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Jazz In Brussels - History Of Jazz In Belgium 1950s
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Between six and ten thousand |
The 1950s The early 1950s in the United States was the period of cool (or west coast) jazz, more peaceful than bebop, and with a more outspoken interest in composition and arrangement. The Antwerp saxophonist Jack Sels became the leader of the All Stars Bop Orchestra, inspired by the Afro-Cuban big bands of Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Kenton. Later, he would organize his Jack Sels Chamber Music band. In Paris, Sadi also started up his own big band, for which he composed and arranged. In jazz circles he was considered the best European vibraphonist, in the tradition of Milt Jackson. Francy Boland managed to distinguish himself in the United States, where he worked with the bands of Count Basie and Benny Goodman, and with jazz pianist Mary Lou Williams. Bobby Jaspar remained a wonderful "cool" soloist on flute and tenor sax. In New York he played, among others, with J.J. Johnson and Miles Davis. Shortly before his untimely death in 1963, he set up a last vigorous quintet with his friend and guitarist René Thomas from Liège. René Thomas also crossed the Atlantic and ended up recording with Sonny Rollins in 1957. His most loyal partner and friend was Jacques Pelzer who, after the adventure with the Bob Shots, imposed himself in this decade as an outstanding musician of European jazz. At the end of the 1950s there were three young musicians who came to prominence on the Belgian jazz scene. Drummer Félix Simtaine (1938) debuted in the quartet of Robert Jeanne and then accompanied a series of American and Belgian soloists. Richard Rousselet (1940) was Belgium's first modern hardbop trumpet player, and would collect several awards abroad. Guitarist Philip Catherine (1942), even before his twentieth year, jammed at la Rose Noir, played at the festivals of Comblain and Ostend and toured Europe with Lou Bennett. After 1965 he also started to compose. |
