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Saskia Laroo Meets Teddy Edwards
Sunset Eyes 2000

Album NL 1999 on Laroo Records label
Jazz and Blues (Bop, Contemporary Jazz, Bossa Nova, Cool Jazz, Hard-Bop, Latin Jazz, Modal, Swing)

All songs produced by Saskia Laroo and Teddy Edwards / Recorded at Private Island Trax, 6671 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, California 90028, USA; Engineered by Mike McDonald / Edited and Mixed by Saskia Laroo and Rob Gaasterland at Studio de Boot, floating somewhere in Amsterdam, Netherlands. / Additional creative input by Hans “Big Boy” Dulfer, Netherlands / Mastered by Peter van ‘t Riet at Sound Factory, Soest, Netherlands / Liner notes by Helen Borgers / Art direction and design by Michael Kneebone at Toolbox, Amsterdam, Netherlands / Photography by Annette Roco; Photography of Ernie Andrews by Joe La Russo / Distributed by Bertus, Capelle aan den Yssel, Netherlands; Distributed by City Hall Records, San Rafael, USA 1998 Laroo Records; Laroo Music; Laroo Productions www.laroorecords.com ; info@laroorecords.com Tel: +31 20 6834838 ; Fax: +31 20 6127688 ; Tel mob: +31 6 55713113 Wilhelminastraat 210 Hs, 1054 WV Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Europe. Liner notes Jazz politics is an odd business. American jazz fans (and some critics) are often territorical, claiming This is East Coast or This is West Coast Jazz. Also they tend to take New Yorkers more seriously than players from Los Angeles. This is, of course, absurd. (And I don ‘t say that just because I live in LA!) Equally absurd is the idea that because jazz was born in the U.S., only Americans can be proficient. Afro-Cuban and South American players are includedd among the proficients; however, although there have been a few European players who have reached star level in jazz (from Stephane Grappelli to Michel Petrucciani), I think a European jazz player has got to work twice as hard to be generally accepted and appreciated both in the U.S. and in Europe! Ironically enough, the general American public is not that interested in jazz at all and the European public is more interested in American players than European musicians. There are more female jazz players – non-piano-playing, non-singing-females – than in days of yore, but only a handful achieve any fame. Even among payers women have a tough time being accepted. How frustrating it must be to play jazz! So many categories, so many prejudices. Imagine what it would be like to be a female European jazz trumpet player! But when I asked Saskia Laroo whether it had been difficult for her as a female trumpet player she seemed surprised. Playing the trumpet is what she has wanted to do most of her life and what she wants, she makes happen. Not only that, she is popular among her own people, playing regular gigs and major festivals. Besides that, she has broken an unwritten-but-generally-acknowledged rule that serious jazz musiciansd don ‘t lead pop music bands. Saskia is quite comfortable and equally popular in the Netherlands playing commercial music and straight-ahead jazz. And she does the latter with as much skills as any of her American counterparts. Teddy Edwards met her at a festival several years ago and was im,pressed enough to want to do a project with her. This has finally come to pass with this recording. And Saskia has already begun her American conquest with performing on both coasts. Some notes about the music People who claim that be-bop began in New York are perhaps unaware that at the same time that Charlie Parker was breaking new ground in the east, Teddy Edwards was breaking that same ground in the west. He was one of the giants of Central Avenue in Los Angeles and is now one of our living treasures. A great tenor soloist, a veteran of the classic Gerald Wilson Orchestra (which also included fellow tenor man Harold Land, trumpeter Carmel Jones, guitarist Joe Pass, pianist Jack Wilson, among others), and a bandleader in his own right (both of small groups and his large brass/string ensemble), Teddy is also an accomplished composer and lyricist. Vocalists Barbara Morrison, Ernestine Anderson, Ernie Andrews and others have recorded his songs. Indeed, Louis Jordan had a hit with Teddy ‘s song Santa Claus, Santa Claus. His tune, Sunset Eyes, has been recorded by Teddy many times with different instrumentation, but it has also been recorded by other artists. Ernie Andrews recorded the first vocal of it years ago on his own disc, using someone else ‘s lyrics. The vocal version on this disc is the first time Teddy ‘s lyrics have been used. Nothing But the Truth, Blue Sombrero, Don ‘t Touch Me and Wheeling and Dealin are all Teddy originals too. Helen Borgers / Musical Director America ‘s Jazz Station, KLON-FM 88.1

Musicians

	Saskia Laroo tr, *1959 NL trumpet, album by
	Teddy Edwards ts, 1924-2003 US lyrics by, music by, tenor saxophone, album by
	Wendell Williams voc, acoustic bass
	Gerryck King dr, drums
	Ernie Andrews voc, *1927 US featuring, vocals
	Irving Berlin voc, 1888-1989 US lyrics by, music by
	Marty Symes , 1904-1953 US lyrics by
	Paul Francis Webster , 1907-1984 US lyrics by
	Art Hillery p, org, 1925-2011 US piano

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