The Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band - Volcano / Rue Chaptal (The Complete Live Recordings At Ronnie Scott's) (2010)

"I remember standing at the bar,' he recalls, 'and seeing Johnny Griffin arrive. He said to me, 'Gigi, you're going to hear some strong shit tonight.' And he wasn't kidding. The band was so powerful and driving, so together, like one tremendous all-purpose instrument." Gigi Campi "It was marvellous. People used to applaud in the middle of the arrangements – showing their appreciation of some of the tutti or soli passages. It was really one of the greatest musical experiences of my life." Ronnie Scott "The first week is a remarkable success and the second is even bigger. Attendance records for the club are broken. Musicians and celebrities of one kind and another visit Ronnie's, among them Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon, Amen Corner, Rex Har¬rison, Peter Sellers, Samantha Eggar, Chris Barber, the Rolling Stones...." Max Jones "I am sure that most C-BBB enthusiasts agree that the band's season at Ronnie's was the high point of its 11-year existence. If there has to be one set of recordings, from all the band's repertoire on disc, selected to stand as a monument to the finest jazz ensemble to come out of Europe, then it has to be these 13 tracks recorded live at 47, Frith Street and now digitally remastered to bring the listener as close as technologically possible to the awe-inspiring sound the band made throughout those 12 memorable nights at the club." Mike Hennessey Volcano - Rue Chaptal It is a few minutes after ten-thirty on Monday evening, February 17, 1969, in Ronnie Scott’s, 47 Frith Street London W I. On this particular Monday at Ronnie’s something special is about to happen. A new attraction is to begin a two-week engagement at the club, and this attraction is out of the ordinary. The area in front of the liggers’ bar is thickly populated with musicians, journalists, ‘resting’ critics and broadcasters, radio, TV and record shop personnel and ‘regulars’. The club’s owner walks purposefully up to the microphone and announces, with suitable compliments, the Kenny Clarke—Francy Boland Big Band which will play its first set. He then takes his place in the reed section behind a tenor saxophone. He is flanked by Sahib Shihab, on his left, and on his right by Derek Humble, Johnny Griffin and Tony Coe. This Anglo-American quintet is one of the orchestra’s crowning glories; largely so because Boland writes choruses for it which enable the five musicians to function and flower as an enthusiastically coherent melody section, led, and most effectively, by British alto player Derek Humble. This CD reissue combines two separate albums (Volcano and Rue Chaptal) that were recorded during the same evening at Ronnie Scott's, consisting mostly of originals by Boland, with a cooking blues feature, "Griff's Groove," showcasing Griffin and Bailey, especially standing out. Clarke composed the explosive "Volcano" as a feature for himself and fellow drummer Kenny Clare. Woode, a veteran of Duke Ellington's band, penned the gospel-inflected blues "Now Hear My Meanin'," which has soulful solos by alto saxophonist Derek Humble, trombonist Ake Persson, and baritone saxophonist Shihab. Long out of print and overdue to be reissued, this exciting album is well worth acquiring. Includes a booklet with the original liner notes by Max Jones and John Legg plus additional notes by Mike Hennessey and photographs of from that period. Volcano / Rue Chaptal are also available in separate LP (RW 138 LP 1&2) in vinyl 180 grams.

MIKE HENNESSEY MAX JONES