Carrothers: Armistice 1918

Carrothers, Bill, Epstein, Jay, Garrothers, Peg, Gress, Drew, Henderson, Mark, Stewart Bill, Turner, Matt

SKE 333043.44

Published in 2004 and then played on stage with its Civil War Diaries sequel, the double album Armistice 1918 is the great work of Bill Carrothers, a jazz pianist with a passion for history.

It is a true concept album connecting the beginnings of jazz in America and the chaos left by the First World War in Europe that the pianist of Minneapolis created. A first disc devoted to the standards of the time (from "Roses de Picardie" to "America I Love You") is revisited with respect and inventiveness by the keyboard prodigy who starts from the crucial year 1914 to arrive in the second part in the evocation of the “big butcher's shop” of 1917.

Surrounded by Drew Gress (double bass) and the faithful Bill Stewart (drums), to which was added a chamber formation completed by Matt Turner (cello), Mark Henderson (clarinet), Jay Epstein (percussion) and Madame Peg Carrothers (vocals ), Bill Carrothers unrolls a magnificent series of pieces with dark or even funeral atmospheres, but overwhelming (“And the Band Played On”).

Released on the sly on the late Sketch label, the indispensable Armistice 1918 is accompanied by a copious booklet illustrated with poems, memories and author's notes.

• Loïc Picaud - Copyright 2019 Music Story

CD x 2

Sketch

10.05.04

3700079700432