Other CDs with
Kevin Dorn on drums:
The Sidney Bechet Society Presents Bob Wilber and
Dick Hyman
"A Tribute to Kenny Davern and
80th Birthday Salute to Bob Wilber"
Dan Levinson leads this all-star session recorded live at
Symphony Space
John Gill and his
Sentimental Serenaders
"Learn to Croon"
---Stomp Off CD1424
Dan Levinson & his Swing Wing
"At the Codfish Ball"
---Loup-Garous 1004
Molly Ryan
"Songbird in the Moonlight"
— Loup-Garous 1003
Dan Levinson's
Roof Garden Jass Band
"Dan Levinson's Roof Garden Jass Band Salutes the ODJB and the Beginnings of Recorded Jazz"
— Loup-Garous 1001
Dan Levinson and his Canary Cottage Dance Orchestra
"Steppin' Around"
— Stomp Off CD1415
Mark Shane and the
Shane Gang
"Fats Lives!!"
— Amber Lake 002
Dan Levinson's
Roof Garden
Jass Band
"Blue Roses of
Far and Near"
— Stomp Off CD1361
Dan Levinson's
Roof Garden
Jass Band
"Echoes in the Wax"
— Stomp Off CD1380
Dan Levinson
and his
Canary Cottage
Dance Orchestra
"Crinoline Days"
— Stomp Off CD1400
The Paul
Lindemeyer
Orchestra
"Rhythm de Luxe"
— Ligeti Records LR1005
The Flipped Fedoras
"A Swingin' Christmas"
— Daddy-O/Royalty Records
7-94058-0201-2
Ed Polcer and his Swingtet
"Lionel, Red & Bunny"
— Blewz Manor Productions
BMPICD108
Ed Polcer and Judy Kurtz
"When Broadway Meets Swing St."
— Blewz Manor Productions
BMPICD107
Jonathan Russell
"The Sheik of Araby"
— Balding Lion Productions BLP001
Slick Pelt
"Hell From the Hills"
MMM Records
The Jim Cullum Jazz Band
"Chasin' the Blues"
— Riverwalk Jazz RW CD 9
Barbara Rosene and her
New Yorkers
"It Was Only A Sun Shower"
— Stomp Off CD1422
Barbara Rosene
"All My Life"
— Azica Records AJD72232
Discography
The TJC Returns!
The new CD by Kevin Dorn's
Traditional Jazz Collective — The TJC Returns! —
is now available at CD Baby. Buy it now!
Click on the CD cover to hear sample tracks:
Jammin' at the Cajun!
The original CD by Kevin Dorn's TJC
Below is a review of The TJC's first CD, Jammin' at the Cajun,
by Michael Steinman, jazz critic for the Mississippi Rag
and Cadence Magazine:
KEVIN DORN'S TRADITIONAL JAZZ COLLECTIVE
JAMMIN' AT THE CAJUN
The Sheik of Araby / I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me /
Old Fashioned Love / Royal Garden Blues /
Hold My Hand / Sweet Sue / Sun Showers / Shine /
Blues for Christopher Reeve /
TT=44:30.
Kevin Dorn, drums; Kevin Blancq, tp/voc;
Michael Hashim, as/ts; J. Walter Hawkes, tb/voc;
Jesse Gelber, p; Doug Largent, b.
March 2005, New York City, NY.
JAMMIN' AT THE CAJUN — Review by Michael Steinman.
This is the first CD led by the extraordinary drummer Kevin Dorn, and it's a pleasure. The band is a true collective, a working group of friends who often accompany the fine singer Barbara Rosene. Although Dorn is the nominal leader, it's an egalitarian enterprise, not a percussion showcase. "Traditional Jazz" might arouse fears of a "Dixieland" fiesta, but this group is comfortably situated in the timeless Jazz that owes as much to the John Hammond Vanguards of the Fifties and Teddy Wilson small groups as it does to Twenties OKehs. Dorn himself honors the drummers who view "playing for the band" as the highest moral goal, and his playing recalls Wettling, Tough, Leeman, and Catlett without copying their four-bar breaks stroke for stroke. His synthesis of their styles is comfortably "traditional" yet consistently surprising. Rather than simply play mechanical ride-cymbal patterns while clicking the hi-hat metronomically, the customary approach, Dorn listens, offering wire-brush press rolls behind one soloist, rimshots and bass drum accents behind another. His solos and breaks are focused yet propulsive.
The rhythm section is filled out by bassist Largent, a first-rate accompanist who never intrudes (hear his duet with Hashim on "I Can't Believe") and a fluid soloist in the Hinton mold, and pianist Gelber, using both hands to good effect to sound down-home or terse, as the mood requires. I've heard Gelber in person face some atrocious pianos, and he always is an uplifting presence.
The horn players are delightfully idiosyncratic: talented ensemble players who don't step on each other's territories, yet each one is a distinctive soloist. Most trumpeters in this style play loudly to show off their power: Blancq is a delicate soloist, reminiscent of Doc Cheatham, creating phrases that shine as they hang suspended in mid-air: he seems to be thinking about the last phrase before launching into the next one, and the result, echoing both Hackett and Clifford Brown, is something rare. Listen to what he does in the closing choruses of "Royal Garden Blues," resisting clichés or pure volume. And he delivers an engaging vocal on "Sun Showers" without imitating either Billie or Louis, no small accomplishment. Hawkes is unusual in that he is technically very supple (many trombonists in this idiom imitate what they believe is a New Orleans tradition: few notes and simple harmonies) but he never overplays, even when ripping off a staccato multi-noted passage. I especially admire his thoughtful solo on "Sweet Sue." He also sings on "Old Fashioned Love" and the neglected Fats Waller "Hold My Hand," and some perceptive record producer will snap him up as a vocalist — he has a charming neo-Southern earnestness that suggests he believes in the lyrics. Hashim doesn't choose to do traditional clarinet filigree and ornamentation on the saxophone, but he is a forceful soloist with the facility one associates with early Parker without falling into the trap of the twenty most hackneyed bop licks: rather, Hashim often sounds greatly like prewar Earl Bostic, another player with an astonishing command of the instrument — and, when inspired, might have been the stellar soloist in a very hip rhythm and blues band.
The disc's title comes from the band's current home base — the downtown New York club — and the CD is an accurate sample of what they can do in person, upholding traditions without losing their own originalities, making jazz standards seem new, playing the blues with great conviction.
— Michael Steinman
Click on song titles below to hear audio clips (mp3)
from TJC's Jammin' at the Cajun CD
:
• Sheik of Araby
• Sun Showers
• Old Fashioned Love
• Hold My Hand
To hear these streaming mp3 samples, you will need either
Windows Media Player, RealOne Player, or QuickTime.
Click on any of the above to download the free application.
For a copy of the Traditional Jazz Collective's CD,
Jammin' at the Cajun, please send a check or money order for $18 (includes shipping and handling) to:
Kevin Dorn
410 West 44th Street, Apt. 6
New York, NY 10036
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