Benny Waters and The Traditional Jazz Studio - Blue Waters LP 1976 Digital transfer, noise cleaning and mixed, at Audio Design Studio Home Sound Recording Studio made 2018 th.

DATA         01     02     03     04

01 - Blop Blop - Benny Waters
02 - Candy - Mack David/Joan Whitney/Alex Kramer
03 - The Not Knowing Lover - Pavel Smetáek
04 - Albert's Blues - Albert Nicholas
05 - Lady Be Good - George Ira Gershwin
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06 - Zigin' & Zagin' - Benny Waters
07 - If I Could Be With You - James P. johnson
08 - Blue Waters - Benny Waters
09 - Sweet Georgia Brown - Ken CaseyBen Bernie Maceo Pinkard

(ciarinet, soprano sax, alto sax, tenor sax, vocal)

Pavel Smetácek - leader, ciarinet, alto sax
Svatobor Macák - alto sax, tenor sax
VitézsIav Marek - trumpet, guitar
Jaroslav Fuksa - trombone
Antonín Bily - piano
lvo Pluhácek - banjo
Antonín Lodr - bass
Jirí Jirásek - drums

GUEST PERFORMERS

Josef Nachtman - baritone sax (1, 3, 7)
Miroslav Jelínek - trumpet (1, 2, 7)
Viadimír Zizka - drums (6, 8)

Produced by Tony Matzner

RECORDED AT THE SUPRAPHON STUDIO
IN DEJVICE. PRAGUE,
FROM 12 T0 I4 JANUARY, 1976

Recording director: Tony Matzner
Recording engineers: Jifí Brabec and Jan Chalupsky
Cover design ‘ Joset Zich Sc Ivanka Zichová 1976
Cover photo ‘ Pave Vácha 1976
Liner notes ‘ Tony Matzner 1976

The name of the coloured multi instrumentaiist Benny Waters (b. 1902 In Brighton, Maryland) Is not associated wlth any radlcal milestones in the history o( jazz, nor has it ever been the subject of glossy picture.magazine stories. His long and remarkable progress through the world of jazz, (rom his In. itial stint wth the Charlie Miller Orchestra in Philadelphia through dozens of prominent or less prominent bands has been modestly unostentatious - a career of dispensing joy and pleasure without winning personal honours. Nevertheless his historically vaiuable recordings with legendary jazz bandiead. ers like Joe King Oliver, Clarence Williams or Fletcher Henderson make him a particularly attractive personality now, when alt those names have irrevocably become a part of history. Vet there is another aspect to Benny Waters’ music, which makes his recordings something more than a mere document of what azz used to be like at the time of its progress (rom music.making by self-taught coloured people to music with defsnite artistic ambitions. Waters was one of the very few coloured musicians of his generation to receive all-round musical education at the Boston Conservatory, in the clty which boasts the greatest musical tradition in the United States. His education, plus his willingness to absorb the stimuli generated by the younger generatlons ot musicians, won him positions in the big bands ot the swing era which required instrumentalists ot high calibre (one instance was his short engagement In Jimmie Lunceford’s famous orchestra In the early forties), and helped him later to add to his range ot expression the new elements shaped by Don Byas, Charlie Parker, and others. This is what makes Waters’ session with
the Traditional Jazz Studio, Czechoslovakia’s leading revivalist ensemble, a highly exciting musical experience, distinc. tively unlque In terms ot styie among ali records by Smetá. ek’s band.
BIop Blop, the album’s very f.rst item, takes us to the atmosphere offull-blooded music-making associated with the famous dance-halls ot Hariem’s Lenox Avenue, which replaced in the mid.twenties New Orleans’ Storyville as the hotbed ot jazz, and went on to maintain that position tor a full decade. Riffs against the 12-bar blues background and an almost big.band texture with sharply accentuated rhythm - this is the famous Harlem Jump colour typical ot the orchestras with which Waters played in the thirties. Short piano, tenor-sax (Ma. cák) and trumpet (Marek) solos arc followed by Waters on the clarinet, whose rough verve and drive let us enjoy anew whar used to be most characteristic ot Negro swing music. Candy, the well-known post-war hit. Is presented by the soloist in the spirit ot the Hawkins tenor school, so eftective is transtorming standard Pop jazz materiai to jazz. In Smetáek’s original composition The Not Knowing Lover, Waters (on alto sax this time) presents convincing evidence ot his boundiessly rich power ot imp-ovisation. Albert’s Blues Is the soloist’s and the Traditional Jazz Studio’s homage to the recentiy deceased veteran ot the New Orleans Creole ciarinet school, Albert Nicholas (who played with the Traditional Jazz Studio on the album Albert’s Blues, Supraphon 115 1420). Smetáek’s introductory clarinet solo Is actually a respectful re.improvisation ot Nicholas’ chorus, and is fotlowed by tenor-sax solo impro. visation by Waters. The presentation ot Gershwin’s internationaily tamous Lady Be Good bears distinct traits ot the influence ot the early swing combos, particularly Benny Goodman, whose elegant melodic line is clearly reflected in the brilliant ciarinet solo by Waters. Waters also appears here in the role ot vocaiist in the tradition ot coloured vaudeville entertainers typifled by Fats Waller (his irreverent paraphras. ing ot Ira Gershwin’s original lyrics also includes Waters’ own appreciation ot Prague). Waters presents this facet ot his style still marc clearly in his own, pun-titted composition Zigin’ 8c Zagin’, with Marek’s remarkable guitar solo in Eddie Lang style, and the composer’s solo on soprano sax. lf I Could Be with You features the ensemble’s pianist Antonín Bíl’ along with Waters (clarinet and alto). Blue Waters Is Waters’ alto-sax solo atfair throughout, and his typical earthy “lowdown blues” style Is rich in the characteristic stop choruses. From the very first bars, this particular recording charms the is. tener by its combination ot blues traditions and innovations produced by modern alto-sax piayers, (rom Charlie Parker to soui-oriented Cannonball Adderley. Sweet Georgia Brown, the record’s finai item, is a sequel ot solos by the ensemble’s lndividual members; most listeners will probably find Svatobor Macák (tenor sax), VItzsiav Marek (trumpet). Jaroslav Fuksa (trombone) and JIN Jirásek (drums) the most attractIve - next to Waters hlmself, ot course (alto sax, and ciarinet In the flnale).