JazzWax

Hubert Fol: Bebop Minstrels

French musicians in Paris were among the first in Europe to catch on to bebop's nuances in the mid-1940s. Which is somewhat remarkable, considering what France went through during World War II. Among the Parisian musicians first to pioneer bebop was Hubert Fol, an alto saxophonist and bandleader.

Now, a collection of Fol's leadership sides for France's Swing label between 1947 and 1954 has been issued as Hubert Fol and His Be-Bop Minstrels on Fresh Sound. The two-CD album features Americans Dick Collins and Alan Jeffreys on trumpet, Nat Peck on trombone and Kenny Clarke on drums, plus Rene Urtreger, Andre Parsiany, Sacha Distel, Raymond Fol and Pierre Michelot.

How did bebop reach Paris so early in 1947? My guess is a variety of ways at once. For one, American jazz musicians who could play the intricate form toured in Paris just after the war or moved there. Many brought record collections with them. Jazz in France, of course, dates back to World War I, when black American soldiers were stationed there. Second, Dizzy Gillespie's records for RCA beginning in 1946 were released on French RCA, giving musicians there an opportunity to buy his 78s and study his bop. And third, Voice of America's programming surely included the airing of bop records by artists such as Charlie Parker and others on the New York scene.

In 2010, I interview Dick Collins (above) on his years in Paris and with Fol's Bebop Minstrels:

JazzWax: You were in Paris in 1948. Why?
Dick Collins: Darius Milhaud was leaving Mills College after the war to return to Paris. He said to me, “Why don’t you come to Paris and study with me?” He suggested I study with him there on the G.I. Bill. So I did for a year and stayed until 1949, playing often with drummer Kenny Clarke.

JW: What did you play in Paris?
DC: We just played bebop in clubs. I wasn’t really a bebop player, though. I was in a group called The Bebop Minstrels, but I was never comfortable in the idiom. Bebop was the word then, and you didn’t use any other word to describe jazz. I could play it, but my style wasn’t that way.

JW: What was Kenny Clarke like?
DC: He was a prince of a guy. As gentle as could be. He was one of my best friends. His drumming was
impeccable. I heard him play with Dizzy Gillespie's big band and he swung it right off the stage. He would go into more intimate, reflective patterns than other drummers.

JW: Who else was in your group in Paris?
DC: We had Jack Weeks on bass and saxophonist Dave Van Kriedt. We all would hang out at Darius Milhaud’s apartment. Kenny and Milhaud got along swell. Milhaud loved his playing, the way Kenny put in small accents and played with soft brushes in small groups. With big bands, Kenny would use sticks. He was so flexible and versatile.

JW: Why did you return to the U.S.?
DC: Before I left the U.S. in 1948, I met the girl I was going to marry at Mills College. She was a junior when I left. We wrote letters and stayed in touch. Eventually our letters grew more serious. So I packed up and came home. I was sad to leave France. Paris was so beautiful, and all the guys I’d become friends with were still there. I had played on the Riviera and sailed and played out in the open air for dances. It was a great time to be in France.

Listening to Hubert Fol and his bop groups over this time period, you can't help but appreciate how well they took to the new jazz form. Often driven by Clarke's tough, scattered rhythms, the players sound authentic, with a French soulfulness and passion. As one listens carefully, the cross pollination of 52nd Street bop and Left Bank nostalgia becomes more and more fascinating with each track.

Hubert Fol died in 1995.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Hubert Fol and His Be-Bop Minstrels (Fresh Sound) here. 

You'll also find the album at Spotify.

JazzWax clips: Here's Swinging at Lutetia in July 1947, with Alan Jeffreys (tp); Jack Carman (tb) Hubert Fol (as) Andre Persiany (p) Emmanuel Soudieux (b) and Benny Bennett (d)...

Here's Boppin' and Oilskin based on the chord changes to September in the Rain in November 1948, with Dick Collins (tp,arr), Hubert Fol (as,arr), Raymond Fol (p), Alf "Totole" Masselier (b) and Richie Frost (d)...

Boppin' abd Oilskin

And here's Everything Happens to Me in 1952, with : Hubert Fol (as), Raymond Fol (p), Pierre Michelot (b) and Pierre Lemarchand (d)...

Everything Happens to Me

On the Air: Jazz and Beer

Before beer became the beverage of televised college and professional sports in the U.S., it was most often linked with jazz. For TV and radio beer advertisers of the 1950s, '60s and the '70s, jazz meant good times, letting go and dancing. Perfect for a few cold ones. After my post yesterday on the late Urbie Green and my inclusion of a swinging Schaefer beer ad that Green appeared in, Sid Gribetz of WKCR-FM in New York sent along a few more jazzy beer ads. I added a bunch, and below are the 11 results of our email exchange:  

Here's Pops for hops...

Here's salsa for suds...

Here's Lena Horne on the radio...

Here's Les and Mary on the radio for Rheingold Extra Dry...

Here's Paul Anka crooning about having more than one...

Here's TV-music maestro Edd Kalehoff in 1973 on the Moog and singing about what to pour when the day is done...

Here's a 1970s ad for Pabst Blue Ribbon showcasing the frothy rewards awaiting musicians after a recording session...

Here's an ad for Miller High Life in 1976 raising a glass to those who play the blues "even when they ain't sad"...

Here's an odd one in 1980 from Old Milwaukee Light showing how beer and jazz combine to erase race...

Here's a swinging flute ("Bud" Shank?) for Budweiser in the 1950s...

And here's perhaps the oddest one of all for Guinness, which uses the achievements of a dead iconic jazz producer to sell stout...

Urbie Green (1926-2018)

Urbie Green, one of jazz's smoothest and most polished trombonists who recorded more often than virtually any other post-war player, including Frank Rosolino, J.J. Johnson and Kai Winding, died on December 31, 2018. He was 92.

Green's soft, yearning trombone played with extraordinary breath control was unmistakable. His sound came off as a perfect high-register sigh, more akin to a vocalist than a horn player. For those who love the trombone, his sound was probably closest to Tommy Dorsey's—long ribbons of swinging splendor that rarely let on that a breath had been taken. Green's sultry solos stood out on albums ranging from Billie Holiday's Lady in Satin and Dizzy Gillespie's Gillespiana to More (Theme from Mondo Cane) and Antonio Carlos Jobim's Wave. An obit is here.

Here are my 10 favorite Green recordings...

Here's Green's first leadership recording session playing Dansero in December 1953, with Doug Mettome (tp,bar-hrn), Urbie Green (tb), John Murtaugh (ts), Sam Staff (bar), Jimmy Lyon (p), Dante (Danny) Martucci (b), and Jimmy Campbell (d)...

Dansero

Here's Green playing Mutation in January 1955, with Doug Mettome (tp,mellophone), Urbie Green (tb), Al Cohn (ts), Danny Bank (bar), Jimmy Lyon (p), Oscar Pettiford (b) and Jimmy Campbell (d)...

Here's Green playing Springsville from All About Urbie Green And His Big Band in August 1956 (a year earlier than Miles Davis's recording on Miles Ahead), with Doc Severinsen and Phil Sunkel (tp); John Carisi (tp,arr); Urbie Green, Lou McGarity and Rex Peer (tb); Bill Barber (tu); Ray Beckenstein and Hal McKusick (as); Al Cohn (ts); Danny Bank (bar); Dave McKenna (p); Vinnie Burke (b) and Osie Johnson (d)...

Here's Green playing Please in December 1957 on Let's Face the Music and Dance, with Al Derisi, Bernie Glow, Doc Severinsen and Nick Travis (tp); Urbie Green, Billy Byers and Jack Satterfield (tb); Tom Mitchell (b-tb); Gene Quill and Hal McKusick (as); Boomie Richman (ts); Al Cohn (bar); Hank Jones (p); Milt Hinton (b) and George Wettling (d)...

Here's Green soloing behind Billie Holiday on It's Easy to Remember from Lady in Satin in February 1958...

Here's Green playing Early Autumn from The Message in February 1959, with John Carisi, Burt Collins, John Frosk and Marky Markowitz (tp); Urbie Green, Eddie Bert, Billy Byers and Marshall Hawk (tb); Hal McKusick and Rolf Kuhn (as,cl); Don Lanphere (ts); Pepper Adams (bar); John Bunch (p); Barry Galbraith (g); Teddy Kotick (b) and Nick Stabulas (d)...

Here's Green playing Dream from Persuasive Trombones Vol. 1 in February 1960, with John Bello, Don Ferrara and Doc Severinsen (tp); Urbie Green and Bobby Byrne (tb); Gil Cohen (b-tb); Hal McKusick (as); Rolf Kuhn (as,cl); Eddie Wasserman (fl,ts); Pepper Adams (bar); Dave McKenna (p); Barry Galbraith (g); Milt Hinton (b) and Don Lamond (d)...

Here's Green in a Schaefer beer ad in the early 1960s...

Here's Green soloing on Look to the Sky on Antonio Carlos Jobim's Wave album, produced by Creed Taylor in 1967...

Here's Green soling on If He Walked Into My Life from 21 Trombones in 1968, with Urbie Green, Wayne Andre, Will Bradley, Bill Elton, Phil Giardina, Mervin Gold, Mickey Gravine, J.J. Johnson, Barry Maur, Lou McGarity, John Messner, Buddy Morrow, Jack Rains, Sonny Russo, Charles Small, Chauncey Welsch and Kai Winding (tb); Paul Faulise, Dick Hixson, Tom Mitchell and Alan Raph (b-tb); Tony Mottola and Barry Galbraith (g); or Al Casamenti and Bucky Pizzarelli (g); George Duvivier (b); Grady Tate and Bobby Rosengarden; and Phil Kraus (perc)...

Bonus 1: If you want to see what the session from 21 Trombones must have looked like, here's Jiggs Whigham in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, playing If He Walked Into My Life with 20 trombones in 2007...

Bonus 2: Here's Monk Rowe's interview with Urbie Green in 1995...