FLETCHER HENDERSON AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1923 | The Classics Chronological Series – 697 (1993) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Coleman Hawkins once said that Fletcher Henderson's band came across better when heard live than replayed off of old records. Hawkins insisted that Henderson's recordings sounded "like cats and dogs fighting." But this was Hawkins in 1956, consistently in denial about his age and the primal nature of the early sides he'd helped to wax more than thirty years earlier. Safely removed from personal responsibility or temporal proximity to the artifacts in question, the rest of us might be able to enjoy these rickety old sides for what they are: evidence of experimentation in a new musical genre, utilizing what was at the time relatively new technology. There's no question about it: these guys probably sounded a lot looser and hotter in a nightclub than they ever could have while trapped together in the stuffy little rooms designated as recording studios. Here's where a passion for the medium itself comes in handy. Today we can get our kicks from listening to old records because the records themselves are old and we like them that way. We can also enjoy hearing what Coleman Hawkins did with tenor or even bass saxophone behind a raggedy-sounding spasm band working up no less than three versions of "Dicty Blues" with its patented "descending chimes" lick, so specific to the early 1920s. Fats Waller, in fact, used a similar device on his player piano roll, "Your Time Now," also issued in 1923. Today we can marvel at the names of those old time record labels: Ajax, Puritan, Paramount, Vocalion and Pathe Actuelle. Or those four Edison recordings from November 1923 and April 1924 (making the title of this CD a misnomer), each containing more than four minutes' worth of vintage music, offering a full extra minute of entertainment per side. Here, Henderson's group sounds less like a jazz band, closer to a society dance orchestra. It was a calculated attempt to appeal to wider (whiter?) audiences. Most jazz musicians throughout several generations have made similar moves in order to succeed. It's a fact of life, yet jazz critics have always bitched about "commercialism" while ignoring both economic necessity and artistic liberty. Regarding this particular bundle of early Fletcher Henderson performances: they all fit into a larger panorama made up of every jazz record ever made, pressed, purchased, played and heard since the very beginnings of the tradition. None of these Henderson sides are irrelevant. Don Redman is on all but two of them. Americans and people all over the world listened to them in 1923 and have been listening ever since. A French label called Classics thought enough of them to restore and reissue them on this remarkable chronological series. You should probably immerse yourself in this music. Don't be shy. It's just a parcel of dance tunes embellished with hot solos. arwulf arwulf
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FLETCHER HENDERSON AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1923-1924 | The Classics Chronological Series – 683 (1993) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

In 1923, 1924, and 1925, dance bands that wanted to attract attention and make enough money to survive often felt compelled to insert "Charleston" licks into their arrangements, even surrendering entire song titles to the popular trend. Fletcher Henderson's recording of "Charleston Crazy" is a perfect example of this tactic in action. Everything on this CD is charmingly dated in that way. This stuff should not be measured against all the good jazz that's been recorded since then. To pick away at these relics and complain about solos that aren't developed enough for our postmodern sensibilities is a ridiculous waste of time. Don't even bother. Much better to suspend all preconceptions of how music is supposed to sound. Either find a way to place these performances in historical context or simply forget about everything and enjoy the mysterious theater of records so old that most people don't even know they exist. Savor the thrill of being in a different reality, where the band is breathing the air of 1923 and Coleman Hawkins is just beginning to design his own role in developing the saxophone as a dignified vehicle for creative improvisation. Don Redman is also blowing reeds with this band, but hold on a minute. Exactly whose band are we talking about? During the year 1923, Fletcher Henderson didn't really have a regular working band. Holding down the piano chair in an orchestra led by Shrimp Jones, Henderson managed to make phonograph records with members of that organization, billing the studio ensemble as Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra or even Henderson's Sawin' Six, which was really an eight-piece band if you count Henderson himself. It wasn't until the beginning of 1924 that Henderson actually led his own orchestra in public performance. This means that the 1923 recordings are experimental in nature. One of the most interesting numbers is Henderson's arrangement of "Bull Blues," composed by the great cornetist and bandleader Thomas Morris. This piece begins with a pretty air that would surface years later as "What Am I Here For?" by Duke Ellington. Other noteworthy composers represented on this disc are Porter Grainger, Maceo Pinkard, and Shelton Brooks. This is delightful music, old-fashioned and slightly hackneyed, yet well on its way to eventual maturity as big-band jazz. arwulf arwulf
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FLETCHER HENDERSON AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1924 | The Classics Chronological Series – 673 (1992) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Originally appearing on the Pathe Actuelle, Brunswick, Ajax, Vocalion, Emerson, Columbia, and Banner phonograph labels, Fletcher Henderson's recordings from early 1924 make for peculiarly pleasant listening. It is possible to face up to these heavily arranged dance band records from the early '20s and actually enjoy the rickety arrangements. All you need to do is shed any preconceptions of what jazz is or ever was supposed to sound like. Anatol Schenker's liner notes point out that this music was intended to accompany theatrical performances. Even without that kind of historical perspective, this stuff sounds good with no context whatsoever, provided the listener surrenders to the weirdly wonderful world of thoroughly outmoded popular music. At the very least, these are funny old records. From the standpoint of early jazz, Coleman Hawkins and Don Redman are in here slogging away on their clarinets and saxophones, treading where few had ever set foot before them. Teddy Nixon periodically asserts himself with the slide trombone, and Kaiser Marshall proves to have been a spicy, resourceful percussionist. "Ghost of the Blues" appears to have been co-composed by Sidney Bechet, and sounds a lot like a product of that fine musician's mind. Redman's "Teapot Dome Blues" contains a rare example of Howard Scott soloing on the cornet. "Mobile Blues" allows room for a muffled solo by an unidentified kazoo player. Redman contributes a fine and sassy scat vocal on "My Papa Doesn't Two-Time No Time," which also exists elsewhere as a Rosa Henderson vocal backed only by Fletcher Henderson (no blood relation) at the piano. "Somebody Stole My Gal" bumps along marvelously and has a bass sax solo by Coleman Hawkins with Don Redman playing a weepy clarinet, even removing the mouthpiece from the instrument to achieve maximum cornball effects. "After the Storm" actually has segments of Rossini's William Tell Overture grafted into the chart, with someone blowing a siren whistle and Redman taking a solo on oboe. Nixon opens "Feeling the Way I Do" with growling trombone and Charlie Dixon demonstrates how a banjo could be used to propel nine other instruments by executing a series of well-timed blows across the strings. Together with piano and drums, the banjo was an agitator in these early ensembles. "Red Hot Mama" is an exciting illustration of how, during the first half of 1924, Henderson's band began to settle down and play something like real jazz. arwulf arwulf  
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FLETCHER HENDERSON AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1924, Vol. 2 | The Classics Chronological Series – 657 (1992) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

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FLETCHER HENDERSON AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1924, Vol. 3 | The Classics Chronological Series – 647 (1992) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

During the autumn of 1924, Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra continued to make hot little records for many different labels. The front line begins to look impressive, with trombonist Big Charlie Green sitting not far from Coleman Hawkins and Don Redman. "Forsaken Blues" has an ooh-wacka-ooh brass line and a big nasty bass sax solo by Hawkins after someone -- probably Redman -- makes a noise like an enraged ferret. On the catchy "Cold Mamas (Burn Me Up)," the bass sax is accompanied by a goofus, or melodica, played by the ever-resourceful Redman. Conventional jazz history states that the addition of Louis Armstrong to the Henderson orchestra in September of 1924 initiated a change in this organization's overall chemistry, which would soon become evident. This particular CD provides audible evidence. The diminutive trumpeter from New Orleans-cum-Chicago really did transform Henderson's band beginning with his participation in the session of October 7, 1924. First heard on "Manda," composed by Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake, Armstrong stands out as King Oliver's right-hand man. "Go 'Long, Mule" has a bizarre novelty solo by Redman using only the mouthpiece of his horn to generate a sort of Punch & Judy cartoon voice. Four tunes recorded for Pathe Actuelle on October 13, 1924, are notable for the insistent burping sound of Ralph Escudero's tuba. The exciting "Shanghai Shuffle" comes across in two distinctive interpretations, with an oboe solo by Redman on the first version. "Copenhagen" is real jazz with a hot solo from Armstrong, strong trombone breaks from Charlie Green, and a Redman arrangement to make it cook properly. The first of three versions of "Naughty Man" has a fine solo by Green, while on the second he seems to be getting his licks in quickly, and by version number three he muscles in for two solo breaks. But the real highlight here is definitely Armstrong. Everything he blows is remarkably fine, and it's easy to see why he quickly went from being an object of ridicule to the most imitated musician in all of jazz. The man had a lot of soul, and his solos -- along with Redman's arrangements -- quickly transformed Henderson's records from run-of-the-mill dance music into real jazz. The crowning glory on this CD is "Everybody Loves My Baby," both an instrumental take and Armstrong's very first recorded vocal, consisting of merrily shouted outbursts during the coda. Listening to all of these sides in sequence, it is obvious what a difference Louis Armstrong made in this band, and the chronology spells it out unmistakably. arwulf arwulf  
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FLETCHER HENDERSON AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1924-1925 | The Classics Chronological Series – 633 (1992) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This excellent European LP contains 14 performances (including three alternate takes) from Armstrong's period with Fletcher Henderson's orchestra. Most of these selections are fairly rare (such as "My Rose Marie," "Twelfth Street Blues" and "Me Neenyah") and only one performance is duplicated from the CD Fletcher Henderson (1924-1927). Almost all of these cuts have memorable Louis Armstrong solos that easily take honors and are state-of-the-art for 1925. Scott Yanow
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