CD Review
Bert Thompson
Playing time: 59 mins. 20 secs.
When You and I Were Young Maggie; Lord, Lord, Lord; Down by the
Riverside*; Washington and Lee Swing; Buddy Bolden’s Blues*; The
Sheik of Araby*; When I Leave the World Behind†; When I Move to the
Sky; When I Move to the Sky (reprise).
Recorded at the 100 Club, Oxford Street, London, on Sept. 27, 1972.
Personnel: Ken Colyer, trumpet, vocal*; Sonny Morris, trumpet, vocal†;
John R. T. Davies, trombone; Monty Sunshine, clarinet; Pat Hawes,
piano; Ben Marshall, banjo; Julian Davies, bass; Colin Bowden, drums.
July 14th is an auspicious date, marking as it does (a) for the French, the
Storming of the Bastille in 1789, and (b) for many U.K. jazz fans, the
1951 National Federation of Jazz Organisations concert at the Royal
Festival Hall in London, a significant event in the British traditional jazz
revival. Among the bands performing that night was the Crane River
Jazz Band, and a memorable 78 r.p.m. record of a snippet of the concert
was issued by Parlophone, one side having I Want a Girl Just like the Girl
That Married Dear Old Dad by the Saints Jazz Band of Manchester, the
other I’m Travelling by the Crane River Jazz Band of Cranford. Along
with my fellow jazz-loving high school friends I was knocked out by the
Saints’ side and, in my case, equally by the Cranes’. That was my
introduction to the band, as I was reminded by the When I Move to the
Sky track on this CD, although here we are given the true title of the
tune, not that (I’m Travelling) given on the Parlophone 78.
After the band broke up and the members joined or formed other bands,
there were several Crane River reunions, some of which were recorded
and issued on LPs and on CDs, such as Live at the 100 Club 1976) on
Dine-a-Mite Jazz DJCD-004 and Storming Session (1973 & 1977) on
Upbeat URCD159. This CD is the latest of these, a 1972 session recorded
by John and Renee Long and previously unissued. Although the
recording is not professional, it is remarkably good, the only slight
problem being that the vocals are off-mike, as are some of the piano
solos, especially when Hawes applies the soft pedal.
The band here is comprised of most of the original Cranes, Colin
Bowden filling in on drums for Ron Bowden (not related), and they are
in top form, playing as if they never had parted before. Colyer and
Morris dovetail just as they did in the past, and Sunshine weaves
wonderful solos as well as obbligatos behind other soloists. Colyer, too,
cannot resist joining in to back Sunshine and Morris when they solo.
While we don’t hear much from the rhythm section since apart from
Hawes they do not solo, we are aware of their presence as the
underpinning of the front line, along with the clearly audible 4/4 of
Bowden’s bass drum and occasional pressed roll. In short, it is typical
Crane River fare, although one must admit that the intervening decades
had resulted in a “polish” to the playing—it no longer had that rough
edge of the young men of the early band, although the “wildness of
spirit” was still there. Judging by the prolonged applause following the
reprise in the last track, what had been delivered was much relished by
the audience.
The play list includes many tunes associated with the Cranes, especially
of course, When I Move to the Sky (I’m Travelling), which for many will
elicit memories of the 1951 concert on the Parlophone 78. While most of
the tunes are now “standards,” the New Orleans-style treatment, led by
Colyer’s unmistakable cornet and Sunshine’s exuberant clarinet,
delivers them fresh; and one is hardly cognizant that, other than the last
track, each runs over six minutes. This is the kind of CD that rewards
the listener with new discoveries each time he or she plays it.
Inevitably there can be no more reunions as almost all of the musicians
on this recording (exceptions, I believe, are Marshall and Bowden) are
no longer with us. However, possibly there are other private recordings
of other concerts that will emerge and become available to Upbeat—and
Liz Biddle can be prevailed upon to release them. All Crane River Jazz
Band aficionados will want to have this CD, and it could serve as a
useful introduction for those unfamiliar with the band.
More information is available at the Upbeat web site, www.upbeat.co.
uk.
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