Stan Tracey at the BBC 1978 - 1982

To follow up our previous posting below, here is some truly vintage jazz to commemorate the passing away of Stan Tracey on 6 December at the age of 86. We have selected to hone in on recordings done for BBC radio in the late 70s and the early 80s. At this point he kept a regular quartet which sometimes was contracted into a trio and other times expanded into a sextet, octet and even a full orchestra. For this post, we have two quartets and a trio with a slight variation in line--up as his son Clark Tracey came to replace Bryan Spring on drums. And for a contrast, I've thrown in a batch of the full Orchestra doing a superb set of Ellington covers.

Stan Tracey Quartet
Jazz In Britain, BBc radio 3, 31st August 1978
Art Themen (ts,ss), Stan Tracey (p), Roy Babbington (b), Bryan Spring (d)

1. Waltzy Waltzy
2. Amoroso Only More So
3. Lovers Freeway

Stan Tracey Orchestra

BBC jazz Club, 27th January 1980

Tony Coe (ts, cnt), Bobby Wellins (ts), Don Weller (ts), Art Themen (ts, ss), Jeff Daly (as), Malcolm Griffits (tmb), Jeff Perkins (tmb), Colin Sheen (tmb), Chris Pyne (tmb), Dave Hawler(tmb), Mike Davis (tmp), Henry Lowther (tpt), George Chisholm (tpt), Alan Downy (tpt), Harry Beckett (tpt), Stan Tracey (p), Roy Babbington (b), Clark Tracey (d)

1. I'm Beginning To See The Light

2. radio announcer - Peter Clayton

3. Mood Indigo

4. radio announcer

5. prelude To A Kiss (piano solo)

6. radio announcer

7. Lay-by

8. radio outro

Stan Tracey Trio

Jazz In Britain, BBC Radio

Stan Tracey (p), Roy Babbington (b, b-gtr), Clark Tracey (d, perc, tablas)

1. Radio intro - Charles Fox

2. Ripped Off In Bogota

3. Doin' It For Art

4. OK J.K.

5. Radio outro

Stan Tracey Quartet

Sounds Of Jazz, BBC radio, 26th September 1982

Art Themen (ts, ss), Stan Tracey (p), Roy Babbington (b), Clark Tracey (d)

1. Undercover Lover

2. radio announcer - Peter Clayton

3. Amoroso Only More So

4. radio announcer

5. Fatima Di Milo

6. radio announcer

7. Everywhere Derriere

These were recorded off FM onto cassette, digitised and uploaded to the dime torrent site by aw4, if I remember correctly. Mucho credits for invaluable preservation services!