HERMAN CHITTISON – 1945-1950 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1334 (2003) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Herman Chittison was a flashy pianist who developed his presentational abilities while entertaining patrons in nightclubs throughout Europe and North Africa. It is not surprising, then, that he worked up a repertoire of European classical melodies made over into lively, intricately woven jazz. On six rare sides originally issued on the Mary Howard Recordings record label, Chittison summons the shades of Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Paderewski, and Grieg. Everett Barksdale complements the piano most gracefully with his guitar, and Bill Pemberton proves to be an accomplished modern bassist. Chittison sounded a bit like Art Tatum. His fluid runs were deliberate and exacting enough to have fit well into the commercially oriented world of broadcasting. This pianist was in fact included in the cast of the weekly serial Crime Photographer on CBS, an arrangement that would lead to several recording sessions with Columbia records. Eight solos waxed on May 8, 1950 are attractive exercises in melody, sunny and sweet, drawing upon the muses of Harold Arlen, George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers and Eubie Blake. The trio sessions from August of the same year are a bit more complicated, as the musicians expend a lot of energy on surface tension and mood manipulation. "The Continental" gets jacked up to an almost manic extent. "Ain't Misbehavin'" is solid enough, but most of these later trio recordings are inflated with a busy air of conspicuous intricacy. arwulf arwulf  
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