Kenny Ball - Moscow - 00 Notes.txt
Kenny Ball and His Jazzmen
Midnight in Moscow (Kapp KL-1276 [KS-3276 was the stereo release], 1962)
LP rip 192 kbps by Dick Baker, March 2005.
(Forgive a personal note: This was the record that introduced me to trad jazz. My second jazz LP was Ball's "It's Trad," which will follow soon.)
1. Midnight In Moscow
2. Tin Roof Blues
3. My Mother's Eyes
4. Big Noise From Winnetka
5. Yes She Do, No She Don't
6. Puttin' On The Ritz
7. American Patrol
8. Dark Eyes
9. You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby
10. Savoy Blues
11. High Society
Kenny Ball, trumpet
Johnny Bennett, trombone
Dave Jones, clarinet
Ron Weatherburn, piano
Vic Pitts, bass
Ron Bowden, drums
Paddy Lightfoot, banjo
Traditional jazz, once a uniquely American product, has found a home in many corners of the globe. Scandinavians in Sweden, Africans in Ghana, Malayans in Singapore all swing to the strains of "The Saints," and the famous solos created by such legendary jazz figures as King Oliver and Alphonse Picou sing again in lands which have newly adopted this irresistible idiom and made it their personal property.
In the center of this scene, there suddenly appeared a musician of outstanding virtuosity: Kenny Ball, described by the British jazz authority Steve Race as "an accomplished, well-schooled musician with a taste for free-swinging jazz, a wily sense of presentation and showmanship, and the organizing qualities of a born leader. He assembled a group of musicians who could really play their instruments, and set about producing the music he loved, for the benefit of a public which was not over-blest with quality jazz."
The result was electrifying. Audiences quickly recognized the brilliant musicianship of Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen, who became the nation's first choice, with best-selling records riding at the top of the popularity charts and nationwide "star" billing. Kenny's "Midnight in Moscow," at the top of the British listings, is already on our own national charts and promises to be the first of many best-sellers.
In this album, Kenny Ball and the Jazzmen present a varied collection of jazz and popular "standards," each of which possesses the unique personality of great jazz in the "trad" tradition. In addition to the familiar favorites "High Society, "Tin Roof Blues" and "Big Noise from Winnetka," there is Kenny's best-selling "Midnight in Moscow" (adapted from an old Russian melody), together with "Dark Eyes" and some highly unusual stylings of "Puttin' on the Ritz" and "American Patrol."
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