1. Spreading Joy
2. Chicago Breakdown
3. Bombay
4. She’s Crying for Me
5. Short Dress Gal
6. Old Stack o’ Lee Blues
7. Funny Fumble
8. Roamin’
9. Grandpa’s Spells
10. Working Man Blues
11. Skeleton in the Closet
12. Rent Party Blues
13. Love Songs of the Nile
14. Shake It and Break It
Recorded at WGBH, Boston, MA, on Dec. 28, 1976 and Jan. 3, 1978
Tony Pringle – Cornet, leader and vocal (track 5)
Stan Vincent – Trombone
Stan McDonald – Clarinet and soprano sax
Bob Pilsbury – Piano
Peter Bullis – Banjo and manager
“Pam” Pameijer – Drums
Eli Newberger – Tuba
This is the twelfth 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.
The composers of the tunes on this CD comprise a veritable jazz composers’ “Hall of Fame,” with names such as Sidney Bechet, Jelly Roll Morton, Tiny
Parham, Santo Pecora, Sam Morgan, King Oliver, Duke Ellington. And their compositions have become, indeed, “classics”: Bechet’s Spreading Joy,
Morton’s Grandpa’s Spells, Morgan’s Short Dress Gal, Oliver’s Working Man’s Blues, Ellington’s Rent Party Blues, with
nary a warhorse among them. Their rendition by the New Black Eagles might also be dubbed “classic.”
The program begins with a romping, stomping Spreading Joy, taken at a very brisk tempo in an undeviating four-four, here as elsewhere
Newberger confounding the listener with his magical circular breathing. Although he may not be breathless at the end, the listener almost is. And so
it continues straight through to the closing number, Shake It and Break It, a cooker which seems to accelerate a little as it proceeds but is
certainly a rousing note on which to end.
In between, the band displays some of the signature devices for which it became known. In several of the tunes there are subtle changes in texture,
particularly where everyone drops out except for the tuba and banjo, the tuba playing lead. In other places different instrumental groupings occur for some
choruses, such as piano with drums and banjo accompaniment (no tuba), or cornet with the same accompaniment. Ensembles are given preference, especially on
the out-choruses, and there is the gradual build-up of tension and excitement via the carefully employed dynamics.
By the time of these recording sessions these men have developed a fine rapport and can well anticipate what each other will do. That, coupled with the
band’s telling discipline, results in superb renditions. There are quite a few memorable moments, such as the crisp opening ascending run taken by Pringle
on Grandpa’s Spells and Pameijer’s nice accents on the same tune. His woodblocks on She’s Crying for Me also provide a most effective
opening, and in that same tune the shifting between keys is effortless. It always surprises me that so few bands have this number in their repertoire.
Another tune, a good one, that is not in many bands’ “books” is Love Songs of the Nile, a song from the movie The Barbarian
(1933) and which Billie Pierce, pianist and vocalist who played in New Orleans from some twenty years, made her own as she along with her husband De De led
bands at Preservation Hall. The movie may have sunk into oblivion, but the song survives.
The first nine tunes were recorded in one session and issued on a Philips LP, and the last five in one a year or so later. The personnel in both sessions
was the same, as was the engineer, but the sound is a little different between the two. That of the first is warmer, but that of the second provides
clearer definition of the instruments. No other tracks were extant from the first session, but fortunately those from the second survived and after the
tapes were “baked” allowed for a full-length CD, one which all fans of the band will want to have, as should anyone who fancies him- or herself a
traditional jazz connoisseur.
At the band’s web site <www.blackeagles.com> one can obtain more information.
Bert Thompson
CD Reviews
BE[LECD]4012
