ART VAN DAMME ENSEMBLE & FOUR BROTHERS

ART VAN DAMME
Art Van Damme (Norway, Michigan, 9 de abril de 1920) c onseguiu fazer com que o acordeon, um abominável instrumento, quando nas mãos erradas, se tornasse - ora vejam só - um instrumento para tocar jazz. Influenciado pelos discos de swing, principalmente por Benny Goodman, no fim dos anos 30 ele começou a transcrever para o acordeão os solos do clarinetista e desenvolveu seu próprio estilo, influenciando todos os acordeonistas de bom gosto pelo mundo afora. No Brasil, onde Mário Mascarenhas conseguiu fazer com que toda uma geração fosse acometida de urticária, só de falar o nome do instrumento, tivemos luminares do instrumento, como Chiquinho, Sivuca (os maiores), Dominguinhos e outros tantos. Quase aos 90 anos, Art Van Damme, que tocou e gravou com TODO MUNDO, continua na estrada e, há poucos anos esteve no Brasil.

(*) Sempre fui apaixonado por George Shearing e Art Van Damme. E não foi por acaso que num dos primeiros conjuntos de danças de que participei, lá por volta de 1960, reproduzíamos com a fidelidade possivel o "Shearing + Art Van Damme Sound", tal como fazia Norberto Baudaulf, lá no sul do Brasil. Durante os bailes, os afortunados pés-de-valsa, eram agraciados com os sons de Shearing e Van Damme. Bons tempos, em que os "bailes da vida" proporcionavam aos músicos a oportunidade de aprender fazendo e ainda ganhar o "cachê". (Ah! na primeira formação do conjunto, o pianista era OSCAR CASTRO NEVES)
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ART VAN DAMME
The hippest cat ever to swing an accordion, Art Van Damme dared go where no man had gone before: jazz accordion. He started taking accordion lessons at the age of nine, and moved on to classical studies after his family moved to Chicago, Illinois, in 1934. After leaving school. he played in a trio in local clubs under big band leader Ben Bernie hired him in 1941. He soon returned to Chicago, though, and continued to work the club circuit there throughout World War Two. Van Damme was inspired by swing recordings, particularly Benny Goodman's, and in the late 1930s, he began experimenting, adapting Goodman solos to the accordion. Throughout his career, he would often be compared to Goodman, since the two were both classically trained, technical masters of their instruments, and versatile and creative jazz soloists. He formed a quintet with several of his studio colleagues, and recorded his first album, for the small label, Music Craft, in 1944. More Cocktail Capers LPHe joined the staff of NBC Radio in Chicago in 1945 and remained a studio musician
for over 15 years, even after he became a recording artist in his own right. His early style fits into a small but at the time quite popular niche between the cocktail piano sound and the accordion/guitar/organ sound of the Three Suns. In fact, his earliest albums for Capitol and Columbia all had titles that made this connection explicit: "Cocktail Capers"; "Martini Time"; "Manhattan Time."
Despite liner notes that described this music as "background for badinage," these are excellent albums, if far more subdued that the bebop they shared the record bins with. Van Damme's introduction of the accordion as a featured jazz instrument was well-received critically, and in 1947, Downbeat magazine put his photo on the cover of one of their issues. He would go on to voted "Top Accordionist" in Downbeat's annual poll of jazz musicians for ten years in a row. Later, he was similarly recognized by Contemporary Keyboard magazine for five years in a row. As time went on, Van Damme moved into more adventurous territory, closer to mainstream jazz. Although a number of other accordionists ventured into jazz territory after Van Damme broke the trail, he remains the acknowledged master. As one reviewer recently wrote, he dispatches "Right-hand runs with a velocity and lightness of touch that defied the presumed limitations of the instrument," while at the same time,"Consistently emphasizing the lyric contours of a melodic phrase rather than the lightning technical flourishes that led up to it." He eventually retired to Florida. He announced at his 75th birthday party that he intended to hang up his
squeezebox for good, telling one interview that he felt like he'd played enough for one lifetime, but he continues to perform occasionally, appearing in Los Vegas and Chicago during 2002.
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MINHA OPINIÃO: neste álbum o genial Art Van Damme agrega ao seu quinteto um naipe de saxofones - os "Four Brothers" - nome que identifica a sessão de palhetas da banda de Woody Hermann. O repertório é um "colar de pérolas", ao qual foi acrescentado o "Barquinho" (My little boat), garantindo a latinidade necessária à postagem. Art Van Damme dispensa comentários: é um dos grandes nomes da música e do jazz, em todos os tempos.
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ART VAN DAMME ENSEMBLE & FOUR BROTHERS

PERSONNEL:
Art van Damme - accordeon
Heribert Thusek - vibes and flute
Freddie Rundquist - guitar
Peter White - bass
Charly Antolini - drums
Hans Wolf - alto saxophone
Werner Dauber - tenor saxophone
Rolf Prinz - tenor saxophone
Heinz Loch - baritone saxophone

TRACKS/FAIXASt

01 Easy To Love
02 Shiny Stokings
03 Lush Life
04 Sunny
05 Our Love Is Here To Stay
06 Snowfall
07 Four Brothers
08 My Little Boat
09 One A Wonderful Day Like Today
10 Love Is Blue
11 What The World Needs Now
12 Poor Butterfly