The Diamonds were founded by pianist Cees Slinger. In order to avoid confusion with the singing Indian brothers The Blue Diamonds, the name was changed in 1958 to The Diamond Five. From its foundation until 1962, they played in the jazz club Sheherazade, which they also owned. There they played with American giants like Stan Getz, Quincy Jones, Phil Woods and Clark Terry when they happened to be in
… the Netherlands. This had everything to do with the unprecedented high level of the band. One reviewer even wrote: 'They are the only European formation which can perform hard-bop to an American standard'. Montmartre Blues contains eight pieces that were recorded between 1960 and 1963 and have never been released before, and two pieces that had previously appeared on flexidisc (a very cheap pressing of a 7 ”single) for advertising campaigns of velvet curtains and Puch mopeds respectively, and shows that The Diamond Five set the bar very high for their Dutch colleagues. (AD)more
