CD Review by Bert Thompson
BRIAN CARRICK’S ALGIERS STOMPERS—“SPIRITUALS AND OLD TIMEY MUSIC”: A LIVE CONCERT OF NEW ORLEANS MUSIC AT ST. MARY’S CHURCH, OTTERY ST. MARY, DEVON (P.E.K. Sound PKCD-332). Playing time: 71m. 53s.
Over the Waves;, He’ll Have to Go*; Smile, Darn Ya, Smile; Bring It on Home to Grandma*; Have You Ever Been Lonely*; The Old Rugged Cross; I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate‡; At Sundown; It’s All Over Now†; Is It True What They Say about Dixie*; God Will Take Care of You; Kid Thomas Boogie Woogie.
Personnel: Peter Wright, trumpet; Brian Carrick, clarinet, tenor sax, vocal*; Chas, Hudson, trombone, vocal†; Gabrielle Gad, piano, vocal‡; Malcolm Hurrell, banjo; Bill Cole, double bass; John Baker, drums.
A new Carrick recording is always welcome. As soon as I could, I got this one into the CD player; but I must admit to feeling a little let down by the end. That is not to say it is a bad recording; rather, it just didn’t come up to the level I had anticipated.
Carrick’s playing is, as always, impeccable. There is no fault to find there. Cole’s bowing the bass on a couple of the slower numbers—The Old Rugged Cross and God Will Take Care of You—is a treat. Also the trombone’s deftly inserting quotations from Lara’s Theme (Dr. Zhivago) and The Loveliest Night of the Year in the opening number Over the Waves is tasty.
Similarly, the other musicians generally play their parts well. However, being a drummer myself, I am always especially attentive to what is going on at the traps, and for me there is just a bit too much going on there. The resulting “busyness” seems to contribute on occasion to the uneven tempos on a few of the tunes.
Of course the drummer is not alone responsible for time keeping—the whole band also needs to be part of the rhythm. But some of the other members also contribute to the rushing that occurs from time to time, e.g. in Kid Thomas Boogie Woogie. Finally, more ensemble playing and fewer solos—or at least fewer choruses in each solo—would have made for more of the “New Orleans” feel that Carrick usually strives for. Too often the ensemble-solos-ensemble pattern is present.
The tune list (with fewer spirituals than one might expect, given the disc’s title and the concert’s location) is quite balanced between those that are very familiar and those that are heard less often. For me the latter would include the country song He’ll Have to Go, which I don’t recall having heard before, and Richard M. Jones’ composition Bring It on Home to Grandma (in the same category as Li’l’ Liza Jane). I always enjoy encountering tunes that I have not heard before or often, as I suspect many readers do, too.
Nothing is said in the liner notes about the acoustics inside that apparently large church, and they sound fine; but possibly they were not so for the musicians, which might account for the intonation problems that surface occasionally. Sometimes an instrument seems a bit out of tune. However, live recordings always involve some slight risks, as this one illustrates, and all things considered I prefer them to studio ones.
Although this CD came up just a bit short of my expectations, it does provide a vicarious concert experience and some good listening. Ordering information can be found at www.jazz-at-peksound.co.uk (P.E.K. website) and www. heritagehallstompers.com (band website).
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