Albert Nicholas - And The Traditional Jazz Studio - Albert's Blues LP 1972 - Digital transfer 48 KHz 24 Bit , noise cleaning and mixed, at Audio Design Studio 2014..

48 KHz 24 Bit  Records

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SIDE 1

01 - Royal Garden Blues (C. St S. Williams) 4:10

02 - Cáreless Love (Hastdy-Williams-Koenig) 4:45

03 - Basin Street Blues (Williams-Plante) 4:55

04 - Please Don’t Taik About Me (Youmans-Stept-Clare) 5:30

SIDE 2

05 - Albert’s Blues (Nicholas) 4:25

06 - Rose Room (Williams-Hickman) 3:30

07 - Savoy Blues (Ory) 4:10

08 - Black and Blue (Waller-Brooks-Razaf) 4:10

09 - I’ve Found a New Baby (Williams-Palmer) 6:00

ALBERT NICHOLAS (clarinet)

THE TRADITIONAL JAZZ STUDIO:

LUBOS ZAJICEK (cornet)

JlRI PECHAR (trumpet)

PAVEL SMETÁCEK (clarinet, olto sax, leeder)

JOSEF REJMAN (tenor sax)

IVO PLUHÁCEK (banjo)

JIRI JIRÁSEK (drums)

Guest-performers:

VÁCLAV FIALA (trombone)

PETR SKOcDOPOLE (piano)

LUDÉK HULAN (bass)

Arronged by

PAVEL SMETÁEK (1/1, 2/3, 5)

LUBOS ZAJÍCEK (1/2, 3)

JOSEF REJMAN (1/4, 2/4)

ANTONIN BILLY (2/1)

RECORDED AT THE SUPRAPHON, “MOZARTEUM” STUDIO,

PRAGUE, ON 23/24 APRIL, 1972

Recording directors:

Tony Matzner and Kvétoslav Rohieder

Hecording engineer: Jan Chalupskt

Cover design © Zdenék Ziegler

Cover photos © Jití Janeéka

Liner notes © Pavel Smetáéek

Comment:

Jazz defies academic definitions. It is one of the specifics of jazz that the very features of that music which characterize it best and which differentiate it most - despite its extreme variety - from other music, are even more resistarit, in the various stages of their cievelopment, to attempts at describing them in formalized terms than other kinds of creative effort. To be sure, special instructional material and exclusiveiy jazz-oriented instruction have been making some progress recentiy, but such practice is not yet wide - spread, and attempts at communicating methodically the very essentials of jazz music continue to have to do with a trial-and -error approach. This means, in effect, that it is impossible to synthesize jazz expression merely through the study of theory and instrumentai techniques, no matter how speciaUzed the study. After ali, jazz musicians shape their mode of expression primarily in living contact with the actual sound of jazz music, i. e. by sensitiveiy listening to its various elements as well as the final integrated sound units; by practising them on their own instruments or in group playing they keep developing their inclividuai abilities. The most frequent instructionai material in that respect are sound récordings of performances by the accompiished masters of that music; yet the absoiuteiy most valuabie source of knowiedge and practical experience remains the opportunity to piay “live” with one of the jazz greats.That was why, after some - not very extensive - meetings with a Íew major jazz musicians, we took the bold step to arrange for an opportunity to collaborate actively for a few days, both privateiy and in public, with one of the prominent ciassical personaiities of traditional jazz, with a man who helped to shape that music and who piayed with the best of his generation, such as Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, and Jerry Roll Morton. Our daring attempt fortunately succeeded, and in April 1972 we welcomed as our celebrated guest the outstanding Creoie ciarinet player, a native of New Orleans, Albert Nicholas, He was born 27 May 1900; by a strange coincidence, many of his future New Orleans partners were born that year, inciuding Armstrong. A member of the Creole section of the New Orleans population which had inherited from the uropean element of its ancestry a relatively powerful inclination towards Latin culture, Nicholas embraced from the very outset that ot the two main streams ot New Orleans jazz which is made sophisticatedly elegant by its easy flow and emphasis on melody and which is somewhat calmer than the more impetuous and more spontaneous Negro stream represented by Arrnstrong. His ciarinet piaying profited most from the art of the earliest known Creole ciarinet players in New Orleans jazz, Lorenzo Tio Sr., Lorenzo Tio Jr., and Big Eye Nelson. Nicholas iater found more varied sources of inspiration, and he worked with almost ali prominent jazz musicians ot his generation, by no means mereiy those of New Orleans extraction; still later, he became gladly accepted by musicians much younger than himself, and that popularity continued. In addition to the jazzmen mentioned above, his co-piayers included, before World War 1, Joe King Oliver and Edward Kid Ory, and between the two wars Fats Waller, Barney Bigard, Louis Russell, Paul Barbarin, Chick Webb arid others. At that time he also went on extended tours to China, India and Egypt with Jack Carter’s orchestra. In World War II he worked for some time on a postai boat and as subway ticket controller. After World War II. he added Art Hodes, Bunk Johnson, Ralph Sutton, Rex Stewart, Mezz Mezzrow and others to his already broad circie ot co -players. He first visited Europe in 1952, and he worked there continuously for seven years, rnostly in France, and there mostly in Paris. After a short trip back to America he settied permanently in Europe in 1959. His pnncipai partner during his initial stay in Paris was André Reweliotty, and later also his old New Orleans cofleague, Sidney Bechet, by that time also a permanent expatriate in Paris. In 1968, Albert Nicholas again changed his domicile, this time to Basle, Switzerland. That year also marked his first visit to Czechoslovakia - to Bratislava where he had been invited by young local musicians specializing in traditional jazz. The selection of themes for this recording was made under Albert Nicholas’ guidance. In the expression-rich “Albert’s Blues”, his authorship extended mostly to his own broad improvisation, with economical accompaniment by ali instruments in the orchestra; Nicholas entrusted the orchestration to Antonmn Bfl, the Traditional Jazz Studio’s permanent pianist. In addition to the permanent members of the Traditional Jazz Studio, this recording features several well-known Prague musicians; we believed that their individual excellence was certain to make a special contribution to such interesting collaboration. They are Ludék Hulan (bass), Petr Skoédopole (piano), and Václav Fiala (trombone). It goes without saying, of course, that the honour to play with Albert Nicholas also meant enrichment of oneself. Unfortunately, his death in 1973 put an end to such visits and meant a great loss to our musicians and their art.

Pavel Smetácek