Fascination Medley:
Fascination/Basin St Blues/Tin Roof Blues/Way Down Yonder in New Orleans
It's Just a Little While (To Stay Here)
That's A Plenty (*)
The Sheik of Araby (*)
The Preacher
(What Did I Do to Be So) Black & Blue
March to Peruna (*)
Pete Fountain * clarinet
Godfrey Hirsch * vibes
Earl Vuiovich * piano
Paul Guna * guitar/banjo
Oliver Felix * bass
(*)Nick Fatool * drums
Paul Edwards * drums
Recorded on the Saturday before Mardi Gras in February of 1964 at Pete Fountain's French Quarter Inn on the corner of Bourbon and St Anne Streets in New Orleans, and released in 1965, Pete's Place is both a continuation and the beginning of a new era in the clarinetist's development. In terms of continuity, this album flows perfectly in the stream of 'golden era' Pete Fountain live recordings, following Pete Fountain Day (1959), At the Bateau Lounge (1960), and Live in Santa Monica (1961). The newness is subtle, but to Fountain aficionados noticeable: Pete's tempi aren't quite as burning, he's both more patient and inventive as a soloist on tunes like The Sheik of Araby, and most significantly, this is perhaps the first small combo album of the Coral era that substantially features Nick Fatool on drums rather than Jack Sperling. Sperling's flash and fire had been a major component of every previous small group album for Coral, and the body of work that Fountain and the virtuosic drummer built, stretching over eight or nine albums (depending on how you count them) rightfully takes its place in jazz history alongside other inspired duos such as Goodman & Krupa, or Brown & Roach. Pete & Jack's sympathetic musicality bordering on a type of telepathy was of that rare kind, surpassing normal ensemble brilliance. This album, without Sperling's presence, is immediately different in timbre and groove.
Having given credit where it is due, few drummers could have stepped in with the degree of success of Nick Fatool. Nick was a true jazz veteran by this point in his career, having recorded with Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw as early as the 1940s, making him possibly the only drummer to record with that triumvirate on classic small combo albums. Too often overlooked by jazz history, it's worth pointing out that Fatool provided the perfect pocket grooves for Artie Shaw's original Gramercy 5 recordings and the deep backbeats and streetbeats for Pete's Place. While not as flashy as some other drummers, Fatool was a musician's musician--making every ensemble better for his musical presence, subtlety, and unique 'cushion.'
Highlights of this album include Fatool's solo on 'Oh, Lady Be Good' and the interaction he has with Fountain on 'The Sheik of Araby.' It's telling to contrast Fatool's duo style with Sperling's on 'I've Found a New Baby' from Live At The Bateau Lounge a few years earlier: where Sperling was expert at building tension and driving Pete's fire, Nick encourages Pete to dig into the backbeat, hit harder and longer. Both end up lighting the crowd on fire.
The English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams once suggested to American composers that they not neglect the tunes of Stephen Foster. Such songs, he felt, bore the seeds of a great musical culture to be built. The last tune of this album demonstrates the time had come by 1965, with Pete and the band elevating Foster's 'She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain' to a joyous mini-epic of street beats, climaxes, and a coda to an album that jazz fans will want to return to for years.
This is yet another classic Pete Fountain album in need of reissuing.
 |
| Pete Fountain Autograph (Eric Seddon Collection) |
