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If your new to Roger Beaujolais, in short, he’s the closest we’ve got to a British Roy Ayers, Cal Tjader, Lionel Hampton or Milt Jackson.

And this lastest release on his own StayTuned label (as in vibraphone being a tuned percussion instrument), see him and the Quintet very much in the jazz-bop cool of Blue Reflections.

The non-original tracks read like an old Gilles Peterson Vibraphone session; Hank Mobley, Stanley Turrentine, Grant Green (who was featured on Droppin’ Science this week), Kenny Burrell (with the classic ‘Chitlins Con Carne’) and blues walk of Joey Caldarazz’s ‘Midnight Voyage’.

The tracks are split over two sessions; one at Trinity College (where Simon Thorpe was on double bass) and the other at Workhouse Studios (with Orlando LeFleming on double bass). The rest of the band are Robin Aspland (piano), Winston Clifford (drums) and the saxophone duties are undertaken by Mark Lochheart (who appeared on Radiohead’s ‘The National Anthem’ on the Kid A album).

Lockheart sounds very Turrentine on ‘Sugar’ but that’s not to say this is some ‘One & Only’ tribute band. The standard is just so excellent, you’d even be hard pressed to say Beaujolais’ own tracks like ‘Admission Impossible’ or ‘Lazy Days’ weren’t 60s Blue Note originals. Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t have to sound 40 years old to be any good, it was just the time when the vibes were jazz and Beaujolais captures that mood perfectly.

Anyone that can switch from the dinner jazz of ‘For Those Who Dream’ to a boppy jazz dancer called ‘Full Monty’ proves he’s got it all.

Reviewed: Roger Beaujolais Quintet — Blue Reflections (StayTuned) Cat. No: ST007 Release date: 18 Feb 2008
Credits: Piano — Robin Aspland (tracks: 1 to 6, 8 to 11)
Producer, Arranged By, Vibraphone — Roger Beaujolais
Saxophone [Tenor] — Mark Lockheart (tracks: 2, 3, 8 to 10)
Double Bass — Simon Thorpe (tracks: 1, 5, 6, 7, 11)
Orlando LeFleming (tracks: 2 to 4, 8 to 10)
Drums — Winston Clifford

Tracklisting:
1 Soul Station (5:00) — Written by Hank Mobley
2 Sugar (8:03) — Written by Stanley Turrentine
3 Lazy Days (7:02)
4 T Bone’s Take (4:42)
5 Some Blues (4:30)
6 Green Jeans (8:59) — Written by Grant Green
7 Chitlins Con Carne (3:43) — Written by Kenny Burrell
8 For Those Who Dream (6:55)
9 Full Monty (4:55)
10 Midnight Voyage (6:14) — Written by Joey Caldarazzo
11 Admission Impossible (4:41)

Links:
www.rogerbeaujolais.com
Jazzwise February 2008 Issue 116 www.jazzwise.com p6 “New Album from vibes player Roger Beaujolais”