WINGY MANONE AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1936-1937 | The Classics Chronological Series – 887 (1996) FLAC (tracks), lossless

The fifth in Classics' complete Wingy Manone series of CDs features the good-humored trumpeter/singer on 21 selections from a nine-month period. A fair amount of Wingy's sidemen are obscure, but they do sometimes include clarinetists Joe Marsala and Matty Matlock and trombonist George Brunies. Manone sings on all of the selections, and even if many of the songs are far from classics, the swinging solos and jubilance of these Dixieland-oriented performances make the music worth hearing. Highlights include "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" (which has Manone interacting with singer Sally Sharon), "In the Groove," "Let Me Call You Sweetheart," "Floatin' Down to Cotton Town" and "You Showed Me the Way." Scott Yanow
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WINGY MANONE AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1937-1938 | The Classics Chronological Series – 952 (1997) FLAC (tracks), lossless

Wingy Manone was a magnetic vocalist and trumpeter whose sense of humor and husky New Orleans drawl could make even the shallowest Tin Pan Alley confection sound attractively hip. "You're Precious to Me" is a strong example of this sort of magic in action. The other two songs recorded on the same day are loaded with funny business but Jack LeMaire's falsetto interjections sound like cheap imitation Step'n Fetchit. This degrading patter upstages Wingy and spoils the timing. Maybe they figured that out and canned the corn; from this point onward, Wingy has the floor and anyone who chimes in does it without sounding idiotic. Instrumentally, Wingy's bands were always strong and tight. Joe Marsala and Babe Russin were excellent reed players. Wingy was fortunate to have them on board for both of these 1937 sessions, and he knew it. "I Ain't Got Nobody" is almost as hot as Fats Waller's version, and Wingy's jump treatment of "Getting Some Fun Out of Life" compares interestingly with Billie Holiday's approach to the same tune. And leave it to Wingy to pull off the relatively superfluous lyrics to "Jazz Me Blues." The session of January 12, 1938 might be familiar to collectors as having been reissued on RCA Black and White as Chu Berry's Indispensable, a package that was conspicuously riddled with Wingy Manone sessions. Chu made a lot of good records with Wingy, and these are among the best of them. After two Scottish airs and a lazy lament, we're treated to one of the funniest and most finely crafted of all Manone creations: "Where's the Waiter," a topic most everyone can relate to. The session culminates with two oddball novelties having something or other to do with being Italian. Using an almost entirely different band, Wingy ground out a half-dozen further sides for Bluebird on May 23, 1938. Brad Gowans, best remembered as Eddie Condon's all-purpose valve trombonist, combines well with an able clarinet and alto saxophonist named Al Kavich. "Let's Break the Good News" is every bit as rowdy as a rendition recorded by Fats Waller around this same time. Wingy and Fats often seem to have been on the same page: In 1939 Fats would record a solo piano version of "Ah! So Pure," an aria from Martha, Friedrich Von Flotow's operatic hit of 1847. Wingy, of course, turns this melody into a foot-stomping singalong. The "Mannone Blues" is actually Bessie Smith's "Backwater Blues," if you crank it up to 78 miles per hour and let Wingy put a few of his own words on it. Slim Gaillard's "Flat Foot Floogie" works well, although this is clearly a case where Waller cut Wingy (and everyone else for the rest of time) with his 'Continental Rhythm' version of the "Floy Floy." Mary Lou Williams' "Little Joe From Chicago" sounds almost as though it was written for Wingy and his scruffy little pack. Here then is another great album of Wingy's unique brand of good-time jazz, with jokes and warts included. arwulf arwulf
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