Don Byas - At Nalen

[EKE BBB]

This Swedish sessions were circulating among collectors but, to my knowledge, were never commercially issued:

DON BYAS AT NALEN With JAN JOHANSSON

Reference: RIV-130740

PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED - INCLUDES 2 BONUS TRACKS

"Nalen, in Stockholm, was for many years one of Sweden’s most wellknown dance and cabaret venues. In the larger room there was non-stop dancing to the music of two big orchestras and sometimes dance- demonstrations or even competitions. The smaller room at Nalen was called Harlem. That stage presented amateur cabaret mixed with professional artists but most often concerts with local jazz musicians, sometimes performing with solo artists and even with entire jazz ensembles most often from U.S.A. ...

The musicians that played with Byas that winter of 1962 were ordinarily members of Arne Domnérus Octet, which was one of our house bands at that time... These live recordings went missing soon after they were recorded in 1962. Resurfacing now, they include about 30 minutes of music from one of his concerts, recorded by me. Later I found a recording made by the Swedish Radio which was recorded only five days after mine (I´ll Remember April) in such extraordinary musically quality that I just had to include it on this album. You’ll find the late great Jan Johansson on piano, Georg Riedel on bass, and Egil Johansen on drums. YOU WILL ALSO FIND two bonus tracks from the legendary concert in Town Hall, NYC, from june 9, 1945; the classic duo with Slam Stewart on bass in I Got Rythmn and Indiana."

Nalle Nilson, Producer

PERSONNEL:

DON BYAS, tenor sax

JAN JOHANSSON, piano

GEORG RIEDEL, bass

EGIL JOHANSEN, drums

(1-4) Recorded at Nalen, Stockholm, February 2, 1962

(5) Recorded by the Swedish Radio at Nalen, Stockholm, February 5, 1962

DON BYAS, tenor sax

SLAM STEWART, bass

(6-7 bonus tracks) Recorded at Town Hall, New York, June 9, 1945

TRACKS:

01. There'll Never Be Another You

02. I Remember lifford

03. All The Things You Are

04. Walkin'

05. I'll Remember April

06. I Got Rhythm *

07. Back Home Again In Indiana*

Label RIVERSIDE

Artist: DON BYAS

Format: CD

Label code: RRCD 141

Number of discs: 1

Recording: 1962

Title: DON BYAS AT NALEN With JAN JOHANSSON

Edited May 23, 2012 by EKE BBB

[EKE BBB]

So... no love for Carlos Wesley?

[king ubu]

Lotsa love! Been playing some of his stuff lately, even bought that 3CD Hilda set for some sides with him (I do know they'd been around on a single disc, but hey...). Also got the Savoy 2LP set, which is wonderful! That might be my Byas release for the island. Will look in due time for this new one!

I see there's a Stan Getz release there, too.

Oh, and I obviously was puzzled by the name of the label...

[brownie]

Another BIG Byas fan here!

Curious as to the combination of Byas and Jan Johansson! Will be looking for that new release!

[Big Beat Steve]

Curious as to the combination of Byas and Jan Johansson! Will be looking for that new release!

I guess in 1962 Jan Johansson wasn't as "far out" yet (comparatively speaking) as he was later in the 60s. His "Domnerus period" (see Dragon DRCD 186, for example) sounds relatively straightforward and in keeping with modern mainstream jazz of that period to me.

@EKE BBB:

What site would you recommend for purchaing within Europe?

An Amazon search drew a blank.

Edited May 25, 2012 by Big Beat Steve

[JETman]

Curious as to the combination of Byas and Jan Johansson! Will be looking for that new release!

I guess in 1962 Jan Johansson wasn't as "far out" yet (comparatively speaking) as he was later in the 60s. His "Domnerus period" (see Dragon DRCD 186, for example) sounds relatively straightforward and in keeping with modern mainstream jazz of that period to me.

@EKE BBB:

What site would you recommend for purchaing within Europe?

An Amazon search drew a blank.

Jazz Messengers in Spain.

[EKE BBB]

Curious as to the combination of Byas and Jan Johansson! Will be looking for that new release!

I guess in 1962 Jan Johansson wasn't as "far out" yet (comparatively speaking) as he was later in the 60s. His "Domnerus period" (see Dragon DRCD 186, for example) sounds relatively straightforward and in keeping with modern mainstream jazz of that period to me.

@EKE BBB:

What site would you recommend for purchaing within Europe?

An Amazon search drew a blank.

Jazz Messengers in Spain.

Yes, my experience with them (shipping to Spain) has always been positive.

[JETman]

Curious as to the combination of Byas and Jan Johansson! Will be looking for that new release!

I guess in 1962 Jan Johansson wasn't as "far out" yet (comparatively speaking) as he was later in the 60s. His "Domnerus period" (see Dragon DRCD 186, for example) sounds relatively straightforward and in keeping with modern mainstream jazz of that period to me.

@EKE BBB:

What site would you recommend for purchaing within Europe?

An Amazon search drew a blank.

Jazz Messengers in Spain.

Yes, my experience with them (shipping to Spain) has always been positive.

So has mine, shipping to New York.

[CraigP]

Any thoughts as to the worthiness of the 1946-54 Paris recordings set? Or any other Byas disc that is especially recommended? I too have the Savoy 2LP set, the tribute to Cannonball, and a live at Ronnie Scott's with Stan Tracey.

[JETman]

Any thoughts as to the worthiness of the 1946-54 Paris recordings set? Or any other Byas disc that is especially recommended? I too have the Savoy 2LP set, the tribute to Cannonball, and a live at Ronnie Scott's with Stan Tracey.

Definitive released a 4 cd Complete American Small Group Recordings set and a 3 cd Complete 1946-1951 European Small Group Master Takes set 10 years ago that I can recommend. These are both OOP and fetch high prices now, though.

[Caravan]

At the Jazz Messengers site that announces this CD http://www.jazzmessengers.com/jazz-messengers-picks/product101630, producer Nalle Nilson writes:

"Resurfacing now, they include about 30 minutes of music from one of his concerts, recorded by me. Later I found a recording made by the Swedish Radio which was recorded only five days after mine (I´ll Remember April) in such extraordinary musically quality that I just had to include it on this album",

This is simply not true - the whole thing was recorded by Sveriges Radio and all of it is from the same date (whether that is February 2 or 5, I do not know, but in any case the 5th is not "five days" after the 2nd)). The original sequence of the tunes is: There'll never be another you, Walkin', I remember Clifford, All the things you are and I'll remember April, you can easily infer that from the announcements Don makes. After All the things, the audience applauds long and demands more, and the band returns to the

stand and plays I'll remember April as an encore.

I also have another tune (Groovin' high) recorded (also by Sveriges Radio) January 31, 1962 with the same (Arne Domnérus) rhythm

section. If Mr. Producer had searched a bit better, he would also have found radio recordings of five tunes from December 5, 1967, with the same drummer and different piano and bass player. These six tunes would easily have fitted on the cd, without having to repeat the two Town Hall titles again (which are widely available on plenty LP's and CD's).

The drummer (Egil Johansen) on all of this is something of a liability - he just refuses to swing.

[Gheorghe]

.......

The drummer (Egil Johansen) on all of this is something of a liability - he just refuses to swing.

[Swinging Swede]

In general I feel that Byas's 1944-46 American recordings are his most important. He recorded prolifically for Savoy and various other labels in those two years before going to Europe with Don Redman's big band and not coming back. There were a number of Chronological Classics releases covering it all. The Definitive set is probably sourced from the Classics CDs.

[Daniel A]

At the Jazz Messengers site that announces this CD http://www.jazzmesse...s/product101630, producer Nalle Nilson writes:

"Resurfacing now, they include about 30 minutes of music from one of his concerts, recorded by me. Later I found a recording made by the Swedish Radio which was recorded only five days after mine (I´ll Remember April) in such extraordinary musically quality that I just had to include it on this album",

This is simply not true - the whole thing was recorded by Sveriges Radio and all of it is from the same date (whether that is February 2 or 5, I do not know, but in any case the 5th is not "five days" after the 2nd)). The original sequence of the tunes is: There'll never be another you, Walkin', I remember Clifford, All the things you are and I'll remember April, you can easily infer that from the announcements Don makes. After All the things, the audience applauds long and demands more, and the band returns to the stand and plays I'll remember April as an encore.

I don't know the source for this recording, but Nalle Nilsson, who was employed at Nalen for many years, claimed in a recent interview - done by Swedish Radio! - that he recorded the concert through Nalen's three-mike PA system. Later recordings could not be included due to the 50-year rule, but he claims to have paid royalties to the sole surviving participant, bassist Georg Riedel.