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Rating: Although I absolutely do not claim to have absolute knowledge of music, I am about to write this review after 2 years of "absence" from this site and after various and endless debates, which were however very useful, to share with readers the passion I recently discovered for 1920s jazz, the kind played by white jazz bands in the seedy clubs of Chicago and New York.
In the 1920s, jazz moved from New Orleans northward, to the aforementioned cities, where figures such as Bix Beiderbecke, Eddie Lang, Louis Armstrong, King Oliver, Benny Goodman, Frank Trumbauer, etc., emerged.
Bix Beiderbecke was a child prodigy who learned to play the piano at three years old and, as a self-taught student, the trumpet. His family decided to send him to study at a Military Academy in Chicago, and from there, Bix's career began. It was precisely in Chicago that his extraordinary improvisational skills and his unique and refined style were discovered, leading him to be considered even today as the best white jazz musician (or perhaps the best jazz musician of all time, but I don't want to speculate too much on words...). Unfortunately, Bix died at just 28, a victim of alcohol, which flowed freely in the nightclubs where he played.
Around the legendary figure of Bix Beiderbecke, the album "Red & Boss Gang" was released, produced by Micca Club Records, and it is played by some of the best international soloists: Emanuele Basentini (guitar), Red Pellini (baritone sax), Massimo D'Avola (tenor sax), Andy Gravish (trumpet), Paolo Farinelli (alto sax), Leonardo Borghi (piano), Vincenzo Florio, Marco Loddo, and Giuseppe Talone (double bass), Marco Valeri, Nicola Angelucci, Roberto Pistolesi (drums). It is also enriched by the unmistakable sound of Carlo Atti's sax and Greg's voice (in From Monday On).
The album, recorded in August 2006 in the club's halls, revives for a modern audience the pieces of the past, many played by the orchestra of the great Paul Whiteman (for many a simpleton... but he is the one who commissioned Rhapsody in Blue to Gershwin), in which Bix Beiderbecke was the first trumpet soloist, adapting them in a decidedly original way. What amazes is how this music, which unfortunately almost no one listens to today, is something uniquely beautiful, how these musicians make you feel emotions that nothing and nobody else is capable of giving you. Every solo is a touch of class, no note is left to chance, every improvisation is something wonderful. It was personally gifted to me by Emanuele Basentini, and it played in the stereo of my car for two whole months uninterruptedly. It is strange to be able to listen to such engaging, impeccable music, and realize that many do not even know what jazz is, or consider this type of jazz archaic, second-tier compared to the equally appreciable jazz of John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, etc...
Many revival albums on Bix have been made, but this is probably the only one where music from the 1920s is played with modern musicians and solos... Yet despite everything, the music seems to be the same; consider that (I speak as someone not aware of the facts) probably no record label (so committed to churning out new Tiziano Ferro) took on the responsibility to record this album (like many other very important albums), and the album was recorded and produced by a club...
The problem is probably mostly related to Italy, pervaded by a musical (and cultural in general...) undergrowth, in which it is believed that "good music" is what they play on the radio, perform at Sanremo (the festival of Italian trash), or show on Top of the Pops (another gem...) and that jazz is a niche genre that nobody likes and is about to disappear. The infamous Pop, full of refrains and redundant phrases, has now entered everyone's heads, from the 60s onwards, from the "myth" of Elvis Presley and the "nice" Beatles, heavily misjudged by the critics (those with a capital C) of the time, but much appreciated by the teenagers of the time, the first teenagers that record companies, very careful to maximize their profits, dealt with...
TRACK LIST:
1 - FIDGETY FEET
2 - WHEN
3 - BLUE RIVER
4 - CHINA BOY
5 - SINGIN THE BLUES
6 - CLARINET MARMELADE
7 - DARDANELA
8 - FROM MONDAY ON
9 - MY PRETTY GIRL
10 - HAPPY FEET
11 - I'LL BE A FRIEND WITH PLEASURE
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