SDL Music Album of The Month: Perfect Strangers - George Chisholm Quintet

This month, in light of the fact that the Point Chevalier RSA has been sold and that it has been the home of the Auckland Jazz and Blues Club for more than a decade, we have decided to celebrate one of the great jazz albums in the SDL Music back catalogue, The George Chisholm Quintet’s Perfect Strangers. Winner of the Jazz Album category at the 1994 NZ Music Awards. 

George Chisholm – maestro of the Trumpet and Flugelhorn (and Piano) was originally from England where he had a distinguished and diverse musical career, including work with the finest musicians and bands in the world; big bands lead by Maynard Ferguson, Thad Jones, Louis Bellson, Mike Gibbs, John Dankworth, as well as the BBC Radio Big Band and the BBC Scottish Radio Orchestra.  

I also recall George telling me his favorite gig was with was Bert Kaempfert, the German band leader and music producer. George emigrated to NZ in 1983, not long after Bert’s untimely death.  

Jazz was George’s passion outside of the English orchestral session music scene and his jazz credentials are no less impressive, having worked with such names as Oscar Peterson, Nancy Wilson, Frank Sinatra, Eberhard Weber, Lee Konitz, Alan Broadbent, Zoot Sims … the list goes on…  

We released Perfect Strangers in 1994, on our Scoop de Loop label and it rightly won the jazz award that year.  It is a collection of original pieces, written by George who was by this time a regular at the London Bar and around the rest of the lively Auckland jazz scene.