Monday, July 6, 2026
Dan Wall • On the Inside Looking In
Review by David R. Adler
Organist Dan Wall, well known for his work with guitarist John Abercrombie, appears here in a fairly straight-ahead setting. His associates are highly esteemed in their own right: tenor saxophonist (and Double-Time labelmate) Jerry Bergonzi, guitarist Mick Goodrick, and drummer Billy Drummond. (Bergonzi only appears on half of the tracks.) The group begins with an understated yet sizzling rendition of "Witchcraft"; other standards include a wonderful organ/tenor duet on "The Masquerade Is Over" and a closing solo organ reading of "I Fall in Love Too Easily." Unfortunately, composer credits are entirely lacking on the CD package; one can only assume that Wall wrote the remaining tunes, including the fast-swinging title track, the bright waltz "Clouds," and the churning "5 Minute Funk." All the players acquit themselves well, not least of all the leader, who remains a major, if underrated, exponent of the post-bop B3 organ.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/on-the-inside-looking-in-mw0000103288
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Reseña de David R. Adler
El organista Dan Wall, bien conocido por su trabajo con el guitarrista John Abercrombie, aparece aquí en un escenario bastante recto. Sus asociados son muy apreciados por derecho propio: el saxofonista tenor (y compañero de etiqueta de Double-Time) Jerry Bergonzi, el guitarrista Mick Goodrick, y el baterista Billy Drummond. (Bergonzi sólo aparece en la mitad de los temas.) El grupo comienza con una discreta pero chisporroteante interpretación de "Witchcraft"; otros estándares incluyen un maravilloso dúo órgano/tenor en "The Masquerade Is Over" y una lectura final en órgano solista de "I Fall in Love Too Easily". Desafortunadamente, los créditos de compositor faltan por completo en el paquete del CD; uno sólo puede asumir que Wall escribió las canciones restantes, incluyendo el título de la pista de rápido movimiento, el brillante vals "Clouds", y el agitado "5 Minute Funk". Todos los músicos se desenvuelven bien, y no menos importante es el líder, que sigue siendo un importante, aunque subestimado, exponente del órgano B3 post-bop.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/on-the-inside-looking-in-mw0000103288
Louisiana Red • Pretty Woman
Biography
Louisiana Red (born Iverson Minter) was a flamboyant guitarist, harmonica player, and vocalist. He lost his parents early in life through multiple tragedies; his mother died of pneumonia a week after his birth, and his father was lynched by the Klu Klux Klan when he was five.
Red began recording for Chess in 1949, then joined the Army. After his discharge, he played with John Lee Hooker in Detroit for almost two years in the late '50s, and continued through the '60s and '70s with recording sessions for Chess, Checker, Atlas, Glover, Roulette, L&R, and Tomato, among others.
Louisiana Red moved to Hanover, Germany in 1981, and maintained a busy recording and performing schedule through the subsequent decades into the new millennium, his 21st century releases including 2001's Driftin' on Earwig, 2002's A Different Shade of Red on Severn, 2004's Bad Case of the Blues on Mojo Tone, 2005's No Turn on Red on Hightone and Hot Sauce on Red Lightnin', and 2008's Back to the Black Bayou (recorded in Norway with producer/guitarist Little Victor) on Ruf. He died in Germany in 2012 when his thyroid imbalance brought on a stroke.
by Ron Wynn
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/louisiana-red-mn0000839476/biography
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Biografía
Louisiana Red (nacido Iverson Minter) era un guitarrista, armónica y vocalista extravagante. Perdió a sus padres a temprana edad a través de múltiples tragedias; su madre murió de neumonía una semana después de su nacimiento, y su padre fue linchado por el Klu Klux Klan cuando tenía cinco años.
Red comenzó a grabar para Chess en 1949, y luego se unió al ejército. Después de su baja, tocó con John Lee Hooker en Detroit durante casi dos años a finales de los 50, y continuó durante los 60 y 70 con sesiones de grabación para Chess, Checker, Atlas, Glover, Roulette, L&R, y Tomato, entre otros.
Louisiana Red se trasladó a Hannover (Alemania) en 1981 y mantuvo un apretado calendario de grabaciones y actuaciones durante los decenios siguientes en el nuevo milenio. Entre sus lanzamientos del siglo XXI cabe citar Driftin' on Earwig (2001), A Different Shade of Red (2002) en Severn, Bad Case of the Blues (2004) en Mojo Tone, No Turn on Red (2005) en Hightone y Hot Sauce (2008) en Red Lightnin', y Back to the Black Bayou (2008) (grabado en Noruega con el productor/guitarrista Little Victor) en Ruf. Murió en Alemania en 2012 cuando su desequilibrio tiroideo le provocó un derrame cerebral.
por Ron Wynn
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/louisiana-red-mn0000839476/biographyRichard Galliano-Brussels Jazz Orchestra • Ten Years Ago
Review from All About Jazz (by Chris May):
An energetic recording artist who since 2007 has been averaging three albums a year, accordionist Richard Galliano appears even more prolific because of the quick-fire diversity of contexts in which he places himself -- solo, with his Tangaria quartet, with European and American jazz groups ranging from duos to larger lineups, and with strings. Between them, Galliano's albums have embraced tango, jazz, chanson and the classics. In a long career as leader however, he has never recorded with a big band -- until now and Ten Years Ago, his first release of 2009 and a thumping five-star triumph.
The album partners Galliano with the undersung but brimming-hot Brussels Jazz Orchestra on nine Galliano compositions and Astor Piazolla's "Michelangelo 70." Five of the arrangements are by Galliano, another five by trumpeter and composer Bert Joris. There are just two tangos, "Michelangelo 70" and "Tango Pour Claude," both of them arranged by Galliano, and the main thrust of the album is the American jazz tradition tempered by chanson. In this respect Ten Years Ago resembles its immediate predecessor, Love Day: Los Angeles Sessions (Milan, 2008), made with pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Mino Cinelu.
There are few precedents for accordion/big band collaborations -- Gil Evans' orchestra once featured Gil Goldstein, Maria Schneider's Gary Versace -- and no generally accepted arranging parameters. Galliano and Joris approach the project from contrasting, but compatible directions. Galliano plays the orchestra as though it was an accordion, using closely harmonized brass and reed sections to recreate the intense chordal signature of the instrument and its intermittent, percussive, stabbing emphases. The transference is at its most literal in the tangos, both of which are given dramatic, full-on arrangements. On the swinging "Rue De Maubeuge" and "Take Eleven" Galliano stays a little closer to the American jazz big band tradition, with the soft and pretty "Poeme" a chanson-informed interlude.
Joris, who in addition to leading his own small groups has since the late 1970s played in and composed/arranged for many of the leading European big bands, takes a more traditional approach -- but one distinguished by boundless energy and fresh-painted instrumental colors. He brilliantly succeeds in integrating the accordion into the orchestra, alternatively allowing Galliano to ride over screaming brass (as in "Teulada" and "Coloriage"), be caressed by lush, velvety woodwinds (as in "Ten Years Ago" and "Giselle"), or be driven along by raw, Middle Eastern-inspired dance rhythms (as in the closing "Taraf.")
In his liner notes, Galliano dedicates this album to a lover who died ten years ago, and reproduces the words of Guilliaume Apollinaire's anguished lament for lost love, "Le Pont Mirabeau," whose words he says sum up his feeling about the music. More than this, Ten Years Ago evokes the unquenchable vitality that imbued Apollinaire's work, and his own reading of the poem recorded in 1913. Galliano's solos, be they close-to-berserk, two-handed whirlwinds, or, less frequently, quieter lyrical reflections, share the same luminosity. There are strong solos too from Frank Vaganee on soprano saxophone, Kurt Van Herck on tenor, Pierre Drevet on trumpet and Marc Godfroid on trombone. An altogether brilliantly realized album.
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/ten-years-ago-richard-galliano-milan-records-review-by-chris-may
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Resena de All About Jazz (por Chris May):
Un artista discografico energico que desde 2007 ha promediado tres albumes por ano, el acordeonista Richard Galliano parece aun mas prolifico por la rapida diversidad de contextos en los que se coloca -- en solitario, con su cuarteto Tangaria, con grupos de jazz europeos y americanos que van desde duos hasta formaciones mas grandes, y con cuerdas. Entre todos ellos, los albumes de Galliano han abarcado el tango, el jazz, la chanson y los clasicos. Sin embargo, en una larga carrera como lider, nunca habia grabado con una big band -- hasta ahora, con Ten Years Ago, su primer lanzamiento de 2009 y un rotundo triunfo de cinco estrellas.
El album asocia a Galliano con la infravalorada pero ardiente Brussels Jazz Orchestra en nueve composiciones de Galliano y "Michelangelo 70" de Astor Piazzolla. Cinco de los arreglos son de Galliano y otros cinco del trompetista y compositor Bert Joris. Solo hay dos tangos, "Michelangelo 70" y "Tango Pour Claude", ambos arreglados por Galliano, y el nucleo del album es la tradicion del jazz americano matizada por la chanson. En este sentido, Ten Years Ago se parece a su predecesor inmediato, Love Day: Los Angeles Sessions (Milan, 2008), grabado con el pianista Gonzalo Rubalcaba, el bajista Charlie Haden y el baterista Mino Cinelu.
Hay pocos precedentes de colaboraciones acordeon/big band -- la orquesta de Gil Evans conto una vez con Gil Goldstein, Maria Schneider con Gary Versace -- y no hay parametros de arreglo generalmente aceptados. Galliano y Joris abordan el proyecto desde direcciones contrastantes pero compatibles. Galliano toca la orquesta como si fuera un acordeon, utilizando secciones de bronces y vientos estrechamente armonizadas para recrear la intensa firma acordal del instrumento y sus enfasis percusivos e intermitentes. La transferencia es mas literal en los tangos, ambos con arreglos dramaticos y a pleno. En el swingueante "Rue De Maubeuge" y "Take Eleven", Galliano se acerca un poco mas a la tradicion americana de la big band de jazz, con el suave y bonito "Poeme" como interludio de influencia chansoniere.
Joris, que ademas de liderar sus propios pequenos grupos ha tocado y compuesto/arreglado desde finales de los 70 para muchas de las principales big bands europeas, adopta un enfoque mas tradicional -- pero distinguido por una energia ilimitada y frescos colores instrumentales. Logra brillantemente integrar el acordeon en la orquesta, permitiendo alternativamente que Galliano cabalge sobre los bronces ensordecedores (como en "Teulada" y "Coloriage"), sea acariciado por maderas suaves y aterciopeladas (como en "Ten Years Ago" y "Giselle"), o sea impulsado por ritmos de danza en bruto e inspirados en Oriente Medio (como en el cierre "Taraf").
En sus notas del liner, Galliano dedica este album a una amante que murio hace diez anos y reproduce las palabras del angustiado lamento de Guillaume Apollinaire por el amor perdido, "Le Pont Mirabeau", cuyas palabras dice que resumen su sentimiento sobre la musica. Mas que esto, Ten Years Ago evoca la vitalidad inextinguible que impregnaba la obra de Apollinaire y su propia lectura del poema grabada en 1913. Los solos de Galliano, ya sean torbellinos casi enloquecidos a dos manos, o con menor frecuencia, quietas reflexiones liricas, comparten la misma luminosidad. Hay tambien solos destacados de Frank Vaganee en saxofon soprano, Kurt Van Herck en tenor, Pierre Drevet en trompeta y Marc Godfroid en trombon. Un album brillantemente realizado en todos los sentidos.
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/ten-years-ago-richard-galliano-milan-records-review-by-chris-may
www.richardgalliano.com ...
Bill Black's Combo • Solid and Raunchy
Review by Greg Adams
One of three albums the Bill Black Combo
released in 1960, Solid and Raunchy is exactly that -- honking,
sax-driven rock & roll instrumentals played by a propulsive
five-piece band. This is music for teenage dance parties and
consequently sticks to million-selling tunes like "Bo Diddley,"
"Tequila," and "Raunchy." The combo varies their approach at times for
variety, introducing songs with an organ ("Don't Be Cruel") or piano
("Blueberry Hill"), but the saxophone always asserts itself after a few
bars. The album's suitability as a party disc made it the combo's
highest charting. Ultimately, its context is lost today since the time
of bobbysoxers and record hops has passed, and most modern listeners
will find the repertoire over-worn and uninteresting despite the solid
and raunchy performances.
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Reseña de Greg Adams
Uno de los tres álbumes que Bill Black Combo lanzó en 1960, Solid and Raunchy es exactamente eso: instrumentos de rock & roll que tocan la bocina y el saxo, tocados por una banda propulsora de cinco piezas. Esta es música para fiestas bailables adolescentes y por lo tanto se adhiere a melodías de millones de ventas como "Bo Diddley", "Tequila" y "Raunchy". El combo varía su enfoque a veces por la variedad, introduciendo canciones con un órgano ("Don't Be Cruel") o piano ("Blueberry Hill"), pero el saxofón siempre se afirma después de unos pocos compases. La idoneidad del álbum como disco de fiesta lo convirtió en el combo de mayor éxito. En última instancia, su contexto se ha perdido hoy en día, ya que la época de los bobbysoxers y los saltos de discos ha pasado, y la mayoría de los oyentes modernos encontrarán el repertorio desgastado y poco interesante a pesar de las sólidas y estridentes interpretaciones.
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