Born and raised in New Orleans, Louis Prima came up in his hometown gigging steadily in the clubs and doing his best to emulate Afro-American musicians. His number one role model was Louis Armstrong. After playing Cleveland with Red Nichols in 1932, Prima began recording in 1934 and thoroughly established himself on 52nd Street in New York City the following year. Prima was good looking and sang in a pleasantly hoarse voice. His humor was often heavy-handed, and his bands pushed hard to generate excitement among live audiences and the record-buying public. Prima's 1934 bands had strong players in George Brunies, Claude Thornhill, and Eddie Miller. "Jamaica Shout" is a rare example of instrumental Louis Prima: hot jazz with nobody yelling. "Breakin' the Ice" was the first in a series of Prima interpretations of songs made popular by Fats Waller. Bill "Bojangles" Robinson performed a lively version of "I'm Living in a Great Big Way" with Waller during the last reel of the 1935 RKO motion picture Hooray for Love. Waller never managed to make an actual phonograph recording of this song. Prima had fun with it and with every tune he grabbed onto, sometimes maybe too much fun. During "Let's Have a Jubilee," which was recorded twice during November of 1934, Prima spits out weird nicknames for each bandmember, including "Baboon Face" and "Liver Lips." This sort of talk was not uncommon among Afro-Americans, but it is particularly unsettling coming out of the (big) mouth of a (Southern) white musician. The real gold on this CD lies in the last six tracks, ground out by a band that had Pee Wee Russell as its artistic nucleus. Prima was the handsome leader, Prima sang and blew his trumpet, but Pee Wee was the light, the emulsion, and the pigment in this picture. "The Lady in Red" just might be the very best record that Louis Prima ever made, largely because of the magical presence of a gifted clarinetist with poetic sensibilities and a tone like nobody else. arwulf arwulf
Tracklist + Credits :
28.8.23
LOUIS PRIMA AND HIS NEW ORLEANS GANG – 1934-1935 | The Chronogical Classics – 1048 (1999) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless
22.8.23
NEW ORLEANS RHYTHM KINGS – 1922-1923 | The Chronogical Classics – 1129 (2000) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless
This is some of the best early jazz that you'll ever hear. The overall traditional jazz landscape would be incomplete without these hot little records. Descending upon the Gennett recording studios in August of 1922, the New Orleans Rhythm Kings called themselves the Friars Society Orchestra in honor of Mike Fritzel's Friar's Inn, a Chicago speakeasy that gave them lots of gig work. "Husk O'Hare" was designated as their director. It's worth noting that a gathering of hares is traditionally known as a "husk." If that's not the origin of his name, it is a staggering coincidence. A husk o' hares, get it? Anyway, these rusty old stomps and shimmies are a joy to behold. "Farewell Blues" is as good as it gets. This number and "Tin Roof Blues" really put the Rhythm Kings on the map. "Discontented Blues" turned out to be a nice vehicle for Jack Pettis, who generates one of the very first tenor sax solos to make it onto phonograph records. The saxophone really adds a whole dimension to this ensemble. "Panama" is pretty darned scratchy at the outset; they probably should have found a different copy of the original platter. Up until this track these old Gennett sides sounded pretty good. "Tiger Rag" and "Livery Stable Blues" are similarly disrupted by more surface noise than was heard on vinyl LP issues of this same material. (How puzzling!) With "Oriental," we return to decent remastering, which is not really so much to ask. Just when you think the trouble has passed, "That's A-Plenty" sounds a bit scrofulous. Fortunately, the sound quality improves after this, so the listener is no longer distracted by excessive scratchiness. "Shim-Me-Sha-Wabble" comes across beautifully, Mel Stitzel's piano quite audible through the horns. As any collector of old records can tell you, when there's a lot of surface noise, the piano is among the first instruments to get lost in the scuffle. Artie Matthews' "Weary Blues" rocks nicely, setting an example for later generations to emulate. "Da Da Strain" is a marvel of studied polyphony, a jacked-up conversation between staunch cornet, reefer-head clarinet, and dog trombone. Irresistible! Drop everything and dance around the room to this. Jelly Roll Morton wrote "Wolverine Blues" after spotting what he considered an unusual zoological word on a barbershop in the wilds of Michigan. The Rhythm Kings' version of this song is delightfully solid and relaxed, kicking lightly and wagging its tail. "Maple Leaf Rag" sends perky trills right on up through the scratchy record surface. Jelly Roll Morton actually sat in with this band on July 17 and 18, 1923, breaking the color bar and sounding marvelous behind the horns. "Mr. Jelly Lord" wins awards for "best slow drag," while "London Blues" and "Milenberg Joys" are fundamentally essential recordings that need to be studied carefully and lovingly, for this is one of the taproots of jazz, this bundle of old-fashioned/newfangled dance tunes on scratchy old records. Even if a few of the tracks could have been cleaned up more diligently, it's probably good to hear authentic 78-rpm surface noise so nobody forgets what it sounded like. arwulf arwulf
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NEW ORLEANS RHYTHM KINGS – 1925-1935 | The Chronogical Classics – 1150 (2000) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless
The 1922-1923 recordings of the New Orleans Rhythm Kings are essential listening for anyone trying to piece together the evolution of New Orleans/Chicago-style jazz (see Classics 1129). To be permitted chronological access to everything that subsequently appeared under the banner of the NORK is a ticket to Elysium for all lovers of classic jazz. The first six selections, recorded in New Orleans near the beginning of 1925, reveal a much different band than the ensembles of 1923. Obviously, Jelly Roll Morton isn't directly involved anymore, even if "Golden Leaf Blues" sounds a lot like "Milenberg Joys." Paul Mares and Leon Roppolo retain their position at the center of things, but trombonist George Brunies has been replaced by the dashing Santo Pecora. Each little three-minute performance is solid and warm. Now the action moves up to New York City. A small cluster of originally unissued test pressings from June of 1934 includes a vaudeville version of "Shine" by a quartet calling itself "the Four Bales of Cotton," with scatting, trumpeting, and friendly patter by Wingy Manone. Although "Shine," with its mildly Jim Crow lyrics, always does better as an instrumental, this theatrical singalong approach is somehow fascinating. The same session yielded two hot instrumentals by a reassembled Rhythm Kings with a front line of Manone, either Brunies or Pecora, clarinetist Sidney Arodin, and the tenor saxophone of Eddie Miller. Why these sides were rejected in 1934 is anybody's guess. By September of that year, Decca was taking them more seriously. Brunies and Manone led a six-piece mob through eight outstanding stomps. Arodin's marvelous "San Antonio Shout" is succeeded by one traditional jazz anthem after the next. Their handling of "Jazz Me Blues" is particularly tasty. The session of September 26 was shaped by a deliberate emphasis on material harking back to the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. Back in Chicago on January 26, 1935, Paul Mares led his own version of a reconstituted Rhythm Kings band, referencing the earliest NORK sessions by reviving the Friars Society Orchestra name. The appropriately titled "Reincarnation" is elegantly, majestically blue. "Land of Dreams," "Nagasaki," and "Maple Leaf" swing hard. Pecora is back, along with the mighty Omer Simeon and a tough alto sax player by the name of Boyce Brown. The last band to record under this name in the 1930s had a strong front line in Muggsy Spanier, George Brunies, and Eddie Miller. Two of the numbers are hot Fats Waller spinoffs, while "No Lovers Allowed" is OK and "Since We Fell Out of Love" has notably stupid lyrics, made insufferable by Red McKenzie, who insists on warbling away at each song without mercy. Either you love him or you want to cram a comb down his throat. Whenever the singer runs out of lyrics, Muggsy's cornet shines like the harvest moon. arwulf arwulf
Tracklist + Credits :
15.8.23
BIX BEIDERBECKE – 1924-1927 | The Chronogical Classics – 778 (1994) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless
Bix Beiderbecke's earliest recordings open this first volume of his complete works as presented by the Classics chronological reissue label. While some other compilations actually skip the marvelous Gennett recordings that 21-year-old Beiderbecke made with the Wolverine Orchestra between February 18 and October 7, 1924, this wonderful edition presents these precious artifacts as a prelude to his first recordings as a leader. The Wolverine Orchestra stood for primal Chicago-styled New Orleans polyphony. One may turn to these old records again and again for solace, comfort and inspiration. "Jazz Me Blues," lovingly described by historian Ralph Berton as "an X-rated title," is a fundamental cornerstone of traditional jazz. "Royal Garden Blues" is a miracle of collective cooperation, and "Lazy Daddy" is prized for trombonist George Brunies' throaty kazoo solo. Beiderbecke's last Gennett recordings were made in October 1924 with a band, billed as the Sioux City Six, that included trombonist Miff Mole and C Melody saxophonist Frankie Trumbauer; then in January 1925 as Beiderbecke led his own Rhythm Jugglers with slip-horn sheik Tommy Dorsey close by. Some folks would pinpoint this little group's rendering of Beiderbecke's "Davenport Blues" as a high point of his career and maybe even of 20th century human endeavor. On September 9, 1927 Bix Beiderbecke recorded for the Okeh label a Debussy-inspired set of harmonic variations for solo piano titled "In a Mist" (later issued as "Bixology"). During September and October 1927 Beiderbecke sat in with a band identified on the Harmony record label as the Broadway Bell-Hops, and assisted the Chicago Loopers in the creation of two sides issued by Pathe Actuelle. A collective personnel inventory for these two groups is exciting for those who know their early jazz history. Highlights include violinist Joe Venuti, tuba titan Joe Tarto, guitarist Carl Kress, pianists Arthur Schutt and Frank Signorelli, as well as creative percussionist Vic Berton. Some jazz purists might get rankled hearing vaudevillian vocals by Irving Kaufman or the loopy Deep River Quartet, but these historical performances are well worth experiencing, particularly the Quartet's charming rendition of Fats Waller's catchy "I'm More Than Satisfied." Beiderbecke's best collaborations with Frankie Trumbauer appear in the Classics Trumbauer chronology because they were originally issued under Trumbauer's name. Most of the rest of the Beiderbecke story is documented under his name on four Classics compilations, beginning with this excellent first installment. arwulf arwulf
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7.6.23
SIDNEY BECHET – 1945-1946 | The Classics Chronological Series – 954 (1997) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless
Many uptight critics and jazz historians who analyze Sidney Bechet's Blue Note recordings seem unable to avoid the annoying habit of informed nitpicking. The music deserves a more humble assessment, whereby the ego of the beholder withdraws, allowing breathing space for the true nature of jazz and collective creativity. The recordings made on January 29, 1945, for example, are exceptionally satisfying for anyone who is able to absorb the sound of informal New Orleans polyphony. Max Kaminsky, George Lugg, and Bechet form a strong front line, roundly supported by Art Hodes, Pops Foster, and Freddie Moore, who sings Papa Charlie Jackson's gruff opus "Salty Dog." Kaminsky growls into a mute during Mel Stitzel's definitive slow drag "Jackass Blues," and Artie Matthews' "Weary Blues" rolls at a brisk trot. "High Society" is a wonderful celebration for those who are able to relax and enjoy a good old-fashioned street parade. The next date, involving Bunk Johnson, has attracted quite a bit of contentious commentary. Yet Johnson of all people should not be evaluated using standards usually applied to musicians of other generations or social backgrounds. Here Bechet used only the clarinet, deferring to Johnson, who frankly disliked the soprano saxophone. Jelly Roll Morton's "Milenberg Joys" is a handsome opener, and "Days Beyond Recall" a thoughtful blues. Trombonist Sandy Williams occupies the spotlight during the other slow drag, "Up in Sidney's Flat." In keeping with the diversity of this variegated tradition, the band also delivered up an old-time spiritual and "Porto Rico," a rhumba/stomp that languished in obscurity for 40 years, probably because it didn't fit into someone's preconceived notion of what a traditional jazz band was supposed to sound like. Bechet's next pairing was with clarinet wizard Albert Nicholas. "Quincy Street Stomp" is a spirited strut, and "Old Stack O'Lee" a venerable blues fresh up from the marinade. "Bechet's Fantasy" is full of reflections exquisitely expressed, as if strolling through the Garden District naming each flower and shrub. "Weary Way Blues" was composed and recorded by Lovie Austin and Ida Cox in 1923. Bechet and Nicholas handle the relic gently, almost affectionately. This segment of the Sidney Bechet chronology closes with six sides recorded for the Disc label in May of 1946. Here Bechet is part of a six-piece band, accompanying vocalist Stella Brooks, who at her best sounded as good as Lee Wiley. "St. Louis Blues" is nice and tough, while the sexy "I'm a Little Piece of Leather" feels almost like a backroom burlesque. arwulf arwulf
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5.6.23
JOE MARSALA – 1936-1942 | The Classics Chronological Series – 763 (1994) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless
All 21 of clarinetist Joe Marsala's early recordings as a leader are on this enjoyable CD. An excellent swing clarinetist who was flexible enough to play hot on Dixieland records, Marsala's six sessions reflect his versatile musical tastes. Among his more celebrated sidemen on these formerly rare selections are trumpeters Marty Marsala (his brother), Pee Wee Erwin, Bill Coleman, and Max Kaminsky, trombonist George Brunies, altoist Pete Brown, violinist Ray Biondi, drummers Buddy Rich and Shelly Manne (both making their recording debuts), and several fine rhythm sections. Marsala's wife, Adele Girard, the first great jazz harpist, is notably added on 11 of the numbers. Her hot harp playing on "Bull's Eye" and "I Know That You Know" steals the show. Highly recommended. Scott Yanow
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24.5.23
MUGGSY SPANIER – 1939-1942 | The Classics Chronological Series – 709 (1993) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless
Well, let's put it this way. If you were to choose one Muggsy Spanier collection out of his portion of the Classics Chronological Series (or any edition on any other label for that matter), let it be Classics 709, which contains all of the essential material from every session he led between July 7, 1939 and June 1, 1942. This includes the master takes from Spanier's Bluebird "Ragtime Band" sessions of 1939, which are generally considered to have been the apex of his entire career. Participants in these joyous and staunchly traditional proceedings included singing trombonist George Brunies, master clarinetist Rod Cless, tenor saxophonists Ray McKinstry, Bernie Billings and Nick Caiazza, and pianists Joe Bushkin and George Zack. From the languid reflectivity of "Relaxin' at the Touro" to the punchy rowdiness of "I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate," this is the very best of the music Muggsy Spanier left to posterity, and it virtually defines the entire genre of Chicago-style New Orleans-inspired traditional jazz. What makes this collection even finer and more useful is the addition of eight lesser-known Decca recordings cut in January and June 1942, with Caiazza joined at times by clarinetist Irving Fazola and someone named Benny Goodman operating both the black stick and the alto sax. Vocals throughout this delightful collection are as follows: George Brunies sings "Big Butter and Egg Man," "Dinah," and "Sister Kate"; trombonist Ford Leary arm wrestles Vernon Dalhart, as it were, in "The Wreck of the Old 97," and Dottie Reid croons "More Than You Know." The most important ingredient, of course, is the wonderful cornet of Muggsy Spanier, who Lester Young gently christened "Muddy Spaniels." arwulf arwulf
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MUGGSY SPANIER – 1949-1954 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1405 (2005) FLAC (tracks), lossless
About two-and-a-half years transpired between Muggsy Spanier's September 1946 session for the Disc label (see Classics 967, Muggsy Spanier 1944-1946) and the Jazz Limited recording date of February 1949, which resulted in the two tracks that open this fourth volume in the Classics Muggsy Spanier chronology. Based in Chicago, the small-time Jazz Limited record label was an offshoot of Jazz Ltd., a Windy City Dixieland club at 11 East Grand Avenue run by cute little Ruth Reinhardt and her husband, Bill, who can be heard blowing his clarinet on these first two selections. Muggsy Spanier & the Dixieland Band recorded on four separate occasions for the Mercury label in Chicago between March 1950 and May 1952; the first of these groups (tracks three through six) had perhaps the most intriguing lineup in George Brunies, Darnell Howard, Floyd Bean, Truck Parham, and Big Sid Catlett, who was destined to die of a backstage heart attack almost exactly one year later. Aside from the session of August 29, 1951, during which an oddly tense Buddy Charles sings "Moonglow" and "Sunday" with a bit too much vibrato, these sorts of good-time old-fashioned blowing sessions were typical of Spanier's recorded output throughout the years. At the beginning of September 1954 Spanier, who had switched to the trumpet in 1950, was recording for Decca using the old cornet and billing his group as a "Jazz" rather than "Dixieland" band. These recordings, particularly the slower-paced numbers like Hoagy Carmichael's "Judy" and a ten-and-a-half-minute take of "Careless Love," are elegant and majestic in ways that bear comparison with Spanier's best recordings. arwulf arwulf
Tracklist + Credits :
15.5.23
BOBBY HACKETT AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1938-1940 | The Classics Chronological Series – 890 (1996) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless
14.5.23
WINGY MANONE AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1935-1936 | The Classics Chronological Series – 828 (1995) FLAC (tracks), lossless
1935 and '36 were red-hot years for Fats Waller, and many musicians deliberately chose to record songs which had quickly become closely associated with him. Wingy Manone was capable of covering such tunes without sounding like an imitator. Unlike Waller's slow, almost erotic version, Wingy's "Sweet and Slow" trots along as briskly as "Lulu's Back in Town." Other songs popularized by Waller and revisited here are "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter" and the cheerful "I've Got My Fingers Crossed." Wingy's bands during this time period featured reedmen Bud Freeman, Eddie Miller, Matty Matlock and Joe Marsala, and two of the sessions were bolstered by the presence of trombonists Jack Teagarden and George Brunies. Teagarden plays exceptionally fine trombone on the records made in October of 1935. His vocal contributions, however, consist only of spoken interjections. Johnny Mercer is heard making his own remarks during both takes of "I've Got a Note." Teagarden engages in a bit of conversation with Wingy on take one. Take two is markedly faster and hotter. Wingy was capable of singing and playing practically any song that came along. He performs "The Music Goes 'Round and Around" as if it had been written just for him, and takes on Louis Armstrong's "Old Man Mose" without flinching. "The Broken Record" comes as a pleasant surprise, giving the singer and band a chance to imitate a skipping record as the phrases "you're gorgeous," "I kiss you" and "I love you" each get stuck and are repeated six times apiece. (Note that this immortalizes the hasty rate at which 78 rpm records skip. It's much different from a 33-and-1/3 rpm skip.) Finally, as the trombone gets stuck in the same repetitious manner, Wingy says "Man, take that broken record offa there, and throw it out the window!" arwulf arwulf
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13.5.23
WINGY MANONE – 1940-1944 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1091 (1999) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless
The seventh in Classics' Wingy Manone series (reissuing all of the trumpeter-vocalist's recordings as a leader into the mid-'40s) has 21 numbers from his lesser-known 1940-1944 period. The good-humored Manone is heard leading Dixielandish groups that include at various times clarinetists Joe Marsala and Matty Matlock, trombonists George Brunies and Abe Lincoln, pianists Mel Powell and Joe Sullivan, and drummer Zutty Singleton plus many lesser-known names. The best cuts are "Ain't It a Shame About Mame," "Ochi Chornya," "Mama's Gone Good-Bye," a remake of "Isle of Capri," "The Tailgate Ramble" (which has Manone sharing the vocals with its lyricist Johnny Mercer), "Sister Kate," and the only instrumental, "Memphis Blues." The six-part 16-minute "Jam and Jive" (which is rarely reissued) is a disappointment, mostly featuring Manone jiving in unimaginative fashion with the vaudevillian Eddie Marr. But, otherwise, the music is reasonably enjoyable if not essential. Scott Yanow
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ESBJÖRN SVENSSON TRIO — Winter In Venice (1997) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless
Esbjörn Svensson has stood not only once on stage in Montreux. He was already a guest in the summer of 1998 at the jazz festival on Lake Gen...