With this 2013 recording, the much-loved pianist Stan Tracey celebrated his 70th year in the profession with a recording of brand new originals, supported by Mark Armstrong (trumpet/flugelhorn), Simon Allen (saxophones), Andrew Cleyndert (bass) and Clark Tracey (drums).
The inspiration for compositions on this studio recording came after a visit he made with his son Clark and grandson Ben to the WW1 battlefields of Loos in northern France, where his father was wounded and captured in 1915 aged 18.
Stan says in the liner notes: "When writing these pieces, while wanting to keep a WW1 theme and not wishing to be too sombre about it, I decided to consult a book I have called "Wipers Times", which contains a compilation of the magazines printed and distributed in the trenches, from which I gleaned the titles for five of these pieces. The pages are full of the British Tommy humour about such as the discomfort of the trenches, the bombardment of the German artillery, the British and German military equipment and much more. To find humour in the midst of a terrifying war speaks volumes about the spirit of the WW1 British Tommy."
Personnel: Stan Tracey (piano), Mark Armstrong (trumpet/flugelhorn), Simon Allen (saxophones), Andrew Cleyndert (bass), Clark Tracey (drums)
