Music of Eddie South

Product Description

Jeremy Cohen and his ensemble Violinjazz shine new light on the music of one of the greatest jazz violinists of all time, Eddie South, giving new insight on the man know by many as the 'Dark Angel
of the Violin'. Eddie South was one of the most widely recorded jazz violinists of his time. He was truly one of the greats, and the greats all knew him Joe Venuti, Stephane Grappelli, Stuff Smith, Ray Nance, Sven Asmussen, and Paul Nero. In fact composer and violinist Paul Nero dedicated his classic jazz fiddle tune, Hot Canary, to Eddie South. But his name and his music aren't known to all violin-loving musicians, historians, and seasoned music buffs.

Born in 1904, South would have been poised to be one of the great classical violinists of his time had it not been for the dreadful inequality apparent during that era. Graduating from the Chicago Music College, this violin virtuoso learned to play jazz (violin being a more common jazz instrument during the formative years of the genre) due to the lack of orchestra positions for African-Americans. South thrived in this world playing with the greats. He traveled the world and during a trip to Europe was heavily influenced by the Gypsy melodies of Budapest, which he later incorporated into his music. Upon returning to the United States, South formed his group The Alabamians. Though he never had major commercial success South recorded for Mercury and Chess records, and has been well known by true Jazz aficionados from then until now.

Violinjazz breathes new life into Eddie South's works, by both paying homage to South's solo styles as well as adding their own improvisations. The group consists of master violinist Jeremy Cohen (founder of the group and 1st violin of the GRAMMY® nominated ensemble Quartet San Francisco), world renowned performer, session pianist and arranger for the group Larry Dunlop, Jim Kerwin of the David Grisman Quartet on bass, and Dix Bruce on guitar, who beyond being a well know performer has had over 35 instructional books published by Mel Bay Publications. The group is joined by the preeminent jazz drummer Harold Jones, whose credits include performing and recording with Count Basie, Oscar Peterson, Duke Ellington, Herbie Hancock, Sarah Vaughn and is currently playing with Tony Bennett.
Combine the excitement of this music, performed by such a star studded ensemble with Dorian Sono Luminus staff recording the album at world famous Skywalker Sound, and you know this album is ready to jump out of its package! The album's technical proficiency and acoustic nature will crossover to the classical listener and will excite every jazz enthusiast.

Review

The presentation of this CD is a trifle misleading. These are not recordings of the 'Dark Angel of the Violin', as Paul Whiteman dubbed Eddie South, but rather a collection of yesteryear songs done in the violinist's style. Though rarely remarked upon any more, South was lionized in his day and even recorded with Django, Grapelli, and others. More then a few string raspers have acknowledged their deep debt to the black gent who was never quite able to break through the color barrier and attain to his rightful place. The Music of Eddie South, then, repairs a bit of that by doing homage via a quartet fronted by violinist Jeremy Cohen, himself no small name, having appeared on many film soundtracks; on CD with Santana, John Williams, and others; and in name gigs as concertmaster to Ray Charles, Linda Ronstadt, Cleo Laine, and so on.

Cohen's tone is pitch perfect, pristine while echoing the hummingbird flights South was capable of, tracing elaborate staves in a clear sky. The recording is indited in such a way as to give the impression of emanating from a bayou speakeasy or perhaps a brothel: spacious, informal, airy, the piano echoey while the borders of the hall can be heard as the gents play away. The dynamic range is suppressed to a noticeable degree, but I have to suspect this was purposeful in order to infuse period flavor. Jim Kerwin keeps a bouncy pace on the contrabass, Harold Jones backing him in rhythm duties with a tiny often understated drum kit.

The rime of age is evident throughout The Music of Eddie South, a sage nod to Eddie South's true purview, modernisms eschewn in favor of authenticity, and there's a ton of that particular quality everywhere, in ballads, proto-bop, Dixieland, nothing excluded. Granted, pianist Larry Dunlap waxes a bit Ferrante & Teischer-esque here and there, most apparently in Yesterdays, but it can't be denied that F&T got their antecedents from South's era as well (hell, you can hear it even in the old Marx Bros. and Three Stooges music materials!). Cohen is the clear star on this disc, but I think had guitarist Dix Bruce been given more room to solo, the sessions would have had twice the swing they already evince, as that guy's lines are drop-dead sparkling. --AcousticMusic.com, Mark Tucker

Boasting a solid classical pedigree coupled with impressive jazz credentials, violinist
Jeremy Cohen is clearly a force to be reckoned with. The shear eclecticism of this tribute to jazz-fiddle forebear Eddie South-ranging from the feel-good swing of 'Idaho' to the cantorial 'Kol Nidre' and a flamboyant four-minute 'Rhapsody in Blue'-bolsters Cohen's position among today's heavyweights. Technical wonders greet us repeatedly, beginning with the opening bars of South's eponymous 'Black Gypsy': Cohen's delivery is drenched with bravura harmonics and double-stopping. Ten of the 14 tracks can be compared with 'The Dark Angel of the Fiddle', a collection
of radio transcriptions from 1944 on which a young Bi1ly Taylor was South's pianist. Both of the Taylor originals from those briefer airchecks, 'Mad Monk' and 'Dr. Groove' appear here, but despite the bop allusions in those titles, Cohen's quartet reaffirms that South's deepest jazz allegiance
remained with the swing of his peers Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli. Cohen's cronies also revel in the idiom. Guitarist Dix Bruce steers 'Tzigane in Rhythm' into a Gypsy-Django ambience
after Cohen's grandiloquent intro, and swings in after the leader's solo with a thin mandolinlike approach. Pianist Larry Dunlap cools things down in a pithy John Lewis style before a tasty bowed solo from bassist Jim Kerwin embeds 'St. James Infirmary'. Cohen's duet with Dunlap on Jerome Kern's 'Yesterdays' is his finest synthesis of classical and jazz, a veritable violin sonata spiced with rhapsody and melodrama. --Jazz Times, Perry Tannenbaum, December 2010