Sahib Shihab & The Danish Radio Jazz Group Oktav

Stickly Limited Edition 3000 copies. Re-mastered from the original stereo master tapes. 180 gr vinyl pressed in Marciac, France by Garcia & Co. Deluxe flipback album jacket. Facsimile reissue using the original artwork. Double insert using an original photo by Jan Persson. Each record has been visually checked to prevent defects. Recorded August, 1965, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Original LP issue: Oktav – Oklp 111

Sahib Shihab (Edmund Gregory) played with many of jazz’s finest musicians. Shortly after he became one of the first jazz players to change their names due to an Islamic conversion, he joined Thelonious Monk for his Blue Note sessions. He also played with Art Blakey, Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Pettiforn and Quincy Jones. A unique musician, he was at home in every musical style, from the experimentalism of Thelonious Monk to the more direct hard bop of Art Blakey. Sahib Shihab’s distinctive sound was rooted in his modernist compositions and arrangements, complemented by an intense, soulful playing style.

In 1959 he toured Europe with Quincy Jones after getting fed up with racial politics in USA and ultimately settled in Scandinavia. He worked for Copenhagen Polytechnic and wrote scores for television, cinema and theatre. He remained there until 1973. During this period, he recorded several albums as leader for European labels such as Vogue, Storyville and Futura.

In 1961 he joined The Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band and remained a key figure in the band for the 12 years it ran. He married a Danish lady and raised a family in Europe, although he remained a conscious African-American still sensitive to racial issues.

This record, on the Danish Oktav label, his second as a leader and also his rarest is a true masterpiece !!!

Personnel : Sahib Shihab (Baritone saxophone, Flute, Cowbell) Poul Hindberg (Alto saxophone, Clarinet) Ib Renard (Baritone saxophone) Bent Nielsen (Baritone saxophone, Flute, Clarinet) Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (nhop) (Bass) Alex Riel (Drums) Allan Botschinsky (Trumpet) Fritz von Bülow (Guitar) Bent Axen (Piano) Bent Jædig (Tenor saxophone, Flute) Niels Husum (Tenor saxophone) Svend Åge Nielsen (Trombone, Bass trombone) Torolf Mølgaard (Trombone, Euphonium) Palle Bolvig (Trumpet) Palle Mikkelborg (Trumpet) Poul Kjældgård (Tuba) Louis Hjulmand (Vibraphone)