JAZZ CLASSIC OF THE MONTH
Arnvid Meyer (1927-2007) was a trumpeter from Copenhagen, Denmark, who led a swing-oriented sextet during his prime years. He made relatively few commercially released records other than appearing on a 1962 session led by trombonist J.C. Higginbotham, and an album with Ben Webster in 1965. However around 2008 the Stunt label compiled a remarkable box set titled Right Out Of Kansas City that consists of five CDs of mostly previously unreleased performances plus a DVD and a hard cover book. The latter is mostly in Danish but also includes some parts in English along with many colorful and rare photos.
In addition to the fine players in Meyer’s group which usually includes trombonist John Darville, sometimes tenor-saxophonist Jesper Thilo, and a four-piece rhythm section, these recordings (mostly made privately or taken from radio broadcasts) often teams the core group with rather remarkable guests.
The first disc has Meyer in the early 1950s playing as a sideman with a few different trad and swing bands in addition to a few numbers from the beginnings of his own group, a song with trombonist J.C. Higginbotham, and three with a visiting Coleman Hawkins in 1963. The other discs feature Meyer’s Orkester, both as its own infectiously swinging unit and on many performances with American greats who happened to be passing through Denmark. These include tenor-saxophonists Ben Webster, Don Byas and Brew Moore, altoist Benny Carter, trombonist Vic Dickenson, and trumpeters Bill Coleman, Buck Clayton, Charlie Shavers, Harry “Sweets “Edison, and Roy Eldridge, all of whom are heard in top form. There are quite a few rare treasures to be found throughout these CDs.
As if that were not enough, the accompanying DVD has a dozen performances by Meyer’s group during 1965-73 with eight also featuring Webster and Carter, Edison added for one of those, and Byas showcased on “One O’Clock Jump.”
Right Out Of Kansas City will not be inexpensive but jazz collectors should know immediately that it is well worth searching for.
Arnvid Meyer’s Orchestra • Right Out Of Kansas City
Stunt STUCD 08102
Since 1975 Scott Yanow has been a regular reviewer of albums in many jazz styles. He has written for many jazz and arts magazines, including JazzTimes, Jazziz, Down Beat, Cadence, CODA, and the Los Angeles Jazz Scene, and was the jazz editor for Record Review. He has written an in-depth biography on Dizzy Gillespie for AllMusic.com. He has authored 11 books on jazz, over 900 liner notes for CDs and over 20,000 reviews of jazz recordings.
Yanow was a contributor to and co-editor of the third edition of the All Music Guide to Jazz. He continues to write for Downbeat, Jazziz, the Los Angeles Jazz Scene, the Jazz Rag, the New York City Jazz Record and other publications.
