[Dixielandjazz] Pee Wee

Ken Mathieson ken at kenmath.free-online.co.uk
Wed May 27 08:39:05 PDT 2009


Hi All,

The current thread about Pee Wee caused me to dig out the album New Groove he made with valve-trombonist Marshall Brown in 1962. It has interesting and contrasting material, including John Coltrane's Red Planet, Strayhorn's Chelsea Bridge etc as well as oldies like My Mother's Eyes and Old Folks. Throughout, Pee Wee's playing is interesting, original and idiosyncratic. Actually, I've always thought that if Ben Webster had played clarinet, that's how he would have sounded. They both had a whimsical, oblique way of approaching a tune, whether they were playing the melody or improvising on it.

While I'm on about the New Groove album, I was very impressed by the drummer on it: Ron Lundgren. His playing was clean, swinging, in time, very competent technically, but above all, very musical. He wasn't afraid to play simple things as an accompanist or a soloist where they served the flow of the music. Indeed throughout the album, in a piano-less rhythm section, which might encourage lesser musicians to overplay, his playing is full of taste, without sacrificing propulsion. I can't find anything in books or on the web about him and never heard of him again after New Groove came out. Does anyone know anything about him?

Regards,

Ken Mathieson


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