Classical Music

HAPPY BLUE

The year was 1961, the venue the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam. After a memorable performance in Berlin a year earlier, Fitzgerald was once again singing to a packed concert hall. This release has captured that performance, and has been remastered for crystal-clear sound quality. It’s the closest thing to being right there in the audience those five decades ago. (Fondamenta)

What best example could one have of the art of Abdullah Ibrahim than this Autobiography " The pianist regarded at the time as his more beautiful concert solo? As the title of the disc indicates it, it is all the history, the culture, the meetings and the interrogations of the musician which ravel in this extraordinary voyage. Ibrahim jumps of a topic, an air, a melody to another like one dodges the water puddle pools, without any rupture in the continuity and the logic of his musical thought. One has the impression that, inside himself, he reconstituted, reorganized, recomposed by preserving all his culture and his evolution since his childhood: musics and popular songs. South-African, entertaining (dance, festival) like functional (anthems, steps) which rythm life, American black jazz, European classical music... All that produced a perfectly built and coherent musical mixture. Never, in spite of the abundance of parts which are followed, there is the impression of a juxtaposition, a joining. No piece " is retracted " to pass to the following, all have their place, their function, their role and their significance in the architecture of this large fresco. They are sand-gravel mix surges which thunder, powerful waves which roll, coloured sparks which burst, aggregates of notes touffus, or time of calm meditations, tender and deep melodies, the nostalgic calls followed by abrupt resolutions, of the dreams of hope, the songs repeated... One collects oneself then, after some steps, one is carried by the dance... almost frighten before peace does settle and the harmony finally reigns. Let us follow while reading them the titles of the pieces while they are played, notice as all are connected and intersected naturally, listen how an harmonic and rhythmic expansion very marked announces a typical anthem which itself is transformed into standard of jazz! Let us discover how Ellington and Monk are completely absorbed and returned with a different breathing.

In a concert given in Zurich in 1991, when it was then rare for Shepp to adopt the alto saxophone of his debuting years, this album offers a fine example of their repertory : a series of perfectly formed pieces, played with both the depth of experience and lucid distance. Going to the heart of the matter, the two musicians enable us to discover the very essence of jazz and Afro-American music in it's full glory.

(2-CD set) Lester Young, on exile from a future wich would have never happened. - TRACK LISTING: THEM THERE EYES. CHEROKEE, part 1&2. I AIN'T GOT NOBODY. (LET ME) LIVE AND LOVE TONIGHT. LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME. TWELVTH STREET RAG. MISS THING, part 1&2. SONG OF THE ISLANDS. I NEVER KNEW. SOMETIMES I'm HAPPY. SIX CATS AND A PRINCE. DESTINATION KC. JO-JO. FOUR O'CLOCK DRAG. POOR LITTLE PLAYTHING. KANSAS CITY STRIDE. BASIE STRIDES AGAIN (ALONG AVENUE C). THE MIDNIGHT SYMPHONY. ON THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET (1). D.B. BLUES. THESE FOOLISH THINGS. I CAN'T GET STARTED. I'VE FOUND A NEW BABY. MEAN TO ME. SLOW DRAG. YOU'RE DRIVING ME CRAZY. LESTER'S BE BOP BOOGIE. SHE'S FUNNY THAT WAY. S.M. BLUES. JUMPIN' WITH SYMPHONY SID (1). NO EYES BLUES. ON THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET (2). EASY DOES IT. JUMPIN' WITH SYMPHONY SID (2)

This CD contains 12 compositions by Claude Bolling dedicated to 12 jazz pianists. Tracks include: An Oscar For Oscar (Oscar Peterson), Count On Him (Count Basie), Bis-Scott Rag (Scott Joplin), Dear George (George Shearing), Dave The Brave (Dave Brubeck), Midnight On Thelonius (Thelonius Monk), Duke On My Mind (Duke Ellington), Fatty Fats (Fats Waller), Ramsey The Pharaon (Ramsey Lewis), With Art and Fun (Art Tatum), Roll Jerry Roll (Jerry Roll Morton), Erroll in Blue (Erroll Garner).

(2-CD set) The pianist who loaded high voltage into every line. Includes a 32 page booklet with both French and English notes.

“In the early fifties Ernest Leardee, with his West Indian orchestra, played a major role in the popularization of tropical music in France. He enables us to discover singer Andre Salvador, Henri Salvador’s elder brother, in unissued and extremely rare recordings.” J.-P. Meunier & P. Fremeaux

Santos Chillemi is travels between three musical roads: Argentina, jazz and classical. On this CD he pays homage to the traditional South-American repertoire. Features la cumparsita today / Arraigado / Chacarera / Malambo / Milonga de los recuerdos / Besame mucho / La flor de la canela / Tomo y obligo / El dia que me quieras / El choclo burlon / La quimera o Balderrama / Alfonsina / La pome-�a / La cumparsita today (radio version) and others.

Didier and Francis Lockwood have been fixtures of the French jazz scene for thirty years, but their Brothers album, originally recorded for the Ames label in 2008, featured them together for the first time. Francis Lockwood's piano and the violin of his brother Didier function together in perfect alchemy here, the only instruments present on the recording. The result is an intimate, delicate dive into a universe of their own design where their talents, complicity and connivance are shaped by the closeness of their relation as brothers.

(2-CD set) The wildest of them all. Includes a 32 page booklet with both French and English notes.

Stan Laferriere’s Big One brings everything in jazz history back to life, from the fi rst signs of ragtime to contemporary fusion in a tasty record you can qualify as one half tribute, one half stylistic exercise. Because while each title on the album is a Laferriere composition, they have that familiar sound which could turn them into standards as great the music they recall. Educational value, yes, but apart from any questions of period or style, this is a jazz orchestra combining power with nuance, and its precision makes it stand out thanks to Stan Laferriere’s unique feel for arrangements and his skill in instrumentation.

“Bird was like the sun, giving off the energy we drew from him… In any musical situation, his ideas just bounded out, and his inspired anyone who was around.” Max ROACH The aim of 'The Complete Charlie Parker', compiled for Fremeaux & Associes by Alain Tercinet, is to present (as far as possible) every studio-recording by Parker, together with titles featured in radio-broadcasts. Private recordings have been deliberately omitted from this selection to preserve a consistency of sound and aesthetic quality equal to the genius of this artist.

Jean Aldegon, Claude Tissendier, Andre Villeger, Marcel Canillard, Pierre Schirrer (Saxophones, Flutes); Maurice Thomas, Jean-Pierre Ramirez, Jean-Claude Verstraete, Michel Delakian, Fernand Verstraete (Trumpets); Charles Verstraete, Benny Vasseur, Francois Guin, Emile Vilain (Trombones); Jean-Paul Charlap (Guitar); Jean-Francois Rouge (Bass); Jean-Luc Dayan (Drums); Claude Bolling (Piano).

« Charlie Parker did all the things I would like to do and more – he really had a genius, see. He could do things and he could do them melodiously so that anybody, the man in the street, could hear – that’s what I haven’t reached, that’s what I’d like to reach. » John COLTRANE

The Romantic touch and emotion of Russian Music united with Django Reinhardt's amazing technique.

"He was the alchemist who transformed the dark, brooding sentiment of keen, living death into ecstasy. And also the one who, in the depths of ecstasy, collected a precipitate of bitterness." Fremeaux & Associes’ « Quintessence » products have undergone an analogical and digital restoration process which is recognized throughout the world. Each 2 CD set edition includes liner notes in English as well as a guarantee. This 2 CD set present a selection of the best recordings by Art Pepper between 1950 and 1960.

“Jazz is our contribution to the world and us Afro-Americans, even if this world prefers to ignore it and always tries to make it the product of something else.” Art BLAKEY Fremeaux & Associes’ « Quintessence » products have undergone an analogical and digital restoration process which is recognized throughout the world. Each 2 CD set edition includes liner notes in English as well as a guarantee. This 2 CD set present a selection of the best recordings by Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers between 1947 and 1959.

This 2-CD set presents 36 standards selected lovingly and illustrated with concupiscence in a booklet of 48 colors pages by Sine.

“Hootie, would you like it if I came to the bandstand looking like a doctor, and played like a doctor?” Charlie Parker to Jay McShann The aim of 'The Complete Charlie Parker', compiled for Fremeaux & Associes by Alain Tercinet, is to present (as far as possible) every studio-recording by Parker, together with titles featured in radio-broadcasts. Private recordings have been deliberately omitted from this selection to preserve a consistency of sound and aesthetic quality equal to the genius of this artist.

At last, they're back! La Section Rythmique, the fabulous group whose stars were always behind the scenes, namely David Blenkhorn, Guillaume Nouaux and Sebastien Girardot. Catapulted to the front of the stage with the release of their first album - it was Record of the Year for Jazz Magazine in 2015 - the group has played countless concerts and done many recordings since then with the likes of Cecile McLorin Salvant, Evan Christopher, Scott Hamilton, Lillian Boutté or Jason Marsalis among others. La Section Rythmique has moved away from the New Orleans material of their first recording and taken swing and bop directions. And since only musicians of this band's calibre could allow themselves guests like these, they've gone into the studio with two giants of the saxophone: American star Harry Allen and young Italian player Luigi Grasso. Only La Section Rythmique could provide such an amazing setting and rival the playing of their two guest soloists. Don't miss this album!

“He would always remain, with a relentless determination that was sometimes heroic, Stanislas Stanley Getz “The Steamer”; in other words, one of the most generous purveyors of beauty known to the 20th century.” Alain GERBER Fremeaux & Associes’ « Quintessence » products have undergone an analogical and digital restoration process which is recognized throughout the world. Each 2 CD set edition includes liner notes in English as well as a guarantee. This 2 CD set presents a selection of the best recordings by Stan Getz between 1952 and 1958.

“Don Byas gave pride of place to one thing over all else: sound. He would blow a note and then hold it, making it swell into something ample and magnificent. Each note had the beauty of a cathedral.” Pierre VORAN

With this volume Romane pays tribute to the wealth of French song: picking up melodies from his childhood and popular songs by Piaf, Distel or Trenet, the guitarist also signs some of his finest compositions. Accompanied by Christophe Cravero (some wonderful choruses on guitar and violin), Romane teams up again with fantastic rhythm partners Yayo and Fanto Reinhardt, and Pascal Berne on double bass, who have been alongside him since the “Acoustic Quartet” recording (cf. Vol.7 of the complete Romane, Fremeaux FA545). Elegant swing, an innate feel for melody and composition… they all come together to incarnate grace in making Romane a central figure in French swing jazz. His influence, in the same spirit as Django, continues its spread around the world… like excellent French cuisine! Augustin BONDOUX Four years after “Elegance”, an album that sealed their friendship and musical entente, in 2004 Romane and Stochelo Rosenberg went back into the studios with a quartet to make this “Double jeu”. Recorded with Stephane Huchard on drums and bassist Marc-Michel Le Bevillon, their album cast new foundations in the avant gardist trend that was part of gypsy swing, a genre that, at the time, was still inflexible over its traditions. Their new record was no longer “merely” a tribute to the music of Django: this was also a homage to his innovative spirit, and who to do that better than two “sacred monsters” of the genre named Romane and Stochelo Rosenberg? A must-have album for all guitar fans.