SARA MARTIN — In Chronological Order Volume 1 (1922-1923) DOCD-5395 (1995) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Sara Martin was active during the 1920s as both blues vocalist and talent scout. She made a considerable number of records for the Okeh label, sang backup for Afro-Mexican-American gospel pianist Arizona Dranes with Richard M. Jones, and personally brought about the first recording session to feature the vaudeville team of Butterbeans & Susie. Sara Martin's "complete" recorded works were reissued by Document during the '90s, in four volumes under her name and on various compilations with other artists. Volume one covers her recording activity from October 17, 1922 through June 27, 1923; everything heard on this collection was recorded in New York City. She is backed by pianist Clarence Williams (tracks 1-4, 12-24), with whom she sings a duet (track 14); with Williams and his wife Eva Taylor, with whom she sings duets (tracks 15, 20, and 21); with cornetist and aspiring bandleader Thomas Morris (who provides support for Martin and Taylor on the tracks just mentioned); with composer and publisher W.C. Handy and his orchestra (tracks 9-11), and with songwriter Shelton Brooks, remembered today as the man who penned "Some of These Days," "Walkin' the Dog," "At the Darktown Strutters' Ball," and "I Wonder Where My Easy Rider's Gone." Brooks, who also recorded with Ethel Waters, plays piano on tracks 5-8 and uses his voice during the "Original Blues" and "I Got What It Takes to Bring You Back." This all adds up to a fascinating core sample of early African-American urban blues with overtones of jazz. Missing, however, are two sides that Martin cut with her Brown-Skin Syncopators in November 1922; the group included pianist and future bandleader Claude Hopkins and two men with ties to young Duke Ellington: trumpeter Arthur Whetsol and banjoist Elmer Snowden. An even more conspicuous gap is represented by the absence of four songs with backing by young pianist Thomas "Fats" Waller recorded in December 1922. Her collaborations with Waller, which are among the earliest known recordings by either artist, have been reissued under his name, most notably perhaps on JSP's Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 1. Why they weren't included here is a real puzzler. arwulf arwulf
Tracklist :
1.    Sara Martin–    Sugar Blues    2:59
2.    Sara Martin–    Achin' Hearted Blues    3:15
3.    Sara Martin–    Keeps On A-Rainin' (Papa, He Can't Make No Time)    2:54
4.    Sara Martin–    Joe Turner Blues    2:53
5.    Sara Martin–    Michigan Water Blues    3:07
6.    Sara Martin–    If Your Man Is Like My Man (I Sympathize With You)    2:42
7.    Sara Martin - Shelton Brooks–    I Got What It Takes To Bring You Back 3:10
Piano, Speech – Shelton Brooks
Vocals – Sara Martin
8.    Sara Martin - Shelton Brooks–    Original Blues 3:14
Piano, Speech – Shelton Brooks
Vocals – Sara Martin
9.    Sara Martin–    Come Home Papa Blues 2:50
Alto Saxophone – Unknown Artist
Banjo – Unknown Artist
Cornet [Poss.] – Tick Gray
Drums – Unknown Artist
Orchestra – W. C. Handy's Orchestra
Piano – Charlie Hillman
Tenor Saxophone – Unknown Artist
Trombone – Sylvester Bevard
Vocals – Sara Martin
10.    Sara Martin–    It Takes A Long Time To Get 'em But You Can Lose 'em Overnight 2:27 
Alto Saxophone – Unknown Artist
Banjo – Unknown Artist
Cornet [Poss.] – Tick Gray*
Drums – Unknown Artist
Orchestra – W. C. Handy's Orchestra
Piano – Charlie Hillman
Tenor Saxophone – Unknown Artist
Trombone – Sylvester Bevard
Vocals – Sara Martin
11.    Sara Martin–    Laughin' Cryin' Blues 2:54
Alto Saxophone – Unknown Artist
Banjo – Unknown Artist
Cornet [Poss.] – Tick Gray
Drums – Unknown Artist
Orchestra – W. C. Handy's Orchestra
Piano – Charlie Hillman
Tenor Saxophone – Unknown Artist
Trombone – Sylvester Bevard
Vocals – Sara Martin
12.    Sara Martin–    Cruel Backbitin' Blues    3:23
13.    Sara Martin–    Leave My Sweet Daddy Alone    2:51
14.    Sara Martin - Clarence Williams–    Monkey Man Blues 3:24
Piano [Prob.] – Clarence Johnson 
Vocals – Clarence Williams, Sara Martin
15.    Sara Martin - Eva Taylor–    Yodeling Blues    3:00
16.    Sara Martin–    Where Can That Somebody Be    3:07
17.    Sara Martin–    Just Thinkin' Blues    2:57
18.    Sara Martin–    If You Don't Like It, Leave    2:59
19.    Sara Martin–    Nobody In Town Can Bake A Sweet Jelly Roll Like Mine    3:03
20.    Sara Martin - Eva Taylor–    That Free And Easy Papa O'Mine    2:54
21.    Sara Martin - Eva Taylor–    Hesitation Blues    3:19
22.    Sara Martin–    Tired O'Waitin' Blues    3:08
23.    Sara Martin–    You Just Can't Have No One Man By Yourself    2:46
24.    Sara Martin–    Goin' Down To The Levee    2:51 

ETHEL WATERS – 1925-1926 | The Classics Chronological Series – 672 (1992) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This CD in the Classics Ethel Waters series contains plenty of gems, including "You Can't Do What My Last Man Did," the original version of "Dinah," "Shake That Thing," "I've Found a New Baby" (which has some memorable cornet playing from Joe Smith), "Sugar," and "Heebie Jeebies." On "Maybe Not at All," Waters does eerie imitations of both Bessie Smith and Clara Smith. She had few competitors as a jazz singer during this era, and the mostly intimate recordings (12 of the 23 tracks find her backed by just a pianist) feature Waters at her best. Scott Yanow

Tracklist:
1     Loud Speakin' Papa (You'd Better Speak Easy to Me)    3:01    
Channing Pollack
2     You Can't Do What My Last Man Did    3:03   
J.C. Johnson / J.C. Jones / Ali Moore
3     Pickininny Blues    3:00    
4     Sweet Man    2:48    
Maceo Pinkard / Roy Turk
5     Dinah    3:12    
Harry Akst / Sam M. Lewis / Joe Young
6     No Man's Mamma    3:05    
Channing Pollack
7     Tell 'Em About Me (When You Reach Tennessee)    3:00    
Sidney Easton / Ethel Waters
8     Maybe Not at All    3:08    
Sidney Easton / Ethel Waters
9     Shake That Thing    3:13    
Papa Charlie Jackson
10     I've Found a New Baby    2:56    
Jack Palmer / Spencer Williams
11     Make Me a Pallet on the Floor    2:50    
Shelton Brooks / Traditional
12     Bring Your Greenbacks    2:47    
Shelton Brooks
13     After All These Years    3:02    
Shelton Brooks
14     Throw Dirt in Your Face    2:48    
Shelton Brooks
15     I'm Saving It All for You    2:46    
Clarence Williams
16     Refrigeratin' Papa (Mama's Gonna Warm You Up)    3:16    
17     If You Can't Hold the Man You Love (Don't Cry When He's Gone)    2:45    
Sammy Fain / Irving Kahal
18     Satisfyin' Papa        2:52    
Nathaniel Reed / Ethel Waters
19     Sugar    3:06    
Edna Alexander / Sidney Mitchell / Maceo Pinkard
20     I Wonder What's Become of Joe?    2:43   
Maceo Pinkard / Roy Turk
21     You'll Want Me Back    3:04    
Nathaniel Reed / Ethel Waters
22     Heebie Jeebies  2:46    
Boyd Atkins / Ralph "Shrimp" Jones
23     Ev'rybody Mess Aroun'    2:44
Credits :    
Lester Armstead - Piano
Jesse Baltimore - Drums
Bill Benford - Bowed Bass
Shelton Brooks, Sammy Fain - Accompaniment, Composer, Piano
Coleman Hawkins - Sax (Baritone)
Horace Holmes, Harry Tate - Cornet
Alex Jackson - Sax (Baritone)
Maceo Jefferson - Banjo
Ralph "Shrimp" Jones - Composer, Director, Violin
Joe King - Clarinet, Sax (Alto), Sax (Soprano), Sax (Tenor), Trombone
Joe "Fox" Smith - Contralto (Vocal)
Ethel Waters - Vocals
Pearl Wright, Fletcher Henderson, Louis Hooper, Maceo Pinkard, Nathaniel Reed - Accompaniment, Piano