IMPRESSED 3

If you trawled the comments on Stan Tracey's Latin American Caper you will no doubt have been intrigued to see this from Ramu:

Hi, I tried to get Windmill Tilter reissued years ago as part of the Impressed Re-pressed series (I helped compile the Impressed comps with Gilles P). Manged to get a first batch of reissues out (Mike Taylor, Neil Ardely, Amancio D'Silva etc..) but Universal, as ever lost faith, let it all slip iaway to labels like BGO and Vocalion. Had a killer hitlist of all the Lansdowne stuff - Rendell Carr, Hum Dono etc... they couldn't care less. Treat their catalogue - and music fans - with contempt. Impressed 3 has been ready to go for about 6 years - and Universal??? What do you think, not awhiff of interest. Shame, as it has top stuff from Dick Morrissey, Kenny Wheeler, Quincicasm, Don Rendell etc on it. Don even wrote an introductory piece for my notes... maybe you could post it on here!!

True to his word Ramu has sent over what would have been track listing for the shelved "Impressed 3" and included Don Rendell's sleeve notes.
What a tragedy that this will never be issued..and good luck to anybody trying to track 'em ALL down!

Collin Bates Trio - Brew
London Jazz Four - Song For Hilary
Tubby Hayes Quartet - Finky Minky
Don Rendell - Euphrates
Vic Lewis - Last Minute Bossa Nova
Kenny Wheeler - Don the Dreamer
Ralph Dollimore - Spikey
Dick Morrissey - Sunday Lunch
Quincicasm - Trent Park Song
Ronnie Stephenson / Kenny Clare - Caravan
Johnny Hawksworth feat. Hampton Hawes - Jazz Rule
Dick Morrissey - Storm Warning

Don Rendell's sleeve notes:

I knew and played with many of the musicians on this album. The jazz scene in those years seemed very sure of itself and was moving progressively forward into new creative areas almost day by day. Through my resolve to be a jazz musician, I left the touring big bands I played with - Oscar Rabin, Ted Heath, Cyril Stapleton - and, in 1950, became a founder member of the Johnny Dankworth Seven. Back then, on a gig at a club in Acton, the sound from a young tenor player in the interval group caused us to return from the bar to hear him. That was our first introduction to Tubby Hayes, who, in an all too short career, achieved international acclaim. A second tenor saxophonist featured on this album is Dick Morrissey. He also maintained a consistent level of creative improvisation in his playing and gained worldwide recognition. Sadly, both of these musicians have long left us - but for sure you can hear their music living on through these and many other recordings. Sometime around 1953, I left the Johnny Dankworth Seven and formed a small group with Ronnie Ross (baritone), Damien Robinson (piano), Don Lawson (drums) and, for a few weeks, a new arrival from Canada - Kenny Wheeler. A few years later Kenny appeared on an album I made for Denis Preston's Pye Nixa label. His contribution to this compilation is 'Don the Dreamer', a title relating to his musical interpretation of Don Quixote's fanciful exploits. Pianist/composer Ralph Dollimore was everywhere on the London Jazz scene. I recall a recording session with him, put together by Mike Nevard of the Melody Maker, that introduced us to the Belgian pianist and band-leader Francy Boland. That session also included Jimmy Skidmore, Phil Seaman, Keith Christie, Jimmy Deuchar, Jo Hunter, Allan Ganley and Dill Jones. Vic Lewis led a big band in those years. A much more jazz oriented group than most, he recognised the genius of the Stan Kenton Orchestra and this was reflected in Vic's charts for his own band. In 1956 I was deputising, together with Harry Klein (baritone), on Kenton's European tour. Vic Lewis came to the Paris concerts and was suddenly also a dep - filling in for a trombone player who, as Ronnie Scott used to say, 'was suddenly taken drunk.'Three other outstanding British jazz musicians playing in different groups on this compilation are Peter King (alto), Stan Tracey (piano) and Harry South (piano). My own track 'Euphrates' is an original piece in 3/4 that relates to the floating feeling of a river - sometimes calm, then strong winds raise the waves and then it subsides again. It was recorded in a Manchester record store, the Avgarde Gallery, in 1973. However, none of us knew this at the time, so it is a genuinely 'live' piece With excellent piano from Joe Palin, Ian Taylor on bass and Gordon Beckett on drums. A further fact is that none of the Joe Palin Trio had heard of or seen a chart of 'Euphrates' until that moment - it was true instant jazz improvisation. Ten years later Tony Williams from Spotlite Records got hold of the 'unknown' recording and released the LP 'Live at the Avgarde Gallery'. In conclusion I sincerely commend Tony Higgins & Gilles Peterson for making this and the previous two volumes of Impressed available so a younger generation can hear home grown jazz in progress. Don Rendell, London, March 2007