Episode 2: Americans In Europe

One of the most intriguing contradictions in the history of European jazz is the fact that a lot of big names in American jazz moved to Europe, while over here, all local jazz musicians dreamt of a career in the USA. Some of them made the step, others changed their name to make it sound more American. So it’s strange that people like Chet Baker, Dexter Gordon and Ben Webster, to name a just a few, moved to Europe.

Some of them moved over here because of racial tensions, others because of the witch hunt that the narcs held against jazz musicians, but most of them felt more appreciated in Europe. In the 1940’s, when the swing era was in full bloom, jazz was pure entertainment and dance music. When Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie changed this, and when Rock & Roll took over in the fifties, people turned their back on jazz. Here in Europe, the popularity of jazz declined too, but jazz was considered more as an artform, and musicians as artists.

So in this episode, I’ll shine some light on some of the Americans who moved to Europe, with a special focus on the Kenny Clarke and Francy Boland Big Band (CBBB).

Ben Webster’s grave in Copenhagen. Picture by Blast Kid.

Ben Webster – Ben’s Little Scheme

One of the big names in jazz is Ben Webster. Originally from Kansas, he moved to Europe in 1964, living in Amsterdam first and Copenhagen later, where he was buried after his death in Amsterdam in 1973. His stay behind the dikes is well documented by Johan van der Keuken in his documentary Big Ben – Ben Webster In Europe. He played a lot with local musicians, and in The Netherlands he recorded the album ‘Ben op zijn best’, meaning Ben at his best, together with Ray Kaart, Herman Schoonderwalt, Rudy Brink, Cees Slinger, Rob Langereis and John Engels.

Dexter Gordon-Slide Hampton Sextet – A Day In Vienna

When Dexter Gordon moved to Europe in the sixties, he had already had a turbulent career. He was one of the greatest during the be-bop era, but kind of got forgotten by the audience and spent a few years in prison because of drug use. The move to Europe was good for him, both as human and musician. He played a lot in Paris and Copenhagen, where he lived for a long time. By the end of the sixties, he recorded the album ‘A Day In Copenhagen’ with fellow expats Slide Hampton, Kenny Drew, Art Taylor and Dizzy Reece. The bass player is Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen from Denmark.

Herbie Mann with the Wessel Ilcken Trio – Afro Blues

Flute player Herbie Mann went on a honeymoon to Europe in 1956. While he was here, he used the opportunity to play with a lot of local musicians and in The Netherlands, he even recorded with the trio of Wessel Ilcken, one of the first modern jazz drummers in Europe, who would sadly die in a water-skiing accident the year after this recording. On piano and bass you can hear the brothers Pim and Ruud Jacobs.

Miles à Paris. Jazz Hot n°189, July 1963.

Miles Davis – Florence Sur Les Champs Élysées

Although Miles Davis never really lived in Europe, he recorded one of the most legendary European jazz albums, namely the soundtrack to the French nouvelle vague film ‘Ascenseur pour l’échafaud’. The story goes that director Louis Malle had finished editing the film and went to a concert by Miles Davis, who was performing in Paris. He asked Miles to do the soundtrack and Miles agreed. He wrote the basic ideas down and the group improvised the soundtrack while they were watching the movie. The personnel consists of Barney Wilen (ts), René Urtreger (p), Pierre Michelot (B) and Kenny Clarke (dm).

Jon Eardley – Subtroyan Influence

After having recorded for jazz labels like New Jazz and Prestige in the states, trumpeter Jon Eardley moved to Belgium in 1963. In the late sixties, he recorded an album called ‘Jazz From The States’. The album cover is somewhat misleading, since we see a picture of a band with all black musicians, while nor Jon Eardley nor any of the four Belgians (Marcel Denis, Johnny Dover, George Wellens and Freddy Rottier) and one Dutchman (Jan Theelen) accompanying him were black.

Brew Moore – Piger

Milton Aubrey Moore was a saxophonist who is often compared to Lester Young. He started playing bebop and was one of those artists who were admired by the beatnik generation. His alcohol problems gave him the nickname of ‘Brew’. He moved to Europe in the early sixties and lived in Sweden and Denmark, where he’d sadly die after falling of the stairs of the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen. This tune was composed by Sahib Shihab.

Sahib Shihab with the Danish Radio Jazz Group – Di-Da

Edmund Gregory was a saxophone and flute player who was among the first jazz musicians to convert himself to the Islam and he then changed his name to Sahib Shihab. He moved to Europe shortly because of the racial tensions in America. Shihab, who died in ‘89, had a very distinctive, raw, often spiritual style of playing, mostly on baritone saxophone and flute. On the day that Malcom X was shot, Sahib Shihab played with the Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band, and when it was his turn to perform his solo, he stood up to the microphone and instead of playing, made all kind of aggressive sounds with his saxophone. He quickly became one of the key players of the Scandinavian and European jazz scenes in the sixties. He made a legendary record with the Danish Radio Jazz Group, featuring this magnificent piece of art called ‘Di-Da’.

Gitte with The Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band – Go To Hell

In the sixties, Sahib Shihab was also one of the core members of one of the most unique and best formations in the history of European jazz, the Kenny Clarke and Francy Boland Big Band. Kenny Clarke was a drummer from Pittsburgh, who already played in the Paris jazz scene of the fifties, Francy Boland was a Belgian piano player and composer. They were brought together by jazz entrepreneur Gigi Campi, who sadly passed away in the beginning of this year, and soon formed their big band with European musicians and American expats such as Johnny Griffin, Benny Bailey, Idrees Sulieman, etc. They recorded numerous jazz albums, mostly for Saba and MPS, but also Blue Note, Atlantic and KPM. In ‘68 they made this album with singer Gitte.

The Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band – Peter’s Waltz

Although I’m not that much of a big band enthusiast, Peter’s Waltz is one of those pieces that really get me. It’s a composition by Sahib Shihab with a great, almost soundtrack-like feeling theme and great solo’s.

Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band - Un Graso Do Areia

One of the best records they recorded with the big band is probably Latin Kaleidoscope, which actually consists of two long latin suites, showing the composing skills of Francy Boland. They are backed up by five percussion players, including Sabu Martinez.

Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Sextet – Calypso Blues

Next to recording and performing with the big band, Kenny Clarke and Francy Boland also recorded with smaller combos, featuring key members of the big band such as Jimmy Woode, Sahib Shihab, Sadi and Joe Harris. With this sextet, they recorded the legendary albums ‘Music For The Small Hours’ and ‘Swing Im Banhoff’, who were put together on the compilation ‘Calypso Blues’ by Rearward/Schema Records. On this beautiful version of Nat King Coles standard Calypso Blues, we hear American expat Jimmy Woode sing and play bass at the same time. We also hear a beautiful example of the raw flute playing of Sahib Shihab.

Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Sextet – Ensadinado

‘Ensadinado’ is a tune that Francy Boland wrote for his good friend and fellow Belgian Fats Sadi, a multi-talented musician who played mostly percussion and vibraphone and who played on many sessions of the big band. Jimmy Woode is the singer again.

Sadi – Ensadinado

Another of those legendary small group sessions by Kenny Clarke and Francy Boland, is an album with the same name as the previous track. ‘Fats’ Sadi was the leader and recorded the album with a quartet (Clarke, Boland and Woode). The title track is a different, instrumental version of Ensadinado on which both Sadi and Boland show themselves as great soloists.

Johnny Griffin – The Turk’s Bolero

A favorite of jazz dj’s and dancers, ‘The Turk’s Bolero’ comes from the album ‘Lady Heavy Bottom’s Waltz’, another of those legendary small group sessions from the Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland cooperation. The fact that this record is loved so much by dj’s and dancers is due to the fact that it’s recorded with two drummers: Kenny Clarke and Kenny Clare (no mistake). Also, notice the heavy and raw baritone of Sahib Shihab again.

Links:
- The improbability of the Clarke-Boland Big Band
- Schema/Rearward records reissued most of the CBBB catalogue

Bonus: Although I really wanted to include some music by Chet Baker, he is not featured here for the simple reason that I don’t have any of the records that he recorded here in Europe. They are among the finest European jazz recordings and are some of Chet’s best work, but also very hard to find. So, until I become either very lucky or very rich, I keep enjoying this movie of Chet Baker in a Belgian tv-studio in 1964.

The saxophone player is none other than Belgian saxophone player Jacques Pelzer, on whom you can read more about in two weeks, as the third and last episode in this series will be all about Big Jazz from Little Belgium.