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 This CD is the other half of the wonderful jazz that was
recorded in Mt. Gretna, PA on a weekend in June, 1990. The first
half was released as "Jersey Lightning"--CD1224, which is
the best-selling Stomp Off recording by the Black Eagle Jazz
Band. The Black Eagles have always played very well in Mt.
Gretna, but that weekend was special, as the band wa particularly
relaxed and hot. And the recording by Tom Trout and Byron
Aldinger is very rich and full, probably the best sounding
recording the Black Eagle Jazz Band has ever made. With far too
much wonderful jazz to fit onto CD1224, it is entirely
befitting that the other tunes be released, as this CD proves.
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Record Label: Stomp Off Records 1356
Total Time: 74:23
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Tracks on
'Hear Me Talkin' to Ya'
| 1. Sing On [7:32] |  Preview | | 2. True I'm Just Crazy Over You [6:23] | | | 3. Deep Henderson [7:57] | | | 4. The Love Nest [6:31] | | | 5. Blues In My Heart [7:13] | | | 6. Weather Bird Rag [7:14] | | | 7. Louisian-I-A [6:52] | | | 8. The Creole Love Call [5:54] | | | 9. Blue Bells Goodbye [6:28] | | | 10. Lotus Blossom [6:57] | | | 11. Hear Me Talkin' To Ya [5:22] | Preview |
Reviews:
IAJRC Journal, Winter 2002/2003, Herb Young:
The Black Eagle Jazz Band: Old Fashioned Love Stomp Off CD1346
Two fine compact discs by a band that has been together all these
years. In fact, in my knowledge of the band (from 1972) I can
recall of only one change and that is Billy Novick for Stan McDonald.
No wonder this band has it all in place-they know each other so
well they are able to sound like one instrument so much of
the time. The tune selection here again is remarkable. If for
no other reason, these CDs belong on our shelves just to
keep such wonderful music alive but there is so much more.
The playing is so loose at times, so tight other times, and
always so very interesting.
The music was recorded at the band's "second home" Mt. Gretna,
Pa., which is not all that distant from the home of the producer,
York, Pa. You can sense his hand in all of this. As always with Stomp
Off Recordings, it is well packaged, has excellent sound
and interesting notes. I cannot recommend one CD over the
other, so rush out and buy both of them. You won't regret it.
Jazz Journal, February 2001, Hugh Rainey:
This is a reissue in CD format of all but two tunes originally
issued as a cassette on the Black Eagle label in October 1990.
The band style is New Orleans, but its repertoire is wide-rangin
across vintage classic jazz, and includes some challenging
and quite complex pieces, with a necessary light framework
of arrangement. Rooted in Kid Howard's explosive, leader Tony
Pringle's lead is spirited and dynamic; but as I've said before I
personally find the abrupt, sketchy phrasing and snatched,
smeared-off notes a little contrived and exagerrated. He sounds
best on Weather Bird Rag, stating clearly the busy, mobile
melody, and creating some effective breaks in a duet passage with
the piano. On this, and on Deep Henderson, Billy Novick's lively
alto impresses in solos. A brave shot at Blues In My Heart turns
out rather turgid, not really recovering from a pretty grim
vocal. The equally moody Lotus Blossom is more successful.
Vincent and Novick are sound in ensemble, and solo confidently.
Newberger demonstrates his skills in True and Creole Love Call,
duetting with Novick's clarinet. Pameijer's drumming is sensitive
and responsive, helping the ensemble ride-outs in up-tempo.
All-in-all an enjoyable, and typical album of live concert performances
from this popular and long-established band.
The Mississippi Rag, August 2001, Jack Sohmer:
Recorded on June 9 and 10, 1990, at the Mount Gretna Playhouse in
Mount Gretna, Pa., the performances heard here were taped at the
same concerts that provided the material released on Jersey
Lightning Stomp Off 1224, a CD reviewed by this writer in the
September 1991 RAG.
The remarks prompted by the earlier release can without
hesitation be applied to the current one as well, with the
reminder that in the case of musicians as reliable as the Black Eagles,
there are no second best performances, only different tunes that,
for one reason or another, were initially preferred by the
producer. As a matter of fact, Jersey Lightning offers
about the same mix of New Orleans spirituals, 1920s jazz
standards and obscurities, and early pop tunes as does the
remaining material, which was ultimately made available on a
Black Eagle Jazz Band cassette entitled Hear Me Talkin' To
Ya, now reproduced here sans two titles, "Daydream" and "Lulu's
Back In Town."
As a reminder to those who have perhaps forgotten, the personnel
of this remarkably consistent band has remained the same for
almost three decades. Thus, on this recording, as on its
companion volume, we have in the front line
cornetist/vocalist/leader Tony Pringle, a master of the "few
notes" style of Kid Thomas Valentine, rip-roaring tailgate
trombonist Stan Vincent, and Billy Novick, who contrasts his spiky
clarinet with an alto style equally derived from 1920s generic
styles and Cap'n John Handy, who came to attention during
the Revival Era. In the ensembles, his multi-noted passages
amply compensate for the pungent but minimalist dabs of Pringle's
sprinkles. As forever since, the rhythm section is firmly
battened down by Pam Pameijer's drums and Eli Newberger's tuba,
while pianist Bob Pilsbury and banjoist Peter Bullis make the
three- and four-note harmonies of the chosen songs patently clear
to both the hornmen and the audience alike.
Most New Orleans jazz collectors should recognize the signature
opening tune, "Sing On," a traditional spiritual first recorded
by Sam Morgan's Jazz Band in 1927, when Columbia dispatched
a traveling unit to New Orleans to document authentic local
music for the growing population of Southern immigrants then
working in the industrial mills, plants, and factories of Chicago and
Detroit. "True I'm Just Crazy Over You," which literally cries
out for a comma after the first word, is a ballad by New Orleans
clarinetist Louis Cottrell that Pringle heard played by Chris
Burke at the Eagles' own former stamping ground, the Sticky Wicket.
Novick's alto also gets a workout on "Deep Henderson," a
performance nased on King Oliver's 1926 recording of an
arrangement by Luis Russell.
Of the remaining numbers, "The Love Nest" was first introduced
into the jazz lexicon by Bix Beiderbecke via both combo and big
band recordings, "Blues In My Heart," by its composer, Benny Carter,
and "Weather Bird Rag" by, first, King Oliver's Creole Jazz
Band, and then, in a striking, historic duo performance, by Louis
Armstrong and Earl Hines. "Louisian-i-a" is the Joe Darensbourg
home-boy anthem based on "Ballin' The Jack" changes , and "Hear Me
Talkin'To Ya" is the well-known Don Redman tune recorded by Louis
in 1928. Although credited to Duke Ellington, "Creole Love Call"
is a long acknowledged adaptation of Oliver's earlier "Camp
Meeting Blues," a composition that the ill-fated cornetist had
originally copyrighted under the name of "Temptation Blues," much
to his later regret as far as royalties are concerned.
"Blue Bells Goodbye" is a two-part tune originally recorded
by Bunk Johnson, but whose equally memorable sections, one
a 6/8 march and the other a 4/4 stomp, defy accurate
crediting as to authorship.
And for the final discussuion, there is Sam Coslow and Arthur
Johnston's haunting paean to the dream-inducing pleasures of
opium, "Lotus Blossom." In his notes to this tune, Pringle
curiously claims ignorance of the meaning of the term "torch
song." Is he speaking tongue-in-cheek, or is it possible that he is
unaware of the old phrase "carrying a torch," as in "carrying a
torch for one's ex-lover," an emotional theme that gave birth to
any number of heart-tuggers from the 20's and 30's?
in any case, whatever the estimable Pringle's problems may be
with the American vernacular, "Lotus Blossom" is in no way a
torch song, as even a brief examination of the lyrics will
reveal. Unfortunately, Bob Pilsbury's command of vocal pitch
is impaired in his vocal to this tune as it is on "Blues In
My Heart", but even so, his rendition cannot completely conceal
the intent of the composers. The "lover" alluded to in the lyrics
is clearly the opium pipe, not some fanciful lady or guy.
For those seeking the truth, however, the best source material
for this moody, 32-bar minor theme can be found on Wilbur De
Paris' Atlantic LP, New Orleans Blues, with Jimmy Witherspoon
enunciating the lyrics in no uncertain manner.
Great!!
 100.0%
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Weak
Total Votes: 1
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| Performers |
Tony Pringle (cn,voc)
Billy Novick (cl,alto sx)
Stan Vincent (tm)
Bob Pilsbury (pn,voc)
Peter Bullis (bj)
Eli Newberger (tu)
C.H. "Pam Pamjeijer (dm
June 9 & 10,)
Released in 1990
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List Price: $16.97
Our Price: $14.95
You Save: $2.02 (12%)
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