Annie Ross/Christopher Logue/Tony Kinsey Quintet: Loguerhythms – Songs From The Establishment
Editor's Choice
Author: Roy Carr
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Musicians: |
Johnny Scott (f, picc) |
Label: |
EL Records |
Magazine Review Date: |
October/2014 |
Catalogue Number: |
ACMEM274CD |
RecordDate: |
1952-1962 |
The rating here is specifically for those tracks that features La Ross hand-in-glove with Tony Kinsey's vibrant Quintet interpreting charts composed by Kinsey along with Stanley Myers and Bill Le Sage. The two versions of Tony Kinsey's then Quintet are quite sublime when setting the appropriate mood behind Ross and Logue. This is not to infer in any way that the rest of Annie's earlier material is shabby. Hand on heart, I love Annie Ross. The lady can do no wrong. No argument she is one of the all time great vocalists. Along with Billie Holiday, Peggy Lee and Nina Simone, she inhabits a song with a depth few can match. Only that the remaining tracks are mostly available elsewhere. Loguerhythms – Songs from The Establishment stems from a time when briefly hipper-than-thou jazz ‘n’ poetry projects were the fashion along with Nehru jackets and Mateus Rosé. Make what you will of Christopher Logue's sharp-edged political writings but accompanied by Tony Kinsey's faultless Quintet, Annie infuses them with a gravitas that possibly far exceeds the writer's vision. Check out ‘Bellini’, The Liberal Man’ and ‘Johnny’ for size. Apparently, Logue's material (as included here) was part of Annie's set list when appearing at The Establishment – comedian Peter Cook's nightspot at 18 Greek Street in London's Soho, which between 1961 and 1964 presented a heady mixture of stand up, satire and jazz. Save for the much-underrated trumpet of Les Condon, a totally different version of Kinsey's quintet features on Christopher Logue's own session. Produced by George Martin these tracks were originally released as an EP, Red Bird Jazz & Poetry. Here Logue politely speaks his prose in a light mannered voice as the band plays on. But it's Annie Ross' compelling interpretations that make this indispensible. On the subject of indispensible, may I also point you in the direction of Avid's Annie Ross release in their Four Classic Albums series.

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