The Jazz House label keeps bringing out vintage live and studio recordings from bands famous and obscure. I’m sure few have ever heard of the 1954 jazz band from Germany, fresh from defeat in WWII. Kurt Edelhagen put together a band that gives hints of Kenton and even a pre-Evans Gil Evans on some intriguing big band charts that give new life to material like “Lester Leaps In” as well as intriguing originals such as “3×2”. There’s an altoist named “Franz von Klenck that’s must’ve snuck some Parker 78s across the border, as he bops along on “You Go To My Head,” and the whole band simmers along on a toe tapping “On The Upbeat.” Pianist Mary Lou Williams performs on a series of trio sessions and sounds marvelously hip on “Blues On the Bongo Beat” and “Nancy and the Colonel” while vocalist Caterina Valente coos with an attractive accent on “Pennies from Heaven.” A nice time capsule of an era untouched by rock; so little appreciated at the time, but like a rare pure silver quarter nowadays.
Jazz Haus Records
www.jazzhaus-label.com