The Umlaut Big Band is a very flexible and musical ensemble based in France that is directed by alto-saxophonist Pierre-Antoine Badaroux. Two of their recent recordings resurrect and, in many instances, document for the first time the music of a pair of notable jazz arranger-composers.
The King Of Bungle Bar – Umlaut Big Band Plays Don Redman features the 14-piece band performing the charts of Redman. Arguably the first major jazz arranger, Don Redman (1900-64) did most of the writing for the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra of 1923-27, McKinney’s Cotton Pickers, and his own big band of the 1930s. After a period in the 1940s as a freelancer and in 1946 leading the first American big band to tour Europe after World War II, Redman settled back in the U.S. He spent many years writing semi-anonymously for Pearl Bailey’s backup band and in the studios. While he was a fine altoist and clarinetist in addition to being a personable singer, his most important contributions were as a big band writer. His huge contributions as a pioneer should not be overlooked.
The Umlaut Big Band’s disc brings back six of Redman’s arrangements for Henderson (including “Sugar Foot Stomp” and “Whiteman Stomp”), “Shim-Me-Sha-Wabble” from his days leading McKinney’s Cotton Pickers,” five arrangements (including the previously unrecorded “Redman Rhythm”) from his big band, and a chart ap
