LONDON IS THE PLACE FOR ME 8: LORD KITCHENER IN ENGLAND 1948-62 by VARIOUS ARTISTS

In this volume devoted to his post-war London recordings, Kitch plays his many roles with signature aplomb and poised subtlety.

First there is the hooligan chantwell, up for anything in the hurly-burly of carnival proper; and then the casual reporter, firing off postcards to Trinidad about taxis, flashy booze, fast women and football in Manchester, with homesickness and grievance nestled just behind the optimism, pride and tentative senses of belonging.
There is the bearer of news from home, in detailed accounts of murders, tales of stupid local coppers, and reminiscences about food and particular mango trees; the political thinker, considering racism and Africa; and the diarist, with his vivid tales of infidelity, and disclosure of the break-up of his marriage, and his desire to get away.

One foot in the UK, the other in Trinidad; but the man himself somewhere in-between. Kitch In The Jungle, nobody around. A ‘diasporic explorer’; a key twentieth-century witness, alongside such hallowed figures as Samuel Selvon and Edward Kamau Braithwaite.

Though in frustration Kitch would sometimes take over double-bass duties himself, the musicianship of Rupert Nurse, Fitzroy Coleman and co is top-notch. The original glorious sound is down to Denys Preston, recording for Melodisc, often at Abbey Road Studios (where we transferred and restored the 78s compiled here).

Presented in a lovely gatefold sleeve, with a full-size booklet containing superb, specially-commissioned sleevenotes by Kitch biographer Anthony Joseph, and fabulous, previously-unseen photographs.

Tracklist:
01. Carnival Road March
02. No More Taxi
03. Mango Tree
04. Food From The West Indies
05. Alphonso In Town
06. Come Back In The Morning
07. Too Late Kitch
08. Drink-A-Rum
09. Constable Joe
10. Pirates Of Paria
11. Carnival In Town
12. Is Trouble
13. If You Brown
14. Life Begins At Forty
15. Manchester Football Double
16. The Denis Compton Calypso
17. Mistress Jacob
18. London Is The Place For Me
19. Tie Tongue Mopsie
20. Dora (Meet Me At The Pawnshop)
21. If You’re Not White You’re Black
22. Africa My Home
23. Nora
24. Kitch In The Jungle