1. Shake It & Break It
2. Perdido Street Blues
3. Ain’t Gonna Give Nobody None of This Jelly Roll
4. New Rag
5. Dippermouth Blues
6. Snake Rag
7. Dallas Blues
8. Ice Cream
9. Red Man Blues
10. Lord, Lord, Lord
11. God Bless the Child
12. St. Louis Blues
13. Bogalusa Strut
Recorded at Het Congres, Breda, The Netherlands, on November 1, 1987.
Tommy Sancton – Clarinet
Tony Pringle – Cornet, vocal (tracks 3, 7, 8, and 10)
Jim Klippert – Trombone
Peter Bullis – Banjo
Eli Newberger – Piano
“Pam” Pameijer – Drums
Chester Zardis – Tuba
Bonnie Bagley – vocal (tracks 11 and 12)
Recorded at Intermediate Studios, Boston, on May 8 and 9*, 1971.
This is the tenth in a series of fourteen limited edition CD’s, reissuing material by the band that previously appeared on LP’s—mainly on their own label
but also on a few other small labels, such as Philo, Philips, and Dirty Shame—and on cassette tapes. Some of these cassettes were issued simultaneously
with the LP’s but also contained additional tracks. Other cassettes with different material were issued in that format only. When the company that produced
the cassettes went out of business, the digital masters were returned to the band. These form the basis of most of the material on this CD set.
This CD reissues the recordings made by the first edition of the band, which was started by Tommy Sancton and Tony Pringle and called the Black Eagle Jazz
Band. (After several personnel changes, the “New” was added to distinguish the later group.) The liner notes from the original LP written by Sancton are
included here and tell the story of how it all came together. All of the tracks from that LP have been retained and three previously unissued tracks— God Bless the Child, St. Louis Blues, and Bogalusa Strut—are added.
As a glance at the personnel will show, four of the seven of the early group were in at the creation of the New Black Eagles Jazz Band, and with the
exception of Newberger, are still with the band today. When Sancton left for England, several clarinet players came and went until Billy Novick became the
regular clarinetist. Also about that time, Klippert headed to California, and Stan Vincent came in on trombone. The band back then had no regular bass
player, so they opted to send for Chester Zardis from New Orleans, with whom they had played when down there at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage
Festival, for the recording date. When the New Black Eagles formed, Newberger switched from piano to tuba, and Bob Pilsbury came in on piano. Interestingly
enough, after Newberger’s departure the band reverted to using the string bass.
Even at this early stage in the band’s development, many of the features are already, even if nascent, in place. The driving ensemble passages are to be
found in almost every tune on the disc. Solos are invariably backed by more than just the rhythm section. Stop time is invariably clean and precise—witness Perdido Street Blues and Dippermouth Blues, to cite just a couple of instances. The same can be said of the harmonic runs, most often
between cornet and clarinet, Snake Rag offering the best example here. One senses the whole band is really focused and on top of the number. This
is particularly true of tunes that are taken at tempos that invite train wrecks, such as Snake Rag and Bogalusa Strut—but such disasters
never occur.
While the tune list on this CD contains many standards, they are not given tired renditions, as can be inferred from what has been said about the band’s
approach to them. However, not all the selections are standards. New Rag is one such, a beautiful rag by Scott Joplin, the king of ragtime, that
is given a full band treatment here, with many difficult harmonic figures traced immaculately by the cornet and clarinet. Red Man Blues is another
piece not often heard, with its memorable staggered clarinet pattern over the stop time of the rest.
Before closing, I must draw attention to Sancton’s clarinet playing. It does tend to dominate here, perhaps in part because of the mike placement, but it
is well worth hearing, replete as it is with touches gained from his mentor for so long, George Lewis. It would be difficult to miss the Lewis component of
the counter melodies Sancton plays, even to the heavy borrowing from Burgundy Street Blues that he engages in during Red Man Blues. His
warm, woody tone, and his facility in all registers, these too suggest Lewis. When Sancton left the band, undoubtedly there were some heavy hearts..
At the band’s web site <www.blackeagles.com> one can obtain more information.
Bert Thompson
CD Reviews
Own Label BE[LECD]4010
