Czechoslovak Journey - Graeme Bell and his Dixieland Jazz Band LP 1973 / Digital transfer, noise cleaning and mixed, at Audio Design Studio Home Sound Recording Studio made 2012 th.

Tracklist_DATA

SIDE ONE

1) Czechosuovak Journey (G. Bell) 2:40
2) DaUas Blues (H. A. Wand) 3: 10
3) Panama Rag (W. H. Tyers) 3: 10
4) Riverside Blues (J. ‘King’ Oliver) 3: 10
5) Just Gone (J. ‘King’ Oliver - B. Johnson) 3: 15
6) When the Saints Go Marchin’ In (Trad.) 3:00

SIDE TWO

1) Fidgety Feet (N. La Rocca - L. Shields) 2:55
2) Walking Wenceslas Square (R. Bell) 3:05
3) Baum’ the Jack (S. Williams) 2:55
4) Organ Grinder (C. Williams) 3: 15
5) Get It Fixed (K. Rena) 3:20
6) I Wish I Could Shimmy Like
My Sister Kate (A. J. Piron) 3:20

Graeme Bell & his Dixieland Jazz Band

GRAEME BELL - lader, piano
DON “PIXIE” ROBERTS - clarinet
ROGER BELL - vocal (1/2, 11/3, 6), cornet
ADRIAN “ADE” MONSBOURGH - vocal (1/6, 11/4),
JACK VARNEY - banjo trombone, clarinet
LOUIS SILBEREISEN - bass, tuba
 

RECORDED AT THE SUPRAPHON “ROKOSKA”
STUDIO, PRAGUE, ON SEPTEMBER 23rd AND
NOVEMBER l3th, 1947. TRANSCRIBED AT THE
SUPRAPHON “MOZARTEUM” STUDIO, PRAGUE,
ON APRIL 9th, 1973 (by Frantilek Burda)
 

RUSS MURPHY - drums 

MADE IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA

Cover design © Zdenék Ziegler 1973
Liner notes © Zbynék Mácha 1973

NOTES

Soon atter post-war Europe had got rid ot blackouts and lit up its streets, it began to take a lively interest in what had happened overseas in the jazz scene. There was no laek ot attractive points. Swing music had evolved into a broad stream ot dance and Pop music, modern jazz had made its début on New York’s 52nd Street, and a seetion ot the jazz public, and jazz pertormers as well, had started re-discovering the artistic values ot historical jazz relegated tormerly to a secondary position by other jazz developrnents.

The revivalist movement became an integral part ot the advance ot jazz music. The initial steps were made in the late thirties and early torties by several American and European writers and reviewers who began to concentrate on popularising the original New Orleans and Chicago jazz, as well as Atro-American tolk music whieh gave birth to jazz at the turn ot the ceptury. Old gramophone records turnished documentary evidence, and trantic search started tor the jazz veterans who had nursed jazz trom its cradle. The heritage was taken up by groups ot young white musicians on the West coast ot the USA, in Australia, and tinally also in Europe. Europe’s most etteetive stimulant in that respeet was Australia’s revivalist-type jazz, as pertormed by Graeme Bell and his Dixieland Jazz Band on their 1947—1948 tour.

The brothers Graeme and Roger Bell, who had played several years in various dance bands, met in February 1940 elarinetist Don Roberts and drummer Russ Murphy. They tormed the Graeme Bell’s Jazz Gang quartet which soon won an engagement at the holiday resort ot Portsea, and later in Melbourne. As early as 1941, the group staged several jazz concerts which tound enthusiastic young public. By 1944, they polished their specitic style based on the original New Orleans jazz and on the elassical jazz ot the twenties, with appropriato instrumental east: the dominant influence in their repertolre were old recordings by the coloured greats ot the twenties, such as Jelly Roll Morton, Joe ‘King’ Oliver, the Dodds brothers, and Louis Armstrong. A contributing taetor was the high tide ot the revivalist Lu Watters group in Calitornia. The Australian publie learned to expeet good jazz music, and Bell’s example helped to bring into lite several other traditionalist groups; experts coined the term “Australian jazz sehool”. Bell’s orchestra won a new engagement in the Palais Royal restaurant, guest-pertormed regularly on the Australian Radio, and atter the war Graeme Bell tounded his own Uptown Club cabaret. The orchestra came to Prague in 1947 with the Australian delegation to the lst World Festival ot Youth and Students, and Prague was also the Ílrst stage ot the Australian group’s historie European tour. While in Czechoslovakia, Graeme Bell and his Dixieland Jazz Band played in Prague’s Fénix caté, and Gramoklub Prague sponsored their tour ot virtually all major cities and towns in Bohemia and Moravia. The special poster said that the Czechoslovak public was enjoying its tlrst opportunity to hear pure and authentic improvised jazz in its traditional elassical torm, and that the concerts would be a historical jazz review which would feature martial jazz in the spirit ot the old, late 19th-century New Orleans hands, elassical jazz, stomps and rags, New Orleans blues, ete. And the Australians untailingly kept that promise at their concerts, as well as in their recordings on the Supraphon label. The 12 items featured on this LP were recorded in autumn 1947 and issued originally on 78’s; eight ot them were later issued by Supraphon on LF’s. Some “pirated” editions later appeared abroad, but tbis LP Is the llrst to teature the complete set ot the recordings made in Prague by the Graeme Bell Band. They appear here at their best, and the set rivals any other recording made by them elsewhere. A tactor ot the exeellence ot their pertormance was certainly the atmosphere in the recording studio at that time, as well as the extremely warm reception given the Australians by Czechoslovak jazz tans, erities and musicians. The group responded by dedicating two compositions to their listeners in Czechoslovakia: Czechoslovak Journey, and Walking Wenceslas Square, which express the teelings experienced by the Australian musicians on their Czechoslovak tour. Ot the other items, Dallas Blues and I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate eertainy rank among the best recorclings ever made by any revivalist groups, thanks in no small degree to Roger Bell’s vocal, the exeellent ensemble playing, and the style and pertormance ot the individual musicians.

The situation has ehanged considerably sinee the late torties, when Graeme Bell and his Dixieland Jazz Band toured Czechoslovakia, France, Belgium, Holland and England. The flrst modest attempts ot that time have led to the birth ot dozens ot amateur and protessional traditional groups trom Leningrad to London. Traditional jazz and dixieland are well -represented at many regular jazz testivals, and jazz tans’ collections ot this type ot music have grown to respeetable proportions. Traditional jazz has otten enjoyed the highest popularity ratings, and it has intlueneed very distinctly standard Pop musie. Ali that, in retrospect, serves to show the 4Moneering role ot the Graeme Bell Band’s European tour and ot their reeordings, which are not only a historic document, but above all a torever tresh artistic ereation which has lost none ot its appeal over the intervening 25 years.