4001). Playing time: 56m. 08s.
Papa Dip; You’re Next; The Curse of an Aching Heart; Snag It; Bugle Boy March;
Storyville Blues; Cataract Rag; The Mooche; Red Man Blues; Cannonball Blues;
The Entertainer; Love Me with a Feeling*; Snake Rag.
Recorded at the Southern Athletic Club, New Orleans, Louisiana, April 19, 1974.
Personnel: Tony Pringle, cornet, leader; Stan McDonald, clarinet & soprano sax,
vocal*; Stan Vincent, trombone; Peter Bullis, banjo; Bob Pilsbury, piano; C. H.
“Pam” Pameijer, drums; Eli Newberger, tuba.
the band that previously appeared on LP’s—mainly on their own label but also
on a few other small labels, such as Philo, Philips, and Dirty Shame—and on the
LP’s This is the first in a series of fourteen limited edition CD’s, reissuing
material but also contained additional tracks. Other cassettes with different
material were issued in that format only. When the company that produced the
cassettes went out of business, the digital masters were returned to the band.
These form the basis of most of the material on this CD set.
In 1974 the New Orleans Jazz Club invited the band to perform at the opening
event of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival of that year. This was an apt
choice since the band has always placed an emphasis on the ensemble work that
categorizes the New Orleans style. While there, the band managed to squeeze in
the recording session presented here, and it was initially issued on an LP, which
was the band’s third. This CD reprises that LP and contains two additional
tracks—Bugle Boy March and The Entertainer—that were not issued originally.
The tune list indicates the kind of repertoire the band had, with quite a few less
familiar numbers and several that almost all traditional jazz lovers will
recognize. Space permits only a few comments on some of these. Among the
more familiar tunes, Snag It is largely Pringle’s vehicle, as it was King Oliver’s.
Bugle Boy March, sometimes called American Soldier, provides some nice variety
as it is played in two/four time all through just as a march is. The well-known
Snake Rag is given a new lease on life, being taken at a spritely tempo with
everyone getting in on the many breaks, and the tuba playing a fast four-beat-to-
the-measure, thanks to Newberger’s mastery of circular breathing.
The Entertainer, not particularly well-known prior to the advent of the movie
The Sting, is not rendered as a piano solo but is given the full band treatment,
the same being true of the other rag—and a lesser known one at that—Cataract
Rag. Another tune few bands play is Red Man Blues, one that I recall as being a
challenge for clarinet players who must play a counter rhythm to the rest of the
group for the second eight measures of the A strain following the cornet lead of
the first eight measures, the A strain being repeated and then returned to two
times at the end after the minor B strain.
Another seldom-heard number is Cannonball Blues, which, as the liner notes tell
us, “is based upon the [Jelly Roll] Morton arrangement with regard to key
changes” but the solos are all improvised by the several musicians. Lastly,
Ellington’s The Mooche, which few bands attempt, is faithful to the original
arrangement, despite the band’s being about half the size of the Ellington
aggregation. It provides ample opportunities for individual expression in the
solos and displays the fine discipline that the band attains.
This CD provides almost an hour of pure pleasure, a cornucopia of New Orleans-
style jazz. According to the band, ordering information is as follows:
The 14 CDs are a set only in that they represent 14 reissues of LPs and Cassettes
from the earlier days of the Black Eagles. We have not priced them as a set and
have typically sold them as individual items. You can find them by going to
http://www.blackeagles.com/x.fullsite/cgi-bin/online-orderform.asp
To the right of the window you will see four lists - aisle 1, 2, 3 and 4. Click on
aisle 2 and you will have an order form listing all 14 of the CDs.
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