OSCAR KLEIN & LINO PATRUNO EUROPEAN JAZZ STARS Live at the San Marino Jazz Festival Oscar Klein trumpet, cornet, clarinet in 10 Lino Patruno guitar, banjo Alexander Katz trombone Engelbert Wrobel clarinet, soprano sax Bob Barton piano, vocal in 6 Jan Jankeje bass Gregor Beck drums Dana Gillespie vocal All of Me Lazy River Indiana Stealin' Apples The World is Waiting for the Sunrise When you're Smiling Mood Indigo Come on "If You're Coming" St. Louis Blues Organ Grinder Blues Royal Garden Blues Total time: 60.16 It was a glorious summer evening in beautiful San Marino, the scene of an annual festival of traditional jazz directed by LINO PATRUNO. Under the motto "Jazz Meets the People" Jazz incontro alla gente, this congenial festival has seen the greatest North American and European jazz musicians among its contributors. On July 16, 1995 chance dealt LINO PATRUNO and OSCAR KLEIN a really good hand. The band consisted mainly of soloists who had never met before, but their playing together "unrehearsed" was exceptional. That`s something that can only happen in jazz! OSCAR KLEIN, Austria. with his hot trumpet is a must in an all-star team of this nature. Although he was 65 years old when these recordings were made he showed no weaknesses LINO PATRUNO, Italy, guitar, banjo. His catchy swing on the guitar gives an extra touch of class to any rhythm group. On the banjo he is one of Europe's few virtuosos. DANA GILLESPIE, Great Britain. The high point of the concert. Her charismatic stage presence and her full and sensuous blues voice thrill every audience. A real queen of the blues! ENGELBERT WROBEL, Germany, clarinet, soprano sax, is also a successful bandleader. He blends in perfectly with every team. Although a more modern swing musician, he has a profound knowledge of traditional jazz. ALEXANDER KATZ, Germany, trombone, is an extremely versatile musician and bandleader. He maintains like no other the black swing trombonist tradition of the 40's. JAN JANKEJE, Slovak Republik, bass, is a unique phenomenon in European jazz. Although he is a reliable and swinging accompanist, he breaks all the boundaries of traditional jazz as a soloist. BOB BARTON, Great Britain, piano, usually plays alone, but he's an ideal band pianist. GREGOR BECK, Germany, drums, is Europe's best swing drummer. For years now he has been declared the darling of American soloists of world renown, and in this session he shows himself in top form. In jazz, it happens all the time. When OSCAR KLEIN took the stage in this 1995 concert, he did not know, who would be joining him. Guitarist LINO PATRUNO was there; he organized the festival. Klein had been in a group with JAN JANKEJE and GREGOR BECK; Jankeje knew the trombonist ALEXANDER KATZ. They had never played as a group before, and there was no time to rehearse. They started to play, and - everything worked, from sparkling solos to tight ensembles. At the spur of the moment, great music was made. In jazz, it happens all the time. JRG Barrett This is a felicitous example of Eurojazz: eight artists representing five countries more harmoniously, more compatibly and more successfully than any European politicians could aspire to in a year of gravy traint diplomacy. Recorded on stage at the annual festival "Jazz Meets The People" held in the republic of San Marino "an enclave in north-eastern Italy",, the 11 tracks represent the type of fare heard on those occasions when all-star, multi-national bands are put "or thrown" together for festivals, usually without rehearsal "as here, according to the card gatefold note". Enthusiasm and joie de vivre abounded on this occasion and everyone is adequately featured. The seven-piece ensemble is to the fore in the three opening, chops-loosening numbers. Then clarinettist ENGELBERT WROBEL, Germany steals the honours on Stealin' Apples where he digs in impressively with his forceful tone. Co-leader and mainly guitarist LINO PATRUNO, Italy turns to his banjo for a 2min 45sec rendition of The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise where he really proves "as someone, I'm certain, once said" that 'melody can be played on the banjo'. Britain's BOB BARTON takes a passable vocal on "When You're Smiling", supplementing his constantly inventive piano work throughout the CD on which his eclectic, rumbustious style "tremolos, boogie woogie licks and down-home bluesy licks too" is fully demonstrated. Germany's ALEXANDER KATZ has an extended outing on Mood Indigo, where he uses his mutes skilfully, eliciting some low-down dirty sounds from his trombone. Great Britain's other representative, the irrepressible "sometimes labelled raunchy" singer DANA GILLESPIE is a surefire festival hit as I've seen for myself and her three numbers here give only a hint of the impact I'm sure she made on the San Marino audience. Come On "If You're Coming" is indicative of her no-nonsense, freewheeling approach. As is "Organ Grinder Blues", a slow duet with Bob Barton, where, despite her rather over-nasally timbre she is as bawdily bluesy as any other female singer around, e.g. 'It's not your organ, but it's the way you grind'. Of the remaining musicians trumpeter OSCAR KLEIN, Austria is a powerful lead but in some places strains for effect. "Incidentally, contrary to the gatefold information, he is not heard at all on Organ Grinder Blues". Bassist JAN JANKEJE Slovakia indulges at times in some gallery-pleasing effects known in the trade as '"inger-fluttering" and GREGOR BECK, Germany tries hard to live up/down to the gate-fold's assertion that he is 'Europe's best swing drummer'. The CD ends with a tear-up Royal Garden Blues where, predictably, everyone gets a look-in; Not much to complain about here and a worth-while souvenir if you were in San Marino on July 16, 1995. Kevin Henriques, Jazz Journal, March 1999 Our price: 13,45 EUR incl. 19.0% MWSt. / VAT