ALL CD''S REVIEWED ARE AVAILABLE DIRECT FROM BRIAN CARRICK AND CAN BE SHIPPED ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD
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Review''s
JCCD-3053: Gregg Stafford Meets Brian Carrick
Big Bill Bissonnette’s quest to maintain the appeal and vigor of New Orleans traditional jazz by recording major practitioners of this music on his Jazz Crusade label continues. Not only is he successful in making this important music available, but he is equally successful in garnering some of the best players in the world to perform it. And “world” is an especially accurate descriptor for this album. The two front-line stars are Gregg Stafford and Brian Carrick ; the former is from New Orleans and born into the tradition, and the second is one of the top traditional jazz performers in the U.K. Different nationalities notwithstanding, this traditional jazz has become universal, bringing together like-minded musicians irrespective of their geographic derivation.
Dave Nathan
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Big Bill Bissonnette
This "LOVER" session produced over two days is a long overdue sequel to JCCD-3012 Brian Carrick’s Heritage Jazz Quartet.
Brian Carrick''s Heritage Quartet plays "LOVER" JCCD-3099
Well now we have finally done it and it’s long overdue. As luck would have it we managed to produce an album and a half worth of material, so I have combined the overage onto a third marvelous little CD set up as a concert might be with the full band playing two sets and Brian’s quartet playing an intermission set.
That early album has been one of the biggest sellers on Jazz Crusade
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JCCD-3098 & 3100: Church Alley Irregulars Jazz Gazette
- Internet Jazz Publication ALL of the numbers are glowing little gems. Each time I listen to these CDs I discover new things I didn’t hear before. The chemistry worked perfectly and the results are not just good, but excellent. Marcel Joly (Belgium)
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Darryl Adams "Running Wild in Toronto" Vol 1 JCCD-3089 & Vol 2 JCCD-3090
Those who think that there is no evolution possible anymore in the pure New Orleans style, should listen to these recordings. In my opinion this is THE way to continue this great tradition, Just listen to the Rip roaring sweet and rough Saxaphone of that Man from New Orleans, Darrl Adams, as he swings and plays his own rendation of "St. Philip St.Breakdown".
The concert also offered the first Canadian appearance of Brian Carrick, one of Britain’s finest clarinetists in the George Lewis tradition. It’s a treat to hear Connecticut’s Fred Vigorito on comet. Fred has been with Big Bill Bissonnette’s various bands since 1964. I’ve always admired his playing which echoes both Satchmo and Kid Thomas. Vigorito is a tireless improvisor with ideas to spare. Running Wild In Toronto is recommended listening for anyone who enjoys classic jazz. Richard Bourcier
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JCCD-3089/90 Darryl Adams- “Running Wild In Toronto”
Mississippi Rag - April 2005 - American Magazine
I wonder if the jazz fans who live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, realize how lucky they are to have the Classic Jazz Society of Toronto, which puts on such excellent concerts of tradixieland jazz as the one represented on these two fine compact discs.
Darryl Adams, a product of Danny Barker''s Fairview Baptist Church Brass Band, plays in the line of Captain John Handy and Louis Jordan. He''s little known outside of New Orleans where he plays primarily in the brass bands of the New Orleans street parades. He also, like Cap''n Handy and Louis Jordan, is an entertaining singer of jump jazz blues material - witness his double entendre "I''m Your Hot Dog Man." Subtle he''s not. Fun he is. Cornetist Fred Vigorito and drummer Big Bill Bissonnette are imported from Connecticut. Clarinetist Brian Carrick comes from the United Kingdom. Trombonist Brian Tbwers, pianist/singer Roberta Hunt and bassist Colin Bray reside in Toronto. In fact, Bray is president of the Classic Jazz Society which put on this concert. I''m not sure just where banjoist Emil Mark is from, but he works a lot around New England and is represented on quite a few of the records put out by Big Bill''s Jazz Crusade label. But, as you can tell from the listings above, these guys never get very far from the roots of the Crescent City.
Not that I''d expect to hear numbers like "Honeysuckle Rose," "When You''re Smiling" or "Bye Bye Blackbird" in a New Orleans street parade, but many of the same musicians who play in the brass bands play in the clubs and dance halls as well. And whoever picked "Down In Honky Tonk Town" as the opening tune for the concert knew what they were doing; the band plays the heck out of it. Along with Darryl Adams'' alto sax and Big Bill''s stompin'' drums, I''m particularly impressed with Brian Car-rick''s clarinet work and Fred Vigorito''s cornet, which Colin Bray refers to in his liner notes as being in the Kid Thomas mold. While I''m not familiar enough with Kid Thomas to agree or disagree, I do hear a lot of Muggsy Spanier in Vigorito''s playing, particularly on "It''s A Long Way lb Tipperary."
In the liner notes to these CDs, Colin Bray points out that this concert of the Classic Jazz Society of Toronto took place during the SARS virus scare. I find it encouraging that even during such a serious epidemic situation the importance of good music was not ignored but, in fact, perpetuated as a document for future reference and enjoyment. Joe H. Klee
