William N. Law Blog: Lucky Thompson on MPS

In 1968, saxophonist Lucky Thompson moved back to Europe with his family after a five-year stay in the States. He settled in Lausanne, Switzerland, which allowed him to tour in European cities where he found the most work. A year later, in March 1969, he recorded A Lucky Songbook in Europe for MPS, one of the Continent's great labels. The album would become one of Thompson's finest works.

Lucky Thompson's first trip to Europe came in 1956 while he was in the reed section of Stan Kenton's orchestra. The tour took place just before the band went into Capitol studios to record Cuban Fire. The tour was a rather awkward fit for Thompson, since by the 1950s, his instrumental poetry was better suited to smaller ensembles. The blessing for Thompson is that he fell hard for European life and relocated to Paris a year later. From his base there, Thompson was able to play the city's many clubs and tour regionally. He remained in Paris until 1962, when he moved back to the States before his move to Switzerland in '68.

If you look at Thompson's years of migration, he couldn't have picked worse times to relocate. He left the States in '57 just as jazz recording was picking up following the release of the 12-inch LP in 1956 and launch of stereo in 1958. Then he returned to the States at the dawn of the pop-rock era, when recording work and gigs were drying up for jazz artists who weren't household names or studio musicians. On the other hand, Thompson seemed to suffer from mental illness and depression, so a relaxed environment with access to healthcare surely meant more than hustling for opportunity.

The good news for Lucky is that Europe was his oyster and he was highly appreciated there, which kept him busy. He also was more comfortable in Europe as an creative artist. But as a result of his detachment from the U.S. jazz scene, Thompson is one of the few jazz giants who really can't be classified as a member of one jazz school or another. In essence, if you combine the toughness of Coleman Hawkins and relaxed tones of Lester Young, you'd probably come close to Thompson's sound. [Photo above of Lucky Thompson and British pianist Stan Tracey]

Thompson also was magnificently inventive as a composer and particularly graceful and slippery on song introductions and improvisational passages. He had great training. Thompson worked with Count Basie in 1944 and '45 and then Boyd Raeburn in '45, two bands with challenging arrangements. He also worked and recorded with plenty of small groups, including dates with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.

On March 13, 1969, after a flurry of written pleas by the team at MPS in Germany, Thompson finally recorded an album for the label in Villingen, in the Black Forest. Thompson, it turns out, was a perfectionist and something of a gentle control freak. According to the original liner notes for A Lucky Songbook in Europe by Joachim Berendt (above), the album's producer, Thompson hand-picked each musician and insisted they be on the date without exception.

The album featured Lucky Thompson (ts,sop), Fats Sadi (vib,bgo), Ingfried Hoffman (org), Rene Thomas (g), Eberhard Weber (b) and Stu Martin (d).

Guitarist Rene Thomas (above) and vibist Fats Sadi were Belgians and essential, Thompson said. In a series of letters between Thompson and MPS, Thompson said of Thomas, "Rene is very much worthy of the wonderful comments I had heard about him." And of Sadi: "He is a must for our session. For not only does he come fully prepared to give 100% of himself but he is always in full possession of a big humor and great spirit."

Five of the seven songs recorded for A Lucky Songbook in Europe were originals by Thompson while two—Street of Dreams and Easy Living—were standards. Thompson plays soprano sax on four of the tracks—Lady Gail, Street of Dreams, Soul City and Easy Listening—and tenor on the balance. Thompson took up the soprano sax during his first European stay between 1957 and late 1962.

For the original album, Lucky wrote notes explaining his choices for each song. Perhaps the most telling and revealing were his comments for Sauvabelin: "Sauvabelin is the name of a very beautiful park here in Lausanne, where I often go, and especially so during some of my most depressing moments. For it is there I can be completely sure to find some real friends, who unfortunately are better known as animals. As as a personal gesture for their friendship and the many moments of happiness they always give to me, I composed Sauvabelin, which I do sincerely hope shall please them."

This is an extraordinary album, and I spent much of the weekend listening to it over and over again while writing. There isn't a bad note or a dull phrase on the entire session. It's just Lucky Thompson in all his glory recorded by a label that truly understood him and the nuances of jazz.

JazzWax tracks: A Lucky Songbook in Europe (MPS) is available at iTunes.