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British Modern Jazz Singles, EP Tracks & Rarities 1960-62
Various Artists
Styles: Jazz
Catalogue Number: ACMCD4381
As the UK found itself suddenly gripped by the Trad Boom during the early 1960s, a few of Britain’s top modern jazzmen fought a short rival campaign aiming to take their type of music to the top of the charts, especially after the Top 10 success in 1961 of Dave Brubeck’s ‘Take Five’. Very few of these jazz “singles” found success – John Dankworth’s African Waltz the most notable exception – but the majority slunk down the charts into obscurity. This new Acrobat collection tells the fascinating story of this brave A&R initiative and rescues twenty tracks originally released on 45rpm and EP formats between 1960 and 1962 featuring such celebrated jazz names as Joe Harriott, Stan Tracey, Shake Keane, Dudley Moore and Tony Kinsey. Six of these tracks are collectors’ items which have never been released on CD before. Not only is the range of styles on offer remarkably broad, covering everything from Latin and soul jazz through to scat-vocals and film and TV soundtrack themes, the list of star musicians participating in these records makes for a veritable who’s who of British jazz including Tubby Hayes, Jimmy Deuchar, Harold McNair, Gordon Beck, Allan Ganley, Bobby Wellins, Ronnie Ross, Tommy Whittle and many more. Complete with a fact-packed booklet note by award-winning saxophonist Simon Spillett and rare press clippings, this release reveals the remarkable story of a forgotten chapter in British Jazz. |