BIX - Tiger Dixie Band

BIX (CVLD082)

Tiger Dixie Band

1. AT THE JAZZ BAND BALL (arr. R. Sportiello) 3:20
De Rossi (bars); Menato (cl); Caniato (p)
2. DAVENPORT BLUES (arr. S. Caniato) 2:52
Trettel (cornet); collective
3. MINOR BOUNCE (arr. S. Caniato) 3:49
Stockhausen (tp); Zeni (C-Melody); Caniato (p)
4. A GOOD MAN IS HARD TO FIND (arr. S. Caniato) 3:18
Grata (tb); Menato (cl); Beberi (bs) & Casera (violin)
5. CLARINET MARMALADE (arr. R. Sportiello) 3:26
Menato (cl); De Rossi (bars); collective; Hinteregger (d)
6. SUGAR (arr. S. Caniato) 3:14
Casera (violin); Minetti (vocal chorus); Trettel (cornet)
7. BLUE RIVER (arr. F. Zeni) 4:05
Minetti (vocal chorus); Zeni (C-Melody sax); Grata (tb)
8. MATTINATA (arr. S. Caniato) 2:52
Menato (cl); Caniato (p)
9. IN A MIST (arr. S. Caniato) 4:51
Menato (cl); Grata (tb); Stockhausen (piccolo tp)
10. CANDLELIGHTS (arr. F. Zeni) 5:38
Stockhausen (tp) & Merlin (el.g & electronics); Grata (tb)
11. FLASHES (arr. R. Sportiello) 6:06
Zeni (ts); Stockhausen (tp)
12. PHRYTHM (arr. S. Caniato) 4:25
Stockhausen (tp); Zeni (C-Melody sax); Caniato (p)
13. IN THE DARK (arr. L. Grata) 2:55
No solos
14. BIX ON THE BOX (arr. F. Zeni) 7:36
Zeni (ts); Merlin (el.g & electronics) & Stockhausen (tp); free collective
15. A PRAYER (arr. S. Caniato) 4:38
Zeni (C-Melody sax); Stockhausen (tp); Merlin (el.g); Caniato (p)
16. WE AND BIX (arr. L. Grata) 3:34
De Rossi (bars); Grata (tb); Merlin (bjo); Caniato (p)
Total Time: 66:45

TIGER DIXIE BAND
Paolo Trettel (cornet on 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 12, 16; trumpet on 3, 5, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14)
Gigi Grata (trombone)
Stefano Menato (metal clarinet & clarinet)
Fiorenzo Zeni (C-Melody sax on all tracks, exc. tenor sax on 1, 11)
Giorgio Beberi (bass sax)
Stefano Caniato (piano)
Enrico Merlin (banjo; acoustic, archtop & electric guitars, live electronics, loops)
Roman Hinteregger (drums, percussion)

GUESTS:
Renzo De Rossi (baritone sax on 1, 5, 16)
Lorenzo Casera (violin on 4, 6)
Lucia Minetti (vocal on 6, 7)
Markus Stockhausen (trumpet on 3, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15; piccolo trumpet on 9)nzo, Giorgi

Producers: Tiger Dixie Band, Velut Luna
Recording engineer: Marco Lincetto
Digital Editing: Matteo Costa
Mastering: Marco Lacchini - Audiomaster Milano
Concept: Giorgio Beberi & Enrico Merlin
Liner notes: Enrico Merlin
Band Pictures: Paolo Trettel, Marco Lincetto

24 Bit 96 kHz original recording. Teatro Polivalente, Abano Terme - Italy, May, 19-20 2003. Remastered 2023

 
"Through reading a biography of Leon Bix Beiderbecke, which occurred way back in 1952, I entered the boundless, fascinating world of jazz. Collecting his records, which were almost impossible to find at the time, I learned the first phrases that I tried to replicate on my clarinet. By translating Phil Evans' substantial volume from English, I ventured
into the most intimate intricacies of his very painful human story. I was so struck by it that I decided to make a film. It was that film, about his life, that allowed me to shoot for the first time in America, to embark on that extraordinary experience. Today, the house where Bix was born, in Davenport, on Grand Avenue, has been restored, brought back to what it was at the beginning of the century. That white wooden house, protected by two large beech trees, is ours and is listed among the places of historical importance in the United States of America. I owe a lot to Bix, perhaps the most exciting part of my human adventure."
Pupi Avati

The celebration of Leon Bix Beiderbecke's birth centenary provided an opportunity to pay tribute to one of the greatest exponents of Jazz. His way of playing, interpreting rhythm and melodies, constructing solos, and especially the (unfortunately) few pieces he composed, build a bridge to the future, a characteristic common to all great innovators in the field of African-American music. The preparatory phase of the project was fundamental, as the aim was to create a tribute that was not just an exercise in style, intended to recreate original sounds, but rather a kind of journey through time, starting from the beginning of the century and then developing up to the most recent musical experiences, trying to maintain that particular flavor, but transcending the usual boundaries of the genre. The overall sound is characterized by the use of many period instruments (C-melody sax, bass sax, metal clarinet, cornet, etc.), but in the second part, the electric guitar replaces the banjo and acoustic guitar, and the arrangements move into different spaces. To complete the project, we wanted to involve a modern trumpeter who would embody a kind of stylistic transfiguration of the Davenport musician, and Markus Stockhausen readily accepted the challenge, providing a masterful interpretation that greatly enhanced the entire work. The vehicle that allowed us to make this temporal leap is "In A Mist," a particularly significant piece in Bix's life and career. Our version opens with an arrangement faithful to the original for piano, then moves to modal coordinates
in a crossover between "Maiden Voyage" and "So What." The CD contains Bix Beiderbecke's five known compositions, some of which exist only in score form, as Bix did not have time to transfer them from paper to record. Some of them have undergone a process of metamorphosis, such as "Candlelights," which, starting from given elements, develops as a "diagonal Latin," to
arrive in its central part at a free episode. The selection also includes some of the pieces Bix recorded as a member of the Trumbauer, Whiteman, and Goldkette ensembles. And Lucia Minetti's valuable participation, with her "antique" timbre, helped to recreate the sound of the era.
A particular tribute to Paul Whiteman is also paid by the arrangement of Ruggero Leoncavallo's famous "Mattinata," which recalls those orchestral "pastiches," sometimes on the verge of grotesque, with which classical repertoire pieces were "jazzed up." The album is completed by some original compositions inspired by the figure of Bix Beiderbecke or aspects of his style: "Minor Bounce," "Phrythm," "A Prayer," "Bix on the Box," and "We and Bix." "Minor Bounce," with its rhythmic figures, pays homage to the Charleston and the "danceability" of the music of the time. "Phrythm" is a "Rhythm changes" launched into space, where modern harmonies echo ancient styles. "Bix on the Box" tells of a navigator who, in a small shell, undertakes a journey to distant and unknown lands, and after extraordinary encounters with the strangest creatures, amidst perilous waves, finally reaches his
destination... "A Prayer" opens with an a cappella introduction and develops on one of the classic Gospel progressions, which in a certain way takes us back in time to where "We & Bix" awaits us, a composition built around a Bix solo, just like Ulysses, his bed, and his home.
Enrico Merlin