1. You Gotta See Mama Every Night
2. At a Georgia Camp Meeting
3. Lonesome Road
4. Maple Leaf Rag
5. My Blue Heaven
6. When I Leave the World Behind
7. Maryland, My Maryland
8. St Philip Street Breakdown
9. Tiger Rag
10. Goin’ Home
Ken Colyer – Cornet, vocals
Sammy Rimington – Clarinet, alto sax
Barry Palser – Trombone
Ray Smith – Piano
Stu Morrison – Tenor banjo
Alan "Jinx" Jones – Bass
Colin Bowden – Drums
This
album fails to answer a question that has
been puzzling me for years: why is Ken Colyer
held in such high regard that it almost amounts
to sainthood? Ken’s rigid ideas about jazz
may have attracted those who like fundamentalist
views, but those ideas led him to adopt a
rather stilted mode of playing based on the
style of musicians that Colyer regarded as
authentic. This results in music that is played
with conviction but, judged dispassionately,
is no better than what is produced by hundreds
of other bands playing New Orleans or traditional
jazz (and I’ve played in quite a few such
bands).
On
this album there are lots of wrong notes from
cornet and trombone, and Colin Bowden’s thumping
bass drum is far from subtle, although it
can’t prevent the music from speeding up in
such places as the piano solo on Maple
Leaf Rag. Ken Colyer’s relaxed, fluid
cornet style has a certain appeal but he so
often sounds quavery and uncertain that his
playing hardly inspires confidence. Sammy
Rimington is the exception from these criticisms,
as he was (and is) a genuinely talented player,
as you can hear in his expert feature on St
Philip Street Breakdown.
This
live CD, recorded at York Arts Centre in 1972,
effectively conveys enthusiasm from the band
and the audience, although the recording emphasises
the banjo and drums at the expense of the
piano and bass. The album will please Colyer
fans, who tend to accept anything from "The
Guv’nor". Perhaps we should make allowances
because Colyer went through many periods of
illness. However, even after you make allowances,
you may conclude that the musical standard
is not very high.
Tony Augarde
CD Reviews
Upbeat URCD
210
