NATHAN DAVIS - THE HIP WALK

Nathan Davis for MPS from 1966.
Nathan Davis (ts, ss, fl); Carmell Jones (tp); Francy Boland (p); Jimmy Woode (b); Kenny Clarke (dr)

On 1 September 1965 a group of five musicians got together for a recording session at the SABA studio in Villingen - and one might quite justifiably label them all with the word "cosmopolitan". Kenny Clarke came from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, known under the Muslim name of Liaquat Ali Salaam, made Paris his home; Jimmy Woode, also from Pennsylvania, lived with his Javanese wife in Cologne, Germany and in Holland; Francy Boland, the Belgian arranger and pianist, lived in Berlin and directed the European Big Band in Cologne; Nathan Davis came from the second largest jazz centre, Kansas City, and lived with his German wife in Paris; and finally Carmell Jones, his "buddy" of the past, spoke of himself as a Berliner..Although these musicians came from all parts of the globe, they met up together on common ground when it came to music. The key work, That Kaycee Thing, embraces tradition without, however, becoming nostalgic, offering a portrait of pulsating night-life and building a bridge between the swing of Count Basie and the be-bop of Charlie Parker. Light and melodic compositions such as the Black Forest Waltz, alongside the gripping Train Of Thought, a dedication to John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy, could be mentioned as the most outstanding and typical "trademarks" for this super band, whose rhythm group must surely be one of the very best that big-band jazz has to offer. "Squares" could never dance to this music (and they'd be better off not trying): this is music to get every "hip" person on the move!
320 rip from the long gone 1998 Motor Music cd reissue.