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It’s great when a leader takes care to bring us some nearly-forgotten gems, rather than recording just the same Dixieland warhorses that everyone has heard a million times. This album – Peter Ecklund’s debut as a leader – includes a few older tunes that I never expected anyone to record again.
And throughout, Ecklund has focused on making the best possible music, not just showcasing his own playing. Too many leaders get self-indulgent when they record. They solo endlessly, using sidemen basically to provide backgrounds for them, which can get boring. You will hear a good deal of Ecklund’s lively cornet on this album, but you will also hear a good deal of Dan Barrett’s trombone, Vince Giordano’s bass sax, Frank Vignola’s guitar, Joe Muranyi’s clarinet, etc. – both in solo spots and in ensemble passages (plenty of them). Ecklund knows listeners welcome variety.
“…to play the old-time jazz [he] plays on this album, you have to have a feel for the spirit of the music. And an understanding of the pre-bebop trumpet tradition. And [Ecklund] clearly does.”
-Chip Deffa, Jazz Critic, The New York Post (1988)
Peter Ecklund is probably best known as the former cornetist with acoustic guitarist Marty Grosz's various small group swing combos, including the Orphan Newsboys. A flexible player, Ecklund apparently knows an infinite number of vintage tunes, and has the ability to play in several different styles quite credibly.
It took Ecklund some time before he led his own jazz record dates. Born in 1945, he graduated from Yale in 1967 and then worked with quite a variety of settings including with Gregg Allman, Maria Muldaur, Leon Redbone, Paul Butterfield, David Bromberg and other rock and pop artists. However his true love was classic jazz. He had led the Galvanized Jazz Band shortly after graduating Yale and also recorded with singer Paula Lockhart.
In the 1980s, Ecklund came into his own as lead trumpeter with Vince Giordano's Nighthawks and with Grosz. Horns Of Plenty, his recording debut as a leader, was recorded when he was 42 and it often sounds as if this was the record that Peter Ecklund was born to make. On the three sessions he surrounded himself with a who's who of classic jazz including clarinetists Joe Muranyi and Ken Peplowski (on one of his earlier dates), trombonist Dan Barrett, Marty Grosz and Frank Vignola on guitars, banjoist Eddy Davis, bass saxophonist Vince Giordano, and Barbara Dreiwitz on tuba, using these all-stars in different combinations.
Rather than merely jam some warhorses, Ecklund picked out 14 songs including quite a few 1920s obscurities, and utilized stop-time rhythms, tradeoffs, and a constant change of instrumentation. In addition, the cornetist altered his sound and style on some of the numbers, sounding like Bix Beiderbecke when appropriate but also hinting at Jabbo Smith (on “Jazz Battle”) and early Louis Armstrong in spots. Muranyi, Barrett and Peplowski take fine solos as does Giordano and the “string section,” with Grosz having a few good-humored vocals along the way. The wide-ranging repertoire includes “I'm In Seventh Heaven,” an inspired reworking of “Is It True What They Say About Dixie,” Duke Ellington's “Jubilee Stomp,” “If I Had A Talking Picture Of You,” “When Day Is Done” and “Take Your Tomorrow.”
Review
"Peter Ecklund led other sessions in later years, but Horn Of Plenty is still his definitive and most inspired outing." – Scott Yanow
"Peter Ecklund, a hot and swinging cornetist who often played with Marty Grosz's combos, made his recording debut as a leader on this set from the 1980s. It is quite a tour de force for Ecklund is teamed with the who's who of classic jazz during the three sessions that form this CD. Assisted by such notables as clarinetists Joe Muranyi and Ken Peplowski, trombonist Dan Barrett, Marty Grosz and Frank Vignola on guitars, banjoist Eddy Davis, bass saxophonist Vince Giordano, and Barbara Dreiwitz on tuba, Ecklund emphasizes obscure but worthy songs from the 1920s. The Inventive arrangements, changes of instrumentation and large amount of variety make this a highly recommended acquisition for fans of early jazz." -Scott Yanow
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