Contributed by bluebird, who writes:-
This is a rather odd sort of record.
One the one hand there is a swinging big band with some fine Shake Keane solos but on the other hand there is a consort of viols and a recorder consort accompanying Elaine Delmar (who sings on 5 tracks) and sometimes popping up with the big band.
Don't dismiss this because of the unusual orchestrations though, because there is some fine music. Unfortunately, Elaine's vocals are spoiled in many places because of the excessive sibilance which is a result of bad microphone placement in the original recordings. Despite our best efforts we are unable to remove this without destroying the music so, in the main, it has been left alone.
(01 03 05 07 09 11)
Ken Jones - leader, piano, arranger
Dennis Nesbitt - conductor
Kenny Baker - trumpet
Bert Ezard - trumpet
Eddie Blair - trumpet
Bert Courtley - trumpet
Shake Keane - trumpet, flugelhorn
Jackie Armstrong - bass trombone
Roy Willox - alto, flute
Derek Grossmith - tenor, flute
Manny Winter - baritone, flute
Roy Davey - vibes, miscellaneous
Spike Heatley - bass
Barry Morgan - drums
Jack Peach - percussion
Elizabethan Consorts of Viols (01)
(02 04 06 08 10)
Ken Jones - harpsichord
Arthur Watts - bass
Tony Kinsey - drums
Alan Hakin - percussion
Elaine Delmar - vocal
Elizabethan Consorts of Viols (out 04)
Geoffrey Emmott's Recorder Consort (out 02 06)
01 Overture - Strike Up The Bard (Salzedo, Lindup) (6:44)
02 St. Valentine's Blues (Salzedo) (3:13)
03 Shake On A Barre (Mack) (3:45)
04 Live With Me And Be My Love (Premru) (3:33)
05 In A Stratford Garden (Hawksworth) (1:38)
06 Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind (Young) (3:05)
07 Nine For Bacon (Mayer) (2:27)
08 Fye On Sinful Fantasy (Lindup) (2:17)
09 Oxford Blue (Jones) (3:04)
10 Shall I Compare Thee (Brown) (2:25)
11 Puck (Tracey) (3:00)
Label: ATCO 33-171
Recorded: April 1964
Lineage: LP>FLAC
Difficult to imagine who came up with the idea behind this album. Presumably something to with the 400th anniversary of the Bard's birth. Anyway, thanks for sharing bluebird and Rodney.
ReplyDeleteIf I remember rightly from one of John Mayer's obituaries,Nesuhi Ertigun at Atlantic (before it became part of the WEA behemoth) asked Denis Preston to produce it, hence its release on their sub-label, Atco. It *was* a Willie the Shake quatercentenary project, probably intended to compete with the Dankworth/Laine "Shakespeare and all that jazz" album. As far as I'm aware it was never issued in stereo, which is a pity... (the balance might have been better ,g.)
DeleteThanks Rodney and bluebird! Cheers!
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot to both of you.
ReplyDeleteThe right man for the job!. (Keane) had been dubbed "Shakespeare" by his school friends, on account of this love of prose and poetry. This nickname was subsequently shortened to "Shake", which name he came to use throughout his adult life.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I'd like to find a complete discography of Keane's recorded sessions. This guy was much more prolific than I ever imaginede.
Cheers
Thanks Bluebird and Rodney for this one. Some great big band jazz here, and in spite of Bluebird's comments I found the sound quite acceptable
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