbur de Paris and his New New Orleans Jazz Band. Peter Bullis of the NBEJB contributes the liner notes, in large part his recollections of the band and its members whom he heard at Jimmy Ryan's New York club where they had extended engagements. The band included some stellar jazzmen. Trombonist/leader Wilbur de Paris had worked with Noble Sissle, Louis Armstrong, and Duke Ellington. His brother, trumpet man Sidney de Paris, had been with McKinney's Cotton Pickers, Don Redman, and Benny Carter, and he had recorded with Sidney Bechet, Jelly Roll Morton, and Art Hodes. Clarinetist Omer Simeon had worked with such notables as King Oliver, Earl Hines, and Jelly Roll Morton. Drummer Zutty Singleton had played with just about any eminent New Orleans jazz musician you can think of. The banjo man, Lee Blair, had recorded with Jelly Roll Morton, Luis Russell, and Louis Armstrong. Pianist Don Kirkpatrick was a veteran of the Chick Webb and Don Redman bands. The NNOJB developed a distinctive style that infused New Orleans jazz with swing era sophistication.

The New Black Eagles have done themselves proud with their tribute to the NNOJB. They are not out to imitate, but to emulate the de Paris band, and they have succeeded in catching its spirit. They have chosen a representative selection of numbers recorded by the band, including a couple from their popular Cole Porter album, "It's All Right with Me" and "Wunderbar." Jelly Roll Morton's "The Pearls" is taken at the easy tempo that the NNOJB took it, which is just right. (Jelly's Red Hot Peppers 78 was too fast, possibly because of the time limitations of ten-inch 78 recordings.) "Wrought Iron Rag" is the de Paris take on Verdi's "Anvil Chorus." "The Martinique," one of the band's most popular items, is not included, but another original, "Majorca," does give a taste of the former's Spanish tinge.

On the Road was taped during the New Black Eagles' May 2004 tour of Wales, Scotland, and England, a very busy 13 days that included performances at 12 venues. The occasion was the ninth day, a live concert at Hanley Castle School near Upton-upon-Severn in Worcestershire, England. This was a congenial setting where the band had recorded twice before on previous tours. Tony Pringle recounts the particulars of the 2004 tour in his liner notes, including his appreciation of certain English beers.

Unlike the CDs discussed above, On the Road does not have an underlying theme. Instead, it is a variety pack of numbers previously unrecorded by the NBEJB.

"Salutation March" opens with the original march tempo, but soon shifts gears into a no-holds-barred, stomping version with the heat turned on. Billy Novick takes an exciting chorus. The provenance of "The Old Stamping Ground" is a rare Willie "The Lion" Smith recording that caught Pringle's ear. It is in medium dance tempo. "Trog's Blues" is a simple but effective vehicle for some heartfelt blues licks. Composer credits go to Wally Fawkes and George Webb, British trad musicians. "Rent Party Blues" is an early Ellington-Hodges composition. "All the Girls Go Crazy" is an old New Orleans warhorse revived by Bunk Johnson and Kid Ory. "Delia's Gone" is an American folk song about the murder, over a century ago, of a teen-age girl. It was revived by Johnny Cash and Harry Belafonte. "Love Songs of the Nile," by Nacio Herb Brown, is from a 1933 movie, The Barbarian with Myrna Loy and Ramon Navarro. Jimmy Blythe's "Oriental Man" so resembles "Love's Old Sweet Song" that the Firehouse Five Plus 2 recorded it as "Just a Stomp at Twilight." "Snag It" is a distinctive blues by King Oliver.

One warning: If you have a short attention span, approach this CD with caution, because some of these renditions run up to nearly ten minutes in length. The shortest is almost seven minutes.

To order these CDs, go to the New Black Eagles Jazz Band home page www.blackeagles.com and click on their online store.

November 2008 issue | © 2008 The Mississippi Rag

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