Sandy Brown Jazz
Catwalk
A 'catwalk' is usually the place where the fashion industry show their new season's collections. It is also the name of a 1960 album by trombonist Benny Green of which in his review, Scott Yanow said: 'Fine music that has long been overlooked'. It seems a good name for somewhere for jazz 'cats' to show their new season's collections. It also gives us a chance to play a track that might not have been heard before.
If you have a new jazz album or a demo track you would like a international readership to hear, send a copy to us with details of the band and background to the recording (contact us).
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Jackie Free's Chicagoans
Jackass Blues
This track comes from the new album Strike Up The Band by Jackie Free’s 
Chicagoans which we review in our March 2014 edition of What's New/. who bring a collection of
This is a well established UK band that knows about playing Traditional jazz in the Eddie Condon style. and the track list on this album contains many favourites from Indiana and Memphis Blues to Beale Street Blues and It Don’t Mean a Thing.
Although the band plays well together, as they should by now, I have to single out John Crocker (clarinet and occasional tenor saxophone) and Peter Rudeforth (trumpet and flugelhorn) who play some fine solos on this album, and Tim Huskisson who has a nice light touch on piano. Jackie Free made the recording a week before he went into hospital and so understandably he holds back more than usual on trombone, but make no mistake, his is an essential contribution to the band and he gives us well-judged solo on Basin Street Blues. Martin Guy on drums and Murray Salmon on double bass provide a reliable foundation for the music.
I think the album is more satisfying on the traditional numbers that are included in the fifteen tracks on the album. Of the others, It’s A Long Way To Tipperary does not really work for me. Strike Up The Band provides a good album title, but Pete Rudeforth’s flugelhorn solo on Misty I like a lot.
An interesting inclusion is Freddy Randall’s Lea Bridge Stomp, and for those who remember Freddy and Cook’s Ferry Inn in the Lea Valley will probably have their memory vaults tickled. The track is a tribute to Freddy Randall in whose band Jack Free played in the 1960s.
The other tracks are Someday Sweetheart, Swing That Music, You Took Advantage Of Me, Basin Street Blues, I Dreamt I Dwelt In Marble Halls, and Up A Lazy River. Jackie Free provides vocals on a couple of the tracks and I found myself wondering whether the spirit of Ottilie Patterson has descended on a young singer somewhere who could audition for the band?
This is one album you will not be able to buy online, but for £10 you can get it direct from Jack Free at 34, Rahn Road, Epping, Essex, CM16 4JB (Tel: 01992 573667).
Click here for more about Jackie Free.
© Sandy Brown Jazz 2014
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