From the archives
Geoffrey Smith on the American trumpeter whose agile playing made him a star in the clubs of mid-1930s Paris
If you were surfing the jazz archive, looking for a distinctive Christmas treat, I’d happily recommend Retrospective’s recent two-cd tribute to trumpeter Bill Coleman (Bill Coleman – An American in Paris Retrospective RTS 4350).
This terrific album surveys his career as an expat ornament of the European scene, from 1937-60.
Actually, by a genial coincidence, Coleman came to Paris from Paris – Paris, Kentucky, where he was born in 1904. By 1930, he was established in the top flight of young players in New
York, and the earliest tracks in the Retrospective set feature him with Fats Waller, whose romping sophistication is well suited to the trumpeter’s gifts. Though a devotee of Louis Armstrong, Coleman based his style less on Satchmo’s tonal power than on his fluent invention. A Coleman solo was never plangent, but refined, quick-witted, endlessly ingenious, full of supple logic and story-telling charm. His bright, bell-like attack leapt effortlessly across the horn, impelled by an integral swing.
The trumpeter’s European adventure began in 1933, on a big band tour. Smitten by the ‘mellow, cultural’ Parisian atmosphere, he decided to relocate, and by 1935 was a star in the jazz-crazy City of Light. An American in Paris shows him in his element with the gypsy guitar genius Django Reinhardt and such fellow American luminaries as trombonist Dicky Wells. Indeed, the tracks with Django and Dicky – ’Sweet Sue’, ‘Hangin’ Around Boudon’, ‘Japanese Sandman’ – are a kind of jazz perfection, simplicity itself, with solos laid-back and inspired. The Coleman session with Stéphane Grappelli on violin and piano, and Django’s under-rated brother Joseph on guitar – ‘Rose Room’, ‘Bill Street Blues’ – are almost as good, while the duo performance of ‘Bill Coleman Blues’ by Django and Bill became an instant classic.
After returning to America during the war, Bill Coleman settled permanently in France, until his death in 1981.The later tracks in this set show him shining in the States with the likes of Teddy Wilson and Lester Young, before establishing himself on the continent, with expat tenorist Don Byas and a series of adept and enthusiastic local bands, who are proud to showcase the Coleman touch. Whatever the context, he’s a national treasure and a jazz master of the highest quality.