JAZZ CLASSIC OF THE MONTH
George Buck (1928-2013) recorded and released so many rewarding New Orleans jazz albums throughout his life that it is easy for some sessions to be overlooked and forgotten. New Orleans Reunion, which features clarinetist Tommy Sancton, pianist David Paquette, and drummer Pam Pameijer, is a spirited gem that New Orleans jazz fans will love.
Sancton spent 22 years working as a writer for Time Magazine as their bureau chief in Paris. However he grew up in New Orleans, took some lessons from George Lewis, played with the Black Eagle Jazz Band in the early 1970s and, despite some periods away from music, retained his warm sound and fluent style on clarinet through the years. He had played duets in New Orleans with the excellent classic jazz pianist David Paquette in 1970. In 1989 they crossed paths for the first time in years at a jazz festival in Switzerland and decided to record a trio album. With Sancton’s old friend drummer Pam Pameijer, they recorded New Orleans Reunion. Although it took place at a studio in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, it is very much in the flavor of New Orleans and the French Quarter.
Sancton (who sings on “Gee Gee Blues”) and his trio are featured in top form. Paquette contributes four vocals in a gruff but likable voice during a set that mixes together swinging renditions of such standards as “Girl Of My Dreams,” “Rose Room,” and “Shake It And Break It” with a few lesser-known songs (“Hold Me,” “Crying My Eyes Out Over You,” and Duke Ellington’s “Lull At Dawn”), The trio plays with excellent musicianship, a real understanding of New Orleans jazz, and plenty of joyful spirits.
New Orleans Reunion
GHB BC-283
www.jazzology.com
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.
