Jump to content

The Golden Eight


clifford_thornton

Recommended Posts

I was listening to The Golden Eight, an early Clarke-Boland side recorded in Cologne, and was struck by the question: why is this on Blue Note? The liners detailed the circumstances of the recording, but not the facts behind Lion's choice to release it. Was it licensed from another label? Are other tracks from the session on other CBBB records from the era?

Considering that the bulk of their output from the '60s seems to be on Vogue and MPS, this one-off for BN is kind of weird and I guess I'm just now starting to wonder as I get more into their output.

Long live Karl Drewo!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I must admit, I also wondered why this album is on BlueNote, because you wouldn´t expect that. It´s a great album, really!

Well, about BlueNote stuff recorded in Europe.....there are a few more examples: Dizzy Reece "Blues in Trinity" (which I think was recorded in London though they had to write on the liner notes that it was recorded in France, it has something to do with a record ban they had in UK), Dexter Gordon "Our Man in Paris", "One Flight UP", Ornette Coleman "Golden Circle Vol1+2". Some of those records were produced by Frank Wolff who went to Europe quite often.

But it wasn´t Wolff who produced "Golden Eight", it was Gigi Campi, the famous Gigi Campi from Köln/Germany.

About the musicians: You mentioned Karl Drewo. Of course I saw him live on many occasions in Austria (where he came from). It´s too bad he died to early. It was always a great pleasure to hear him, and he was such a nice man.

In his hometown St. Gilgen/Wolfgangsee near Salzburg they still have a "Karl Drewo-Jazzfestival" each year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great stuff isn't it!

I haven't noticed the tracks duplicated on another label release. . . maybe Alfred bought it and released it. Maybe not. Someone here will have the answer.

At least one of the tracks (the Karl Drevo ballad - not sure of the title off of the top of my head) was re-recorded some years later by the CBBB (I think with Tony Coe taking the tenor solo part). Will have to check.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have always held G8 in high regard.

With regard to Karl Drewo, there's a CD of his that makes an occasional appearance on Dusty Groove that's worth picking up. It's called Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie, although I've always wondered why they didn't call it Clap Hands, Here Comes Karly.

Up over and out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Didn't someone on this board once mention that the 'Golden Eight' mono original was one of the rarest of the BN NY USA pressings? Alan Songer, perhaps?

Yes it is a rare one, but not sought after. I think we can consider this record as a sort of the "first try" of what would become later the "Clarke Boland big band". Unfortunately my "CBBB" albums are stored else where, but if remember well, many of the "future" (we are in 1961) CBBB musicians are already featured in the Golden Eight. The producer of the session is Gigi Campi, he had an active role in the CBBB releases.

Edited by Michel
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 13 years later...

This album doesn't get mentioned enough. It really is quite burning in spots—most notably the opener "La Campimania" and the title track "The Golden Eight"—aided in no small part by the deft drumming of Kenny Clarke. The recording quality is also excellent—perhaps that had something to do with Alfred Lion purchasing it. Or maybe Lion and Clarke had an exchange of some sort—one can only speculate. In addition to Karl Drevo being on fire on this recording, listen to Dusko Gojkovic! Great trumpet playing (and great intonation).

An interesting discographical note:

The Golden Eight was recorded May 18-19, 1961. A handful of months later, on November 14, 1961, Kenny Clarke and Dusko Gojkovic assembled almost the identical band and made a session that ended up being part of an album titled Belgrade Blues. (The LP has two different bands, one largely American, the other European; the "American" session was recorded in 1966. I think they may have originally been separate 10" inch records?) Both The Golden Eight and Belgrade Blues have "La Campimania" on them. The Blue Note version is faster; the RTB version (unreleased until 1967) features Gojkovic more heavily. Both are great.

This thread is in the Discography forum, which is good, but it could easily be in the Recommendations forum as well. A sleeper of an album—very warmly recommended. Amazing sound, and excellent arranging skills—the octet sounds like a big band at times.

NC5qcGVn.jpeg

MjEtMzc3OC5qcGVn.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...