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Tribute to James Reese Europe on CD

Labeled by the French and the American commissions for the centenary of the Great War, this release celebrates the 100th anniversary of the arrival in France of jazz, brought over by black American troops (the famous Harlem Hell Fighters) mobilized in that First World War. Produced by the Hot Club Jazz Iroise and arranged by Stan Laferriere, this album is a tribute to James Reese Europe, an influential Harlem composer post- 1910 - he joined the National Guard and fought alongside French soldiers - and a historic figure in jazz and the struggle for civil rights. Two orchestras relay each other in presenting this fabulous material: the Spirit of Chicago Orchestra, which plays in the purest rag-time tradition of jazz in it's embryonic stage, and the Jazz Formation of the Air Force Band, which brings these melodies right up to date and shows just how much these melodies that go back to the origins of jazz have inestimable value.