BLP 5052

The Cool Britons - New Sounds From Olde England

Released - 1954

Recording and Session Information

London, England, May 13, 1954
Albert Hall, trumpet; Johnny Dankworth, alto sax; Don Rendell, tenor sax; Ralph Dollimore, piano; Johnny Hawksworth, bass; Allan Ganley, drums.

Quick Return
Jazz Club U.S.A.

London, England, May 15, 1954
Albert Hall, trumpet; Don Rendell, tenor sax; Harry Klein, baritone sax #1-3; Ralph Dollimore, piano; Johnny Hawksworth, bass; Tony Kinsey, drums.

Crystal
I'm Putting All My Eggs In One Basket
Nom De Plume
Epigram

Track Listing

Side One
Title	Author	Recording Date
Quick Return	Ralph Dollimore	May 13 1954
Crystal	Ralph Dollimore	May 15 1954
I'm Putting All My Eggs In One Basket	Berlin	May 15 1954
Side Two
Jazz Club U.S.A	Leonard Feather	May 13 1954
Nom De Plume	Klein	May 15 1954
Epigram	Olsen	May 15 1954

Liner Notes

IN FEBRUARY 1954, after completing a European tour with my Jazz Club U.S.A. concert unit, I stopped over in England for a fast glimpse of the British jazz scene.

Having already brought some of the better British jazz to American ears via such LPs as Blue Note's New Sounds From The Old World (LP 5019), I was not surprised to observe that still more new talent and material was available for export, and that much of it had been nurtured and encouraged through feature stories and annual polls conducted by the Melody Maker.

This British weekly has become a prime force in fostering international interest in British jazz. Before leaving London I entrusted the Melody Maker's modern jazz editor, Mike Nevard, to assemble an all-star British band whenever the right men became available.

Here is Mike Nevard's own account of how the recordings materialized.

British jazzmen are potentially the best outside America (wrote Nevard). Potentially—because they develop in a world of their own; a jazz world cut off from its American sources.

Union barriers forbid Britons from hearing American bands in the flesh. They have to travel abroad to hear them—or buy outdated records.

In the States you rarely hear the British jazzman. You hear only the commercial bands whose records please the vast, unselective public — Geraldo, Mantovani, Chacksfield or perhaps an occasional poll-winning date.

Mind you, it isn't easy to get good British jazz on record. Take the normal session. The record company has a studio free on Saturday. Half the musicians you want can't make it. You get subs and more subs; you end up with subs for subs. They start off cold. And they end up in a deep freeze.

We tried a waiting game. We knew the musicians we wanted — and we waited until we could get every one of them together for the session.

We waited three months.

Then, one morning in May, the seven best jazzmen in Britain turned up for the session of the year.

We took our time. We worked two sessions, and then from the lot selected the six best numbers — those you hear on these two sides.

You've probably never heard of some of the musicians. Don Rendell, the tenor man, used to play with altoist Johnny Dankworth's combo, for years Britain's number one small group. He idolizes Lester — on records, that is — and now runs his own group..

Albert Hall—it's his real name — played trumpet with Tito Burns in such company as Ronnie Scott and the ubiquitous Dankworth. He now plays with Geraldo.

Harry Klein is the most-in-demand baritone player in London. Jazz groups, record dates, broadcasts, the lot. This was his first chance to really let go on record. He wrote Nom De Plume specially for the date.

"King John I" conceals the identity of Britain's greatest altoist. Not everybody recognizes him as such, but just listen to his playing and see if you agree with us.

Ralph Dollirnore, pianist on the session, is another Geraldo sideman. He was formerly with Ted Heath, and did plenty of arranging for the Heath crew. He wrote Quick Return and Crystal for our date. Johnny Hawksworth, in our eyes, is the greatest bass player anywhere. He's with the Heath band right now (remember Heath's version of Pick Yourself Up?) and he has a sense of humor that comes through on every number he plays. And as for beat.... well, he's unbeatable. And Allan Canley, who plays drums on Jazz Club U.S.A. and Quick Return, was "discovered" by Mary Lou Williams and now plays with Dankworth.

That's the group, then; we hope you like the music. And while you're at it, think what heights the British musician could attain if he had a chance to mix with the world's great jazzmen — as do his cousins in France, Sweden, Japan and Germany...

To Mike's comments we might add a few play-by-play details. Jazz Club U.S.A., except for the second-chorus ensemble, is entirely an alto sax workout for King John, who takes a series of medium-paced choruses that demonstrate his fine sound and unflagging inspiration.

Epigram, a fast boppish unison theme on the "Rhythm" progression, allots two choruses each to. Rendell, Hall and Dollimore, plus one to drummer David Murray.

Nom De Plume, a 12-bar motif, provides a most unusual and harmonically charming framework to encompass the 24-bar solos of Klein, Hall and Rendell, and the choruses in which three horns swap first four-bar, then two-bar phrases.

"On the fast Quick Return, a new garment cloaking the hardy perennial All God's Children changes, there are two fine choruses apiece by tenor, piano, alto and trumpet, and two by Hawksworth's inimitable bass.

Crystal, a very catchy theme in middle tempo, offers more solo moments to the swinging Klein baritone, followed by Hall, Rendell, Dollimore and Hawksworth.

On Eggs In One Basket, a pleasant popular song of the late 1930's, Klein exposes the theme and follows it up with an ad lib chorus. Tenor, trumpet and piano solos lead to a final chorus in which all three horns trade four-bar licks with Murray's drums.

The overall impression you get from these sides is that the top British jazzmen don't merely have the style and the ideas; they also have the sound, the jazz sonorities that are so much an ingredient of a true jazz brew. This is especially noteworthy in the work of Klein and Rendell, both of whom here meet American audiences for the first time. I hope you'll enjoy meeting them in the company of these other, equally distinguished Cool Britons.

—LEONARD FEATHER
(Down Beat Magazine )

Cover design by ARLINE OBERMAN