[Dixielandjazz] Fwd: Fw: Keep (it) Swinging Andre Ekyan

Tue Apr 7 01:26:35 PDT 2015

This is part 1 of the story of the excellent French saxophonist Andre
Ekyan.  It should be of interest to at least some of you, even if he played
swing rather than dixieland.
Cheers
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From: marek boym <marekboym at walla.com>
Date: 7 April 2015 at 11:18
Subject: Fw: Keep (it) Swinging
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שולח: *Keep (it) Swinging, *
נושא: *Keep (it) Swinging*
   Keep (it) Swinging <http://keepitswinging.blogspot.com/>
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André Ekyan (1907 – 1972) – A French Saxophone Player, Part 1 (1930s)
<http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/KeepitSwinging/~3/rQiZJmOjqdk/andre-ekyan-1907-1972-french-saxophone.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email>

Posted: 04 Apr 2015 06:57 AM PDT
*George Lankester*, expert in pre-WW II French jazz history, introduces in
this entry *André Ekyan's pre-war career,  the 1930s.*

The post war years of *André Ekyan* will be discussed in another entry.

<http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZiUk1kA2qzk/VR_dBDmHjoI/AAAAAAAADLA/EnLKLyNdjxE/s1600/Ekyan.jpg>André
Ekyan (1907-1972)
This highly talented musician was born in Meudon. Who could suspect that he
would become one of the pioneers of the French pre-war jazz and play an
important role in it as a soloist?  Here is the story of his career:

*Non- French parents *
André’s mother was of Hungarian origin, while his father was born in
Armenia – the official family name was Echkyan. His parents emigrated to
France and it was there  that the young André in 1907 was born and further
grew up. Already as a boy he started to play alto-sax. André first started
to follow a medical study in order to become a dentist. During his study he
saved money to buy a clarinet which took quite some time. Finally he got
the instrument and it seems that he could play a bit on it within a few
weeks. By the end of the Twenties, however, he stopped his dental study and
chose for a professional career in music. Soon he joined the orchestra of
Perroquet which played in Paris; furthermore he was working continuously to
improve his technique.

*Cabaret performances and orchestra sideman*
>From 1930-32 he was active with a small formation under his own name and
appeared frequently  in the cabaret “*La croix du Sud*”, where – according
to Charles Delaunay – also *Django Reinhardt* came to listen to him.

<http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L92eHPSUxvg/VR_rStxZjgI/AAAAAAAADLo/T8r9KGEajw8/s1600/Ekyan_Django%2B(1).JPG>Ekyan
and Django
André also joined various big bands. In 1931 he became member of the
well-known  English ‘*Jack Hylton Orchestra*’ and somewhat later he played
in the band of *Fred Astaire*. Our active reed man could – in 1933 – be
found playing with “*Grégor & ses Grégoriens*” which was quite popular in
Paris those days. Also *Stéphane Grappelli* joined this orchestra, as we
can see in some old film fragments!  In ’34 and ’35 André was playing in  “*Le
Jazz du poste parisien*”.

It should be mentioned that starting from 1932 Ekyan also arranged and
supervised studio recordings e.g. in parts of “Jazz symphonique Salabert”
and in two recordings of his own group called “*the French Hot Boys*”. They
recorded: ‘*St. Louis Blues*’ and ‘*Moonglow*’.

<http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jShMFYzCUaE/VR_fqasSYKI/AAAAAAAADLM/0ep-VHyMfTQ/s1600/ekyan%2B(3).jpg>André
Ekyan, saxophonist and clarinetist
In 1935 André, as a band leader, played an important role in the famous
cabaret “*Boeuf sur le Toit*” where many excellent musicians regularly met.
Under his supervision several  recordings were made in his name, released
by “Ultraphone”.

After lots of activities in France André then travelled to the USA where he
played with stars like trombonist ‘*Tommy Dorsey & the piano giants* “*Joe
Turner*”and “*Fats Walle*r”.
Once back in France he opened a cabaret called ‘*Swing Time*” where he
showed his own new orchestra. This was the place where terrific ‘jam
sessions’ (in French: ‘de Boeufs’) took place, so remembered tenor
saxophonist *Alix Combelle*. André could there also be heard with the piano
players *Léo Chauliac* & *George Manion*, in addition to his own band.

Paris was in those times a swinging town, full of theatres, cabarets and
cafés offering jazz. In one of them called “*au Florence*” the American
trumpet player/saxophonist *Benny Carter* played.  In the early morning,
also there unforgettable jam sessions were held with American and French
jazzmen like *Coleman Hawkins*, *Django Reinhardt* and *Bill Coleman*.
After their performances in other cabarets and cafés, they liked to meet
and play spontaneously in unique formations. *Note:* Carter and Hawkins,
who stayed in Paris, were promoted by the *Hot Club de France* leaders
secretary *Charles Delaunay* and president *Hugues Panassié*.

*Historical recordings *
1937 was a great year for the European jazz. Because of the World
Exhibition in the capital the Hot Club leaders had invited many American
jazz giants for big concert and recording  sessions and…….they met the best
French players of  that time – including André Ekyan. This resulted in many
unique recordings, all of them realised under the supervision of Charles
Delaunay who had just launched his exclusive jazz record label ‘*Swing*”.

<http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TTeluurR164/VR_hNXdey8I/AAAAAAAADLY/6j0pb21HOeQ/s1600/swing_label_disc%2B1.jpg>Discque
Swing, SW. 1
He started recording in the  spring and possibly with the best pre-war
formation in Europe ever, called “*Coleman Hawkins and his All Star band*”
featuring *Coleman Hawkins, Benny Carter, André Ekyan, Alix Combelle,
Django Reinhardt, Eugène d’Hellemmes* and *Tommy Benford*.

On April 28 two titles in this formation were recorded ‘’*Honeysuckle rose*’
& ‘*Crazy Rhythm*’.In the same line-up HMV recorded: ‘*Out of nowhere*’ and
‘*Sweet Georgia Brown*’. For those interested marked  SW no.1 and HMV(E) B
8812.

Ekyan, still in a very good shape, can also be heard with *Django* in five
tracks which were recorded in 1939 in a small formation under his name.
The titles: ‘*The Sheyk*’, ‘*Dream Ship*’, ‘ *I can’t believe*’, *Dark Town
Strutters Ball’*’ and *Blues of Yesterdays*’. Three tracks included trumpet
player/saxophonist ‘*Big Boy’ Goodie*, who originally came from Louisiana
but already lived in Paris from the early Twenties.

*George Lankester*

---
*Jo*
keepitswinging.domain at gmail.com

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