Bob Wallis Storyville Jazzmen

Robert Wallis (3 June 1934 – 10 January 1991) was a British jazz musician, who had a handful of chart success in the early 1960s, during the UK traditional jazz boom.

Wallis joined up with Hugh Rainey's All Stars (Ginger Baker was their drummer at the time) and shortly afterwards the band changed its name to The Storyville Jazz Band, fronted by Wallis. In 1959 the band recorded an album for Top Rank Records, Everybody Loves Saturday Night. It peaked at No. 20 in the UK Albums Chart in June 1960.

 Somehow, a young Bob Wallis managed to get beautifully colored sound and soul from this group of very raucous players. This is not refined jazz, nor is it intellectual--it's rough, loud, rowdy, visceral, and at times very basic. But the tone of each player, the enthusiasm, and the depth of joy has rarely been matched. Everything they touch turns to gold--even the cheesy, nearly cringe-worthy opening quote of Mozart in "Alla Turka", which is redeemed into a winking nod by the subsequent impassioned outcries of Doug Richford's clarinet and driving, sinister riffing in the brass.  Some of the standards, particularly "Old Stack-O-Lee Blues" and "Kansas City Man Blues" are among the finest versions recorded--blunt, strong, obvious, original, they stare you down like a gunfighter and make for some of the best, most straightforward utterances in the Trad Jazz canon.  Central to the band, of course, is the charismatic trumpet and voice of Bob Wallis. Like so many of the great British Trad cornet and trumpet players, Wallis is a pleasure to listen to, with a balanced, golden sound--and his drive as a player and leader yields an exceptionally balanced result, with a band identity that never lets up. ( Info Edited From "The Jazz Clarinet" by "Eric Seddon")...Thanks Eric  !

1. Le Reve Passe

2. Down Home Rag

3. Old Stack-A-Lee Blues

4. Ev'rybody Loves Saturday Night

5. I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen

6. Alla Turka

1. Savoy Blues

2. Where Shall I Be

3. Kansas City Man Blues

4. Captain Morgan

5. Sons Of The Brave

6. L'Oiseau Bleu

          6. Alla Turka