0168 Eddie Thompson [Piano Moods] FLAC 10(41.20)

Contributed by Doc Sausage, who writes:-
I came across this record in a charity shop in Birmingham in 1991. I hadn't heard of Eddie Thompson at that time, but, as ever, was on the lookout for unusual/obscure gems, and this LP seemed to fit the bill very well. I fell in love with it immediately, and it has become one of my most-played jazz albums. It was only a couple of years ago, when I started to have a proper look on the web at what else of ET's was available, that I discovered that I was in possession of quite a rarity, and that most people have never heard it. I think that is a great shame.
Four of the (many) things I love about this album: the tightly-focussed, urgent fluency of Thompson's fingering on such numbers as Eddification, Watch for the Light, and Eddie Blows the Blues; the expressive, genuinely tender passages featured in Three for 3-4 & Theme for Nica; the rhapsodic, darker tones of Contemplation, which I can't help feeling is a not-so-distant jazz relation of the Ballades of Chopin; and, lastly, the clanking of beer bottles at 0:41 on Three Cuban Heels — it just hits the spot every time!
You can read more about Eddie, including an excellent assessment by Simon Spillett, here.
http://www.jazzeddie.f2s.com/pianoUKpioneers.htm
Scans and pdf file included.

(01-08)
Eddie Thompson - piano
Arthur Watts - bass
Andy White - drums
(09 10)
Eddie Thompson - piano
Ken Sprang - bass
Jackie Dougan - drums

01 Eddification (Thompson) (2:42)
02 Three For ¾ (Thompson) (3:49)
03 Three Cuban Heels (Thompson) (2:11)
04 Blue Whistle (Thompson) (3:42)
05 Theme For Nica (Thompson) (5:18)
06 Watch For The Light (Thompson) (2:28)
07 Eddie Blows The Blues (Thompson) (3:44)
08 After The Ball Is Over (Thompson) (5:58)
09 Thompson Bell (Thompson) (5:20)
10 Contemplation (Thompson) (6:09)

Label: Ember EMB 3303
Recorded: May (01-08) June (09 10) 1958
Lineage: LP>FLAC

0167 Don Savage [Session With Savage] FLAC 4(12.06)

Contributed by bluebird, who writes:-
A little known alto player with a beautiful tone on his first and only recording as leader in 1957. Don played with the Frank Weir Orchestra, Tito Burns, Ted Heath and Ambrose and, like many other musicians at that time, was mainly buried away in the section of commercial dance bands to earn a living.
He leads a fine group here and it would be good to hear some more from this musician. Does anyone recall him and are there solos, say, with Ted Heath during the few months he spent in that band?

Bert Courtley - trumpet
Don Savage - alto
Art Ellefson - tenor
Bernie George - baritone
Bobby Heath - piano
Bill Stark - bass
Art Morgan - drums

01 Midnight Sun (Hampton) (3:37)
02 All The Things You Are (Kern) (3:16)
03 There Will Never Be Another You (Woods) (2:38)
04 First Edition (Savage) (2:35)

Label: Nixa NJE 1048 (ep)
Recorded: September 03 1957
Lineage: EP>FLAC

0166 Ray Ellington [The Ray Ellington Quartet 1948-1949] FLAC 8(26.07)

Contributed by bluebird, who writes:-
More from the Ellington Quartet including some vocals by the leader and typical of what he performed on the long running 'Goon Show' on radio.
The tunes 'Strip The Camshaft' and 'Boppy Soxer' are the same with different titles.

Dick Katz - piano
Lauderic Caton - guitar (01-06)
Laurie Deniz - guitar (07-09)
Coleridge Goode - bass
Ray Ellington - drums, vocal

01 Five Guys Named Moe (2:53)
02 The Best Man (2:53)
03 Dream for Percussion (2:57)
04 Ooh Look-A There, Ain't She Pretty? (2:35)
05 Dick's Boogie (3:02)
06 Dream For Bass (3:00)
07 Strip The Camshaft (2:43)
08 Boppy Soxer (2:53)
09 Swedish Pastry (3:12)

Recorded: January 23 1948 (01-03) February 01 (04) 15 (05 06) May 09 (07) June 29 (08) November 03 (09) 1948

0165 Vic Lewis [And His Orchestra] FLAC 4(11.15)

Contributed by bluebird, who writes:-
This is Vic's band from late 1954. The West Coast influence is heavy here with echoes of Shorty Rogers and Stan Kenton. The Bill Holman tune 'The Opener' had  just been recorded a year earlier by Kenton so it is surprising to hear it here so soon. Some nice alto solos from, we think, Ronnie Chamberlain.
Listeners should be warned that despite the best efforts of the BritJazz technical team the recordings on side 1 are far from perfect with residual noise in places. As these recordings have only ever appeared on 78s prior to this scarce 1954 ep release it was felt that the posting was justified.

Vic Lewis - leader
Dave Loban - trumpet
Ronnie Baker - trumpet
Johnny Brown - trumpet
Trevor Lanigan - trumpet
Johnny Watson - trombone
Alec Gould - trombone
Rusty Hurren - trombone
Johnny Keating - trombone
Ronnie Chamberlain - alto
Bernard Allen - alto
Brian Gray - tenor
Howard Morgan - tenor
Brian Rogerson - baritone
Red Mitchell - piano
Stan Wasser - bass
Andy White - drums

01 The Opener
02 Arual
03 Begin The Beguine
04 Short Stop

Label:Esquire 33
Recorded: November 18 1954
Lineage: EP>FLAC

0164 Jimmy Deuchar [Pal Jimmy] FLAC 8(40.10)

Contributed by delmonico, who writes:-
Two sessions from March 1958 with two different Deuchar led groups. Deuchar, Humble and Wray were working with the Kurt Edelhagen Big Band in Germany at the time and were on a flying visit home when these sessions were made.
The March 4 date gives the opportunity to hear Derek Humble at some length - what a shame that he never got to record an album under his own name and that he had to spend most of his later career playing outside the UK. He was seriously injured when mugged in Cologne in 1968 and whilst he played with the Clarke-Boland Band for the following two years his health was badly affected. He returned to the UK in the summer of 1970 and died whilst visiting his mother in February 1971. He was 41 years old at the time. 
The 7 March date has tunes from the musical 'Pal Joey' from which the album title is based and has Tubby Hayes playing some baritone sax.

(01-04)
Jimmy Deuchar - trumpet
Ken Wray - valve trombone
Derek Humble - alto
Tubby Hayes - tenor, baritone
Harry South - piano
Kenny Napper - bass
Phil Seamen - drums
(05-08)
Jimmy Deuchar - trumpet
Ken Wray - valve trombone
Derek Humble - alto
Tubby Hayes - tenor, baritone
Harry South - piano
Kenny Napper - bass
Phil Seamen - drums

01 Heather Mist (Deuchar) (5:10)
02 Jak-Jak (Deuchar) (4:40)
03 Pal Jimmy (Deuchar) (6:28)
04 Split Second (Deuchar) (4:13)
05 My Funny Valentine (Rodgers, Hart) (3:39)
06 I Didn't Know What Time It Was (Rodgers, Hart) (5:25)
07 Bewitched Bothered And Bewildered (Rodgers, Hart) (4:31)
08 I Could Write A Book (Rodgers, Hart) (6:04)

Label: Tempo TAP 20
Recorded: March 04 (01-04) 07 (05-08) 1958
Lineage: LP>FLAC

0163 Ronnie Scott [Ronnie Scott Orchestra] FLAC 2(11.39)

Contributed by Azule Serape, who writes:-
This one's for the drummers amongst us.
A 'battle' between Victor Feldman, who usually played piano and vibes with this group, and Phil Seamen with the band providing backing only.

Hank Shaw - trumpet
Ken Wray - trombone
Derek Humble - alto, clarinet
Ronnie Scott - tenor
Pete King - tenor
Benny Green - baritone
Victor Feldman - piano, drums
Lennie Bush - bass
Phil Seamen - drums

01 Lester Leaps In (Young) (6:16)
02 Seamen's Mission (Feldman) (5:23)

Label:Esquire 31
Recorded: November 02 1954
Lineage: EP>FLAC

0162 [Dave Lee Trio Lennie Felix Trio] FLAC 7(24.55)

Contributed by Azule Serape, who writes:-
One side each on this 10" lp for these two very different pianists. Dave Lee is perhaps the better known of the two and we may have heard some of these tracks earlier.
Lennie's recorded output is quite small but well worth searching out.  He died in 1980 aged 60 as a result of a road accident.
'Two Views of the Blues' is the standout track here for me.

(01-04)
Dave Lee - piano
Lennie Bush - bass
Allan Ganley - drums
(05-07)
Lennie Felix - piano
Brian Brocklehurst - bass
Phil Seamen - drums

01 I Must Have That Man (McHugh) (3:24)
02 Salt Air (Lee) (2:38)
03 Excuse for the Blues (Lee) (3:36)
04 On the Alamo (Reinhard, Lane) (3:43)
05 Sweet Lorraine (Burrell, Parish) (2:42)
06 Jada (Carlton) (1:57)
07 Two Views of the Blues (Felix) (6:56)

Label: Nixa NLP 1027 (10")
Recorded: May 29 (01-04) July 08 (05-07) 1957
Lineage: LP>FLAC

0161 Johnny Weed [The UK Recordings] FLAC 9(34.42)

Contributed by delmonico, who writes:-
Pianist, arranger and composer Johnny Weed was born in London on 15 May, 1931. He worked, briefly, with Basil Kirchin in 1952, also with Vic Lewis before joining Tito Burns in 1954/5. He replaced Ken Moule in the successful Ken Moule Seven when Ken became disenchanted with band leading and the group was led by bass player Arthur Watts. In the period 1955 to 1956 he worked with groups led by a number of top jazz men including Vic Ash, Tubby Hayes, Dizzy Reece, Joe Harriott and Phil Seamen. Some tracks with some of these musicians are included here.
He emigrated to the USA in 1957 and worked with a number of big bands including Buddy Morrow, Charlie Barnet, Woody Herman and Tex Beneke as well as running a successful arranging business with Ronnie Roullier until 1971. He played at President Kennedy's 1961 inaugural ball and in the '70s was Musical Director on a TV show called "Someone New". He moved to Florida in 1993 and continued to play regular gigs and until his death from cancer in November, 2002.
These are all the known UK commercial recordings made by Johnny - there is a private recording of him with Joe Harriott, Major Holley and Phil Seamen made in 1956 and which has just been issued on vinyl by Gearbox Records but it is not included here or listed.  There may be other privately recorded sessions which have not yet surfaced. Nothing is known about any recordings he made (if any) in the USA after he emigrated there in 1957.
FLAC with cover pictures of the various lps and a short discography.

Amy Tweed - trumpet
Dizzy Reece - trumpet
Ken Wray - bass trumpet
Joe Harriott - alto
Don Savage - alto
Norman Gondall - tenor
Johnny Weed - piano
Tito Burns - accordion
Dave Goldberg - guitar
Major Holley - bass
Stan Wasser - bass
Lennie Bush - bass
Phil Seamen - drums
Dougie Cooper - drums

01 Blues Original
02 My Heart Belongs To Daddy
03 Riff Concoction
04 Midnight Sun
05 Pinky
06 Budo
07 Chorous
08 Basie Line
09 Manteca Suite

Label: Various
Recorded: Various
Lineage: Various

0160 Tommy Whittle [New Horizons] FLAC 9(40.55)

Contributed by Azule Serape
May 3 2011 - Our thanks to Gonzo who has kindly (although he tells me he enjoyed the exercise!) carried out some remedial work on this post. There is a link in the comments if anyone would like to try the result. BJ
September 20 2011 - Brought to the fore today because a new rip acquired by Azule Serape. It is FLAC and may be an improvement even on Gonzo's. Subjective though so link here for you to try if you wish.

Tommy Whittle - tenor
Harry Klein - baritone
Eddie Thompson - piano
Ken Sprang - bass
Jackie Dougan - drums

01 Lady Bee
02 Howl
03 Lullabye
04 Mine Still
05 12 by 5
06 New Horizons
07 Blues in the Dark
08 Loving Man
09 Heard and Seen

Label: Tempo TAP 27
Recorded: May 1959
Lineage: CD>FLAC