Dose continued
Back to the cows and cowbells
So Jazz Journey is basically the same lineup as the Jazz Quintet 60
Like I said, they produced one my favorite records of all time, the one released on the Swedish Metronome label in 1962
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vwz9LH8eqZs&list=OLAK5uy_lMr9uuk1xmHT52iJr7_mRs0TMhIZzkAeQ
In case anyone wants to buy me a present 🙂
This was the debut of bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, who would go on to become Denmark’s most famous jazz export, playing in Oscar Peterson’s trio. He started playing at 14, and is still a teenager here
The record also showcases Botschinsky’s tone on trumpet, and leader Axen’s knack for writing empyrean ballads (check out 2/4/6, Ballad No 2, and especially More Peace)
1962 was also the year Dexter Gordon arrived in Copenhagen
Stan Getz was, I think, the first prominent American jazz musician to move to Scandinavia
He had gone to Sweden in the 50s with his second wife, in large part to get away from the smack that was breaking up his relationships, work, and life
And eventually made his way to Copenhagen
By the late 50s, other players were also heading to Denmark, including the great bassist Oscar Pettiford
The jazz clubs in Copenhagen attracted touring musicians and locals alike
Including Vingarden restaurant, where the Danish Jazz Quintet held court
And the most famous, Jazzhus Montmarte, which opened in 1959 and rapidly became one of the centers of the jazz world
Denmark at the time was a promise of freedom and independence, and in particular offered black jazz musicians a respite from the virulent racism of the U.S.
Danish tastes welcomed modern jazz, too: the Copenhagen literati were all over bebop and hard bop
So it made a cozy (hygge?) home for Gordon’s experimentation
Gordon’s influence within sax and jazz circles far exceeds his lay recognition
I’m pretty sure it was Gordon who was introducing most of the new thangs to the Danish cats, including modal grooves and the ideas he traded with Coltrane (he was a key influence on Trane, and in turn was one of the first to assimilate some of his revolutionary investitures)
But he wasn’t the only foreigner bringing in outside energy
Reedman Sahib Shihab was another jazz emigree in Europe in the early 60s
He had toured in Europe, played in Clarke and Boland’s big band (as did so many of the american expats), fell in love with Scandinavia (and a Danish woman, whom he married) and decided to stay
Botschinsky, Axen, and NHØP were all part of the Danish Radio Jazz Group, which preceded the more well-known Danish Radio Big Band by a few years (Thad Jones would eventually become the director of the Big Band in the 70s)
Danish Radio (DR) was a state-sponsored monopoly of the tv and radio airwaves
So they got to hire, spend, play, and record without the pressures of commercial viability (the Big Band exists to this day!)
Shihab played with the DR Jazz Group as a guest soloist on numerous occasions
And led the group through some of his quirky and genial compositions
They strike a perfect balance between swinging and cerebral
The 1965 album he did with them, released on the Danish Oktav label, is evidence
(another one that commands big bank on the wax circuit)
Shihab is sometimes on alto in addition to his more customary bari and flute
Dance of the Fakowees (a tribute to the native american tribe) showcases the punch of the big brassy group with rhythms accented by handclaps, and–yup!–cowbell
On Mai-Ding, Shihab uses the cowbell to kick it off by demonstrating the latin rhythm (can you follow it? I’m not sure I can) as he exhorts the group to get into it, and then brass comes in banging like Gustavus Adolphus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03GVEdTgKzE&list=PL0q2VleZJVEn3y1qBbhcVUEG2gIcjFqFM&index=5
Per the liner notes, Mai Ding is an ode to “the Japanese poet”
If anyone knows who that might refer to, please tell