The Kenny Clarke Francy Boland Big Band – All Smiles (1968/2017) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

The Kenny Clarke Francy Boland Big Band – All Smiles (1968/2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 36:50 minutes | 1,38 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © MPS

In the 1960s the Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band became the first important European large jazz ensemble. It was European with an asterisk. Many of the players were American expatriates (drummer/co-leader Clarke, saxophonists Johnny Griffin and Sahib Shihab, trumpeters Benny Bailey and Idrees Sulieman). But co-leader/pianist/arranger Boland was Belgian. England was well represented (saxophonists Ronnie Scott, Derek Humble and Tony Coe, trumpeter Jimmy Deuchar). Trombonists ke Persson and Erik van Lier were from Sweden and the Netherlands, respectively.

The conventional wisdom in the 1960s was that European drummers couldn’t swing. This band, of course, avoids the issue. Clarke was one of the living masters of his instrument, a founder of modern drumming, usually credited with moving time-keeping to the ride cymbal. Clarke could lift an orchestra.

It is such permanent values as swing that make this band worth revisiting today. Boland’s arrangements contain some interesting harmonic concepts, especially for the saxophones. But he was a classicist. His traditional big-band approach prioritized precision and power, and swung like crazy. For the American Songbook standards on All Smiles, he created elegant, concise charts designed to set up his fine soloists.

Clarke-Boland broke no new ground. But Scott jumps all over Gershwin’s “By Strauss.” Persson and Deuchar glide on Clarke’s energy all across “Get Out of Town.” “When Your Lover Has Gone” contains a heartfelt rendering by Sulieman, first literal, then loose. “Sweet and Lovely” has Griffin at his best, growling and croaking. This band reminds you what fertile soil the old ground was.

Tracklist:
01. The Kenny Clarke Francy Boland Big Band – Let’s Face the Music and Dance (03:27)
02. The Kenny Clarke Francy Boland Big Band – I’m All Smiles (03:30)
03. The Kenny Clarke Francy Boland Big Band – You Stepped out of a Dream (03:08)
04. The Kenny Clarke Francy Boland Big Band – I’m Glad There Is You (03:34)
05. The Kenny Clarke Francy Boland Big Band – Get out of Town (04:49)
06. The Kenny Clarke Francy Boland Big Band – By Strauss (03:42)
07. The Kenny Clarke Francy Boland Big Band – When Your Lover Has Gone (04:20)
08. The Kenny Clarke Francy Boland Big Band – Gloria (04:28)
09. The Kenny Clarke Francy Boland Big Band – Sweet and Lovely (03:40)
10. The Kenny Clarke Francy Boland Big Band – High School Cadets (02:07)

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