Claude Bolling - Le gitan (Bande originale du film avec Alain Delon) '2020

Tracks list

Pianist, composer, producer, and bandleader Claude Bolling enjoyed his first
successes as a kingpin in the mainland European trad jazz movement of the 1950s
and ’60s. A skilled pianist who was heavily influenced by Duke Ellington,
Teddy Wilson, Earl Hines, and Art Tatum, he also persisted in performing ragtime
and old-style jazz during the years when U.S. and European pop culture was
dominated by Elvis Presley and the Beatles. Beginning in 1975, Bolling created
his own personal micro-genre of classical crossover chamber jazz, composing and
recording entire suites that featured several of the world’s most highly
acclaimed virtuosi. While decades of devotion to ragtime, blues, New Orleans
jazz, boogie-woogie and swing have earned him a faithful following throughout
much of Europe, Bolling is best known in North America for his numerous albums
of accessibly presented suites written and arranged specifically for classical
soloists and a mainstream jazz rhythm section.

Claude Bolling was born in Cannes, France on April 10, 1930. A child piano
prodigy, his primary jazz influence was Duke Ellington. The small band he
assembled in 1945 drew inspiration from old time New Orleans jazz legends like
Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, and Sidney Bechet as well as
the groups led by Ellington sidemen Johnny Hodges, Rex Stewart, Barney Bigard,
and Cootie Williams. This blend of interests would soon place him on common
ground with his almost exact contemporary, Britain’s premier trad jazz
bandleader, Chris Barber. In 1948 Bolling accompanied legendary blues vocalist
Bertha Chippie Hill and subsequently gigged with trumpeters Roy Eldridge and Cat
Anderson, cornetist Rex Stewart, saxophonist Paul Gonsalves, and vibraphonist
Lionel Hampton. He formed and began leading his own orchestra in 1955,
eventually naming it the Show Bizz Band.

During the 1960s Bolling demonstrated a keen business sense by supplementing his
jazz oriented recording and bandleading activities with hectic and, one hopes,
lucrative service as creator, producer, and manager of Les Parisiennes, a female
pop vocal quartet who specialized in rapid-fire novelty numbers, synchronized
movement, and brightly patterned mod-a-go-go outfits. He also composed quite a
lot of incidental and theme music for films and television (including
«Borsalino,» «Netchaiev Est de Retour,» and «Les Brigandes du
Tigre»), while expanding his knowledge and interpretive range to include
early modern jazz pianists like Erroll Garner, Thelonious Monk, Oscar Peterson,
George Shearing, and Horace Silver in addition to swing and stride favorites
Fats Waller, Count Basie, and Willie «The Lion» Smith.

When the cheery opening bars of «Baroque and Blue» began emanating from
radios and stereo phonographs throughout the U.S. in 1975, both Bolling and
flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal quickly became household names among listeners who
enjoyed both jazz and European chamber music as some of the melodies seemed to
reflect the sunny influence of Jacques Ibert. The mingling of these currents
worked nicely on the album Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano Trio, and the record
sold well, not least for its clever cover illustration depicting an
anthropomorphized piano and a substantially upsized flute relaxing together in a
hotel bed. The fact that the flute was blowing smoke rings gave the entire
picture a humorously post-coital twist.

Bolling returned to the jazz/classical format many times, teaming up with a
series of star soloists including guitarist Alexander Lagoya, violinist Pinchas
Zukerman, trumpeter Maurice Andre, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, flautist Elana Duran. and
pianists Emanuel Ax and Jean-Bernard Pommier. Bolling’s two-piano
inventions were composed in sonata form, and a «Suite for Piano and Chamber
Orchestra» also emerged from his fertile imagination. In later years Bolling
collaborated with jazz violinist Stéphane Grappelli and vocalist Guy
Marchand, hosted numerous tributes to Duke Ellington and led a successful big
band. His perseverance and longevity were rewarded with renewed interest in his
many accomplishments, including of course Les Parisiennes, whose complete works
were reissued shortly after the turn of the millennium in several eye-catching
retrospective collections. ~ arwulf arwulf, Rovi

Tracklist:
01. Claude Bolling - Cousin Django (Studio intro version) (1:07)
02. Claude Bolling - Cousin Django (3:21)
03. Claude Bolling - O sinto (feat. Lick) (Vocal intro) (1:00)
04. Claude Bolling - O sinto (feat. Lick) (Choeurs) (2:16)
05. Claude Bolling - Sans domicile fixe, pt.1 (3:13)
06. Claude Bolling - O sinto (Guitare et contrebasse) (2:00)
07. Claude Bolling - O sinto (feat. Lick) (Vocal) (3:43)
08. Claude Bolling - Ragtime (0:41)
09. Claude Bolling - Sans domicile fixe, pt. 2 (2:13)
10. Claude Bolling - O sinto (Instrumental) (1:21)
11. Claude Bolling - O sinto (feat. Lick) (Choeurs, version 2) (2:16)
12. Claude Bolling - Sans domicile fixe (Version 2) (3:13)
13. Claude Bolling - Cousin Django (Version 2) (3:24)

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