Aside from a handful of early pioneers such as Harry A. Yerkes, Charles Hamilton Green, and Jimmy Bertrand, Red Norvo was the first person to regularly play jazz on the xylophone. He also led the way in presenting that kind of music on vibraphone and marimba. This first volume of his complete recordings in chronological order documents Norvo's outstanding experiments in chamber jazz and small group swing during the years 1933-1935. Also covered in detail is the next phase of Norvo's career, as he led a big band either graced with or encumbered by jazz/pop vocalists. The first two sessions, recorded for the Brunswick label during the spring and autumn of 1933, resulted in four pieces unlike anything else being presented to the public at that time. "Knockin' On Wood" and "Hole in the Wall" are zippy features for xylophone with support from clarinetist Jimmy Dorsey and a sympathetic trio of pianist Fulton McGrath, guitar virtuoso Dick McDonough, and bassist Artie Bernstein. "Dance of the Octopus" and Bix Beiderbecke's "In a Mist" are rendered by a quartet that positively glows with the fascinating combination of Norvo's sublime marimba and Benny Goodman's colorful bass clarinet. The Swing Septet sessions of 1934 are remarkable for the combined presence of four men remembered today for having helped to shape the course of musical history by leading their own swing bands during the 1930s and '40s: Teddy Wilson, Artie Shaw, Charlie Barnet, and Red Norvo. The lineup on the following session -- apparently Norvo's only date as a leader during the year 1935 -- is every bit as formidable, as Bunny Berigan and Chu Berry appear alongside Wilson, Bernstein, George Van Eps, and Gene Krupa. These first 12 tracks are worth the price of admission. A 13th selection, "Gramercy Square," is an instrumental sweet serenade with richly rumbling reeds behind the xylophone. Its original flip side, "Decca Stomp," is a smooth but caffeinated foxtrot, correctly appraised in the liner notes as a premonition of what John Kirby's Sextet would be playing by the end of the decade. But something has surely changed -- these sessions from January of 1936 were a turning point as Norvo now began leading a semi-sweet jazz orchestra gilded at first with weirdly chosen vocalists. The trio heard singing "Polly Wolly Doodle" also tried to handle "The Wedding of Jack and Jill" but this is terminally cute stuff, strangely disconcerting after all of the honest jazz heard earlier in the chronology. Things get even more bizarre with Mae Questal -- the original voice of Popeye's Olive Oyl -- squealing and giggling as she sings "The Music Goes 'Round and Around" in her overgrown little girl's voice. This Betty Boop routine actually works better than her attempt at presenting "The Broken Record," a clever song re-creating the exact pace of a skipping 78-rpm platter. While Wingy Manone's rendition of this song is charming [see Classics 828], Questal's alarming hiccup effect is distracting at best. Finally, six melodies recorded in February 1936 and subsequently issued on the Champion label are deadened by trumpeter Stew Pletcher's attempts at romantic vocalizing. If only he'd kept his horn glued to his lips, these would have been pleasant instrumentals, but there's nothing that can be done about it now. arwulf arwulf
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