Martinique Barrelhouse J.B./Reimer von Essen 1989
I find clarinetist Reimer von Essen ( the one on the right) stylistically the leading force in this band. In this clip from a broadcast from Germany they play the Wilber de Paris composition "Martinique
From their website:
Jazz, from New Orleans to Swing, presented in an entirely original form by the leading classic jazzgroup in Germany.
Founded in 1953 and active ever since, the BARRELHOUSE JAZZBAND has gained national and international renown and ranks among the top groups of the European scene.
The BARRELHOUSE JAZZBAND presents a special blend of elements from all phases of
traditional jazz, with predominant accents from the early big band style of the twenties, the small band style around 1930 and the New Orleans Renaissance. All numbers are played in new original arrangements with drive and feeling.
The band has toured more than 50 countries on 4 continents and appeared at all major jazz festivals in Europe, e.g. The Hague, Nice, Paris, Cork, Birmingham, San Sebastian, Ascona, Zurich, Lucerne, Cracow, Breda, Copenhagen, Silkeborg, Oslo, Berlin, and New Orleans, where in 1968 the BarrelhouseJazzband received, as one of the first bands from Europe, the honorary citizenship in recognition of their merits.
The band has recorded more than 20 albums under their name as well as numerous compilation records together with other bands, and won - beside other awards - the "German Phono-Academy Award" for the best Traditional Jazz Record published in Germany in 1977. (Quotation: "Highly intelligent old jazz, full of vitality, enlightened music, always with that beautiful 'black' feeling").
Eubie Blake, the famous ragtime-pianist and composer, heard the band and commented :"Everything that I write I mean from the bottom of my heart: This is one of the best for a small orchestra that I have ever heard. And I am hearing bands since 1902!"
Tags: jazz in europe reimer von essen barrelhouse
