Ted Heath: Father Knickerbopper
Track
Father Knickerbopper
Group
Ted Heath And His Music
CD
Listen to My Music Vol. 4: '48-'50 (Hep CD 69)
Musicians:
Ted Heath (leader),
Bobby Pratt, Ronnie Hughes, Stan Reynolds, Stan Roderick (trumpets), Maurice Pratt, Jackie Armstrong, Jack Bentley, Jimmy Coombs (trombones), Les Gilbert, Reg Owen (alto saxes), Henry MacKenzie, Tommy Whittle (tenor saxes), Dave Shand (baritone sax), Frank Horrox (piano), Sammy Stokes (bass), Jack Parnell (drums)
.Composed by Norman “Tiny” Kahn
.Recorded: London, October 7, 1949
Rating: 85/100 (learn more)
The Ted Heath band's exploration of the modern jazz repertoire ended at about this time, when Heath realized that most audiences didn't like this music, preferring pop songs and novelties. It is to Heath's credit that he never stopped playing jazz-oriented, sometimes challenging music (particularly at the band's Palladium Sunday concerts), but he needed to keep the group working as a dance band and music hall attraction to pay the bills. Reg Owen was probably asked to adapt the stock arrangement of Tiny Kahn's tune (originally written for Chubby Jackson), and this is a more than respectable performance, particularly since bop hadn't been mastered by many British musicians at the time. Horrox, Shand, MacKenzie, Whittle and Hughes (sounding like he'd been listening to Miles Davis) take the solos.
Reviewer: Jeff Sultanof
Tags: 1940s jazz · big band · britain
Comments are closed.