Bobby Jaspar And His Modern Jazz

When he moved to Paris in spring, 1950, Bobby Jaspar hs no trouble finding work. Born in Liège in 1926, he had left Belgium to find adventure — the real kind: the jazz kind. Open to all experiences and clearly ahead of his time, he quickly charmed his fellow musicians and played eith Henri Renaud and Jimmy Gourley at the Tabou, and with Roger Guérin and Bernard Peiffer at The Club Saint-Germain. His models on the tenor were Stan Getz, whose sound he sampled, and Warne Marsh, for his phrase construction. Bobby, in combining the two, came up with his own style of playing: lyrical, sensual, and consistently smooth. He was captivated by Lee Konitz and Lennie Tristano and also admired André Hodeir, who would soon borrow Jaspar's own musicians to form his Jazz Group of Paris.

At the time, in January, 1954, his recording of "Bobby Jaspar and His Modern Jazz" for the Swing label surprised everybody. It was actually an experimental session. Having listened to Birth of the Cool and "Boplicity" in particular, Bobby Jaspar had realized the importance of form. The instrumentation — trumpet, trombone, two tenors, piano, bass, and drums — allowed him to rethink classical writing to find a sound quality that lint itself well to jazz, to re-examine the relationship between the written and the improvised. Solos echoed written passages, which were often played in unison or arose through counterpoint. The clever arrangements sometimes left to Francy Boland, still left room for freedom. Bobby composed "Blossom" and "Awèvalet" ("yeah man" in Belgian French) and blew delicate sax parts with great feeling. He also asked Hodeir to compose a twelve-tone piece, Paradox 1, an avant-garde addition to this collection.

A second and third session were organized for October 12 and 14. Though the instrumentation was expanded, it remained true to the swing sound invented on the West Coast by Gerry Mulligan and Shorty Rogers. *Pierre de Chocqueuse (liner notes)*

Bobby Jaspar's New Jazz is the classic jazz album by Belgian saxophonist, flautist and composer Bobby Jaspar. This pivots around which french modern jazz of the 1950's revolves, the album is an excellent testimony to this. Being long out of original print it is now available on a single CD reissue. ★ Edgy early mid 50's Disques Vogues recordings border on sublime. Sony has delivered top notch transfers of these seminal recordings. *amazon.com*

Bobby Jaspar And His Modern Jazz

Bobby Jaspar's New Jazz

(Volume 1 and Volume 2)

1 - A Foggy Day In London Town

(G. and I. Gerswin)

2 - Coraline

(F. Boland)

3 - Blossom

(B. Jaspar)

4 - Paradoxe

(A. Hodeir)

5 - Mad About The Boys

(Smith)

6 - Kabasoutra

(F. Boland)

7 - Sweet And Lovely

(G. Arnheim, H. Tobias)

8 - Awèvalet

(B. Jaspar)

9 - You Took Advantage Of Me

(R. Rogers, L. Hart)

10 - Easy To Love

(C. Porter)

11 - Sanguine

(H. Crolla)

12 - Jeux De Quartes

(B. Jaspar)

13 - Hornpipe

(B. Jaspar)

14 - More Than You Know

(B. Rose, E. Eliscu, V. Youmans)

15 - Early Wake

(F. Sadi)

16 - Honky Tonky

(B. Jaspar)

#1 to #8: 

from the album Bobby Jaspar's New Jazz, Vol.1 (Swing M 33.333)

Roger Guérin (trumpet, tuba); Nat Peck (trombone); Bib Monville, Bobby Jaspar (tenor saxes); Maurice Vander (piano); Pierre Michelot (bass); Jean-Louis Viale (drums).

Recorded in Paris, January 12, 1954.

#9 to #16:

from the album Bobby Jaspar's New Jazz, Vol.2 (Swing M 33.338)

#9, #10:

Buzz Gardner, Roger Guérin (trumpets); Nat Peck (trombone); Jean Aldegon (alto sax, bass clarinet); Bobby Jaspar (tenor sax); Armand Migiani (baritone sax); Pierre Michelot (bass); Andre Jourdan (drums).

Recorded in Paris, October 12, 1954.

#11 to #16:

Buzz Gardner, Roger Guérin (trumpets); Nat Peck (trombone); Jean Aldegon (alto sax, bass clarinet); Bobby Jaspar (tenor sax); Armand Migiani (baritone sax); Fats Sadi (vibes [#12, #15]); Pierre Michelot (bass); Gerard Pochonet (drums).

Recorded in Paris, October 14, 1954.