RARITIES #62 & # 63

STUDIO JAZZ MIT ALICE BABS (Electrola, D, 1959).

&

ALICE BABS - FUGA / St LOUIS BLUES TWIST (Brunswick, D, 1963)

Summer is back, it's sunny and warm here in Belgium, a condition which is not conducive to blogging (and also potentially disastrous for our farmers who have to cope with a severe drought threatening their crops).  

I have a whole pile of records awaiting to be ripped but the weather is too fine to stay inside.  Luckily, Ernst, of Inconstant Sol fame and a regular provider of material for this blog,  - recently sent me rips of two long-forgotten 45 rpm singles of Swedish singer Alice Babs.  They should be of interest to fans of European Jazz and Female vocalists.

Here they are:

ALICE BABS  "STUDIO JAZZ MIT ALICE BABS"

Alice Babs, vocals

Kurt Becker, vibes, flute

Willy Schweden, guitar

Paul Kuhn, piano

Johnny Fischer, bass

Stuff Combe, drums

1. I Could Write A Book  (Rodgers/Hart)  5:33

2. A Sailboat In The Moonlight  (Loeb)  5:39

Recorded in Cologne, Germany on May 15, 1959 (track 2).

Side A most likely second half of 1958 or first months of 1959.

B1 - Willy Schweden (g) most likely overdubbed on May 15, 1959 (Walter Bruyninckx) [info from discogs] 

ELECTROLA E 41206

ALICE BABS MED BENGT HALLBERG TRIO  "ST. LOUIS BLUES TWIST"

This one is in a more commercial vein. We're in 1963, in the middle of the Twist craze (at least in Europe) and"twist" records were selling like hot buns.
I assume Ms Babs (or her producer ...) wanted to give it a try hoping for a piece of the cake.

Alice Babs, vocalsBengt Hallberg, piano

Lars "Lasse" Pettersson, bass

Sture Kallin, drums

for "Jazz Fuga" add Bengt Hallberg Orchestra.

1. St. Louis Blues Twist (Handy)  3:13

2. Jazz Fuga (Kirk/Sjöblom)  2:44

Track 1 recorded in Stockholm, Sweden on January 21, 1963.

Track 2 recorded in Stockholm, Sweden on October 8, 1963.

BRUNSWICK 12 987 (german edition)

Discographical info from Discogs.

With thanks to Ernst.