New Orleans Delight
featuring
Marilyn Keller and Derek Winters

Tunes:

1. Do Lord
2. In The Garden
3. Sweet Fields
4. He Touched Me
5. Higher Ground
6. Amazing Grace
7. Closer Walk
8. St. Judes Hymn
9. What A Friend We Have In Jesus
10. Sanctus
11. Lily Of The Valley
12. How Great Thou Art
13. Fly Away
14. His Eyes Is On The Sparrow

Recorded: June 21, 2005 at Jakobskirke, Roskilde, Denmark by Jørgen Vad.




Reviews:

Jazz Podium, Februar 2007

On A Sunday Morn In New Orleans
Jazz Crusade Records JCCD-3102

New Orleans Delight Featuring Marilyn Keller And Derek Winters
Music Mecca CD 5012-2

Es sind erstaunlicherweise häufig Europäer, die den New Orleans Jazz pflegen und diesen auf hohem Niveau spielen. Einer von Ihnen ist der dänische Klarinettist Kjeld Brandt, der jetzt zwei neue CDs vorgelegt hat, bei denen ausschließlich traditionelle Hymnen und Spirituals auf dem Programm stehen. Bei „On a Sunday Morn in New Orleans“ handelt es sich um Liveaufnahmen aus dem Jahr 2004. Kjeld Brandt tritt hier zusammen mit dem kongenialen australischen Klarinettisten Jack McLaughlin auf; beide spielen übrigens auf einer Metallklarinette. Das Matineeprogramm, im bekannten Fritzel´s Club vor einem gebannt lauschenden Publikum aufgenommen, gleicht oft einem musikalischen Gebet. Bei Titeln wie „Where he leads me“, „In the upper garden“ oder “Nearer my God to Thee” finden beide Klarinettisten zu einem intensiven, intimen Zwiegespräch, das dezent von der australischen Pianistin Rachel Goeldner, ihrem Eheman Craig am Bass sowie dem Banjospieler John van Buuren unterstützt wird.
Auf der zweiten CD ist Kjeld Brandt mit seiner eigenen Band New Orleans Delight zu hören. Als Gäste sind der englische Trompeter Derek Winters und die vielseitige amerikanische Jazz- und Gospelsängerin Marilyn Keller mit von der Partie. Mit ihrer voluminösen, ausdrucksstarken Stimme gibt sie Titeln wie „Amazing Grace“ oder „His Eye is on the sparrow“ eine ergreifende Spiritualität, und es ist nicht verwunderlich, dass einigen ihrer Musikerkollegen bei den Aufnahmen in der Jakobskirke in Roskilde im Juni 2005 die Tränen der Rührung in den Augen standen. Die New Orleans Delight Band begleitet ohne zu kopieren sehr homogen im Stile der George Lewis Bands, allerdings technisch weitaus versierter als die Vorbilder.
Insgesamt zwei sehr ansprechende Alben, die zeigen, welche Kraft in der ursprünglichen Musik aus New Orleans steckt, wenn sie von solchen Könnern wie Kjeld Brandt gespielt wird.

JazzReview.com:

New Orleans Delight is no stranger to fans of Crescent City jazz nor of this website. This CD is the eighth to be covered in these pages since 2001. The Danish band is led by clarinetist Kjeld Brandt who usually brings in a guest trumpeter and a vocalist for tours and recordings. British trumpeter, Derek Winters, appears on record with New Orleans Delight for the second time. Like several previous releases, this album of hymns and spirituals was appropriately recorded in a church.

The American vocalist, Marilyn Keller, made her first appearance with the Danish jazz band for a 2005 summer tour of Scandinavia. Keller is a native of Portland, Oregon and when she is home, she sings with the city’s Black Swan Jazz Band. Sunday morning finds her gracing the choir loft at Portland’s Augustan Lutheran Church.


Miss Keller kicks off the set with an up-tempo rendition of “Do Lord,” a traditional piece that received accolades when recorded by Jane Russell, Della Russell, Beryl Davis and Connie Haines in 1954. She follows up with a stirring, emotional reading of “In The Garden,” a favorite among New Orleans bands for decades.


While this album contains a number of everyone’s gospel favorites including “He Touched Me,” “Amazing Grace.” and “His Eye Is On The Sparrow,” a few tunes are new to my ears. Derek Winters delivers the vocal on “Saint Jude’s Hymn” and Keller returns with Schubert’s “Sanctus.” “Sweet Fields” is afforded a special arrangement by the band.


The band’s rendition of “How Great Thou Art” display’s Marilyn Keller’s powerful voice and the instrumentalists’ fine command of the New Orleans style. It ranks as a favorite by this writer, followed closely by the singer’s rocking version of “Closer Walk.”

New Orleans Delight’s newest CD does not disappoint. Derek Winters is an asset to any traditional jazz outfit and applies his own twists to the style set down by Bunk Johnson and Kid Thomas in years gone by.

RadioJazz

JazzGazette

I don’t believe in many things, but I do believe in the Danish/Swedish band New Orleans Delight. For several years Kjeld and his band have been producing CDs that belong to the best New Orleans style jazz today. No wonder they got rave reviews from all over the world.

The band has no regular trumpet player, but they often have one as a guest artist, people like Gregg Stafford, the late Kid Bastien, Norbert Susemihl, Chris Tyle and Derek Winters, and always the chemistry works. This is the second CD they recorded with a gospel singer in the foreground. After the much acclaimed CD with the Australian singer Lee Gunness, this one features Marilyn Keller.

Marilyn comes from Portland, Oregon where she sings with the Black Swan Jazz Band, a New Orleans style band from Portland. She’s also at home singing rhythm & blues and modern jazz. In her home town she sings every Sunday at the Augustan Lutheran Church. In 2002 she issued her first album called “At last”.

Derek Winters, from England, is the second guest on this CD. In his home country he has been very much associated with Brian Carrick. He is frequently working with New Orleans Delight, so I guess you could call him a honorary member of the band. Derek wrote part of the liner notes and has this to say about Marilyn Keller: “To work with Marilyn was an uplifting experience for all of us in the band. Her real faith and understanding of the lyrics she sings shines through like a light. Her belief in the words is almost visible and her presence radiates a warmth that was unmistakable to the audiences. On some hymns her whispering voice and heartfelt words moved people in the audience (and some of us in the band) to tears. This could then be followed by a rousing evangelical hymn, hot, loud and joyful, telling us we are all going to heaven! What an experience.”

Derek will forgive me to quote so much from his text, but I found his description of Marilyn’s singing so darn right, that I became reluctant to use my own words. He was there, I wasn’t, but everything he says shines through on this recording.

This CD also introduces the band’s new trombone player, Kim Menzer, who plays the first instrumental solo on this CD. As usual the band performs in a marvellous way. Kjeld is one of my favourite clarinet players today and his rhythm section could be envied by every band playing this kind of music. The idea of Erling Lindhardt switching to the tenor guitar on the slower numbers proves to be excellent. In combination with Stefan Karfve bowed bass it creates just the right background for these hymns. Most tracks are introduced by Hans Pedersen’s soulful piano playing. Derek Winters sings engagingly on two tracks and I’m as much a fan of his singing as of his trumpet playing.

In his excellent and very informative liner notes Californian Bert Thompson comments on every song played, giving details about the often difficult to find origins. All together this has again become an international and exemplary production that should find a place in your collection.