The Best Live Jazz Recordings Ever Coming Soon
Another selection of the world-famous 1976 analogue recordings at the Pawnshop Jazz Club in Stockholm, Sweden, with the outstanding Domnerus Group (still going strong) and a token of sound engineer Gert Palmcrantz' mastership!
Notes of Special Reissue: Jazz At The Pawnshop Vol 2 [Double Vinyl]
Unlike Jazz at the Pawnshop (whose session tapes are no longer available - since tens of years), the Volume 2 comes from the session analogue master tapes. These two tapes contain almost 1 hour of music, so all standard vinyl versions made so far excluded "In a mellow tone" track, to make it possible in 1 single 33rpm. We included it. Then, having one free side (Side D), we also added a bonus track, "Jeep's blues" take 2, a very slow, long and emotional version taken from the 7" tape recorded on December 7th 1976. It seems to be the very last played track.
The group played it just for pleasure and very few people. We also left almost 4 mins of background "noise" with chats, speeches, etc., what recorded till the end of the tape: Palmcrantz did not stop the recording.
Available in autumn 2024, you can pre-order it now. Pressed at Optimal in standard 3-step process and at standard double LP price for such wonderful recordings.
It's important to note:
1) In a mellow tone included, normally cut, so 58 mins of music and not 45.
2) bonus track added, taken from the small 7" tapes lost and called "Late night". Jeeps blues take 2 is very very nice, slow version, played for their own pleasure - only a few people still at Stampen, late night music.
After the almost 13mins of great live performances music, Domnerus speaks a bit, with jokes and you also hear that some mics are touched, people speak, money are paid and glasses cleaning.
Record classification: AAA - pure analogue
When recording engineer Gert Palmcrantz was loading his car with equipment outside Europa Film Studios on December 6th, 1976, it was only to make one of many recordings. No-one knew then that it was to become a cult recording among audiophiles and one of the most appreciated jazz-recordings ever made. Palmcrantz put the equipment in the car and drove off to Stampen, the jazz club in Gamla Stan in Stockholm. It was far from the first time for him to record jazz at Stampen. The club, named after a pawnbrokers’ shop which used to be in that block, opened in 1968. That same year, Gert was there to make a recording of, amongst others, the clarinettist Ove Lind, the vibraphonist Lars Erstrand and the drummer Egil Johansen. He was subsequently to meet the latter two again at Stampen’s small stage, together with saxophonist Arne Domnérus, pianist Bengt Hallberg and bass-player Georg Riedel. Palmcrantz knew them well from before.
Jazz At The Pawnshop Volume 2 is the second volume of the great Jazz at the Pawnshop sessions that were recorded in December 1976 over two nights at the intimate Pawnshop jazz club in Stockholm. So named because a Pawnshop was previously housed at the site. The album is considered one of the best recorded and most famous audiophile recordings in Jazz music history. Both the musicianship and the engineering came together in a magical symbiosis captured on this enduring classic.
Recording engineer Gert Palmcrantz used one pair of microphones spaced eight inches apart for the main pick-up, with a couple of microphones placed to register the “live” atmosphere and a few discrete support mikes, all recorded on a pair of two-track Nagra tape recorders in the restaurant kitchen
Jazz At The Pawnshop Volume 2 includes 9 previously unreleased tracks from the Jazz At The Pawnshop 1976 recordings in Stockholm, Sweden.
Album: Arne Domnerus Group - Jazz At The Pawnshop Vol 2
Label: AudioNautes Recordings - AN-2404
Format: 2xVinyl, 33rpm, LP, Album, Repress, Stereo
Musicians:
• Bass - Georg Riedel
• Drums - Egil Johansen
• Piano - Bengt Hallberg
• Saxophone, Clarinet - Arne Domnérus
• Vibraphone - Lars Erstrand
Composers: ARLEN, Ellington, Hubbell, McHugh, Traditional, van Heusen
Instruments: Alto Saxophone, Bass, Clarinet, Vibraphone, Drums, Piano
Original Recording Format: Analog Tape
Jazz at the Pawnshop Volume 2 was recorded from December 6 to 7, 1976, at the "Stampen" Jazz Club in Stockholm Old Town, Sweden.
“On December 6 and 7, 1976, in a small Jazz club called Stampen (The Pawn Shop) in Stockholm’s Old Town, Swedish sound engineer Gert Palmcrantz recorded a group of leading Scandinavian jazzmen live, trying to get “the tight, harmonious sound of the records of my childhood.” Conditions were less than ideal. A full house, a great deal of background noise. No rehearsals. No sound checks. The musicians just started playing with no one knowing what would be next on the agenda until reedman Arne Domnerus called it.
The result has often been hailed as the best live Jazz recording ever. Amazingly, for a small country such as Sweden, the record sold more than half a million copies and still sells, at a rate of around 4,000 copies annually.
Sound aside, the music is an absolutely glorious mix that seamlessly knits Ellington with Armstrong, melancholic Swedish folk songs with bop, and two takes of African High Life thrown in for good measure. Domnerus is at the very height of his considerable powers on alto saxophone and clarinet.
Pianist Bengt Hallberg, usually an extremely delicate and very measured player, was obviously affected by the general ambience, and here and there cuts loose with awesome force. “Bengt went almost crazy on occasions,” bassist Riedel recalls. Erstrand, one of Europe’s best on vibes, played just one night but added a light, airy feel. He rides high on up-tempo numbers like “Limehouse Blues,” but also provides subtle underpinning on ballads including “I’m Confessin'” and “Lady Be Good.”
You hear the chink of glasses, the chime of the bell to acknowledge a tip, the burr of conversation. It all fits. That intimate club atmosphere sparks Jazz at its best. You feel as though you’re there. Which is Palmcrantz’s triumph, and why Jazz at the Pawnshop is likely to continue to fascinate both Jazz and audio fans for a good many years to come.” - By Chris Mosey from All About Jazz.
"The second of four volumes that fully document a 1976 engagement at the Pawnshop Jazz Club in Stockholm, Sweden, this set differs from the others in that vibraphonist Lars Erstrand is not present. Arne Domnerus (on alto and clarinet) heads a quartet also featuring pianist Bengt Hallberg, bassist Georg Riedel and drummer Egil Johnasen. Other than an African folk song (a second version of "High Life,") and a Swedish folk song, the repertoire is dominated by swing standards; highlights include a lengthy "In a Mellow Tone," "Poor Butterfly" and "Things Ain't What They Used to Be." - Scott Yanow
AudioNautes Recordings - No Compromise Music.
AudioNautes Recordings started to offer the very best version of some favourite (sometimes almost unknown or forgotten) recordings.
