TOMMY DORSEY AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1935-1936 | The Classics Chronological Series – 854 (1995) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This second volume in the Tommy Dorsey chronology contains nine performances by Tommy Dorsey & His Clambake Seven, an ensemble that feels at times like the antidote to the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. The Clambake Seven, you see, was more of a real jazz ensemble, while the big band often served mainly as a jazz-inflected vehicle for backing up pop vocalists. Edythe Wright was generally more energetic, substantial, and interesting than Dorsey's drawling drones Jack Leonard and Buddy Gately, both standard-issue crooners with about as much personal warmth as catsup and gelatin. Edythe Wright could spice up most any pop tune, and interjected lots of clever remarks in the manner of Fats Waller, Cab Calloway, or Louis Armstrong. Sounding at times merely like a white girl trying to be hip, she nevertheless interacted quite well with the soloists and helped to loosen up a potentially uptight atmosphere even when engaging in formulaic behavior such as carefully exclaiming "my, my!" at the end of a song. She was at her best during "The Music Goes 'Round and Around," which offers a rare opportunity to hear the rather squeaky speaking voice of Sterling Bose, a magnificent trumpeter who appeared steadily with Dorsey's large and small groups until he was more or less replaced by Max Kaminsky in March of 1936, which is when Dave Tough came aboard. Tommy Dorsey was adept at taking other peoples' musical ideas and turning them into lucrative hits. Case in point: "The Music Goes 'Round and Around" was composed by Mike Riley and Eddie Farley, who recorded it with their own orchestra only six weeks prior to the version heard here. Tommy Dorsey made the real money off of this cute little novelty tune. arwulf arwulf      Tracklist + Credits :

GENE KRUPA AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1942-1945 | The Chronogical Classics – 1096 (1999) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The 11th CD in Classics' Gene Krupa series has the final recordings of his 1942 big band, all eight recordings by his short-lived "Band That Swings With Strings" and the debut of the Gene Krupa Trio. The last numbers by the 1942 band include four Anita O'Day vocals (highlighted by "Massachusetts" and "Murder, He Says"), trumpeter Roy Eldridge's vocal on "Knock Me a Kiss," and the instrumental "That Drummer's Band." A special bonus on this CD are two trio cuts from 1944 with clarinetist Buddy DeFranco and pianist Dodo Marmarosa that were originally issued as V-Discs. The string orchestra was a frivolity, and its best recording actually did not include the strings -- the pioneering bop vocal "What's This" featuring Dave Lambert and Buddy Stewart. The CD concludes with three selections ("Dark Eyes," "Body and Soul," and "Stompin' at the Savoy") by the Krupa trio with tenor-saxophonist Charlie Ventura. Highly recommended. Scott Yanow  
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ROY ELDRIDGE – 1935-1940 | The Classics Chronological Series – 725 (1993) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Although the recordings made by the Delta Four on December 20, 1935, were not issued under the leadership of Roy Eldridge, they form the perfect beginning for a chronological survey of Eldridge's adventures as a major influential artist in the evolution of jazz trumpet between Louis Armstrong in the 1920s and Dizzy Gillespie in the 1940s. The Delta Four were one fine little swing machine. Their "Farewell Blues" has a solid bounce and Eldridge seems to sail over the heads of the rhythm players during "Swingin' at the Famous Door." In 1936 Eldridge's orchestra was equipped with Chu Berry, Buster Bailey, John Kirby, and Sid Catlett. A pity listeners only get to hear one example of this band's handiwork, as Decca rejected its recording of "Christopher Columbus" and apparently asked for nothing more out of this powerful ensemble. In January of 1937 Eldridge managed to make a handful of records for Vocalion. His brother Joe Eldridge wrote arrangements and played alto next to Scoops Carry in the reed department. With Dave Young blowing tenor and Truck Parham in the rhythm section alongside Zutty Singleton, this was one hell of a band. Eldridge cut a lot of versions of "After You've Gone" over the years. The one heard here, with a vocal by Gladys Palmer, predates the famous funny false-start versions of the '40s. Regarding the singers heard on this CD, they're OK but Eldridge is the best. His delightful rendition of "You're a Lucky Guy" feels like a sweet premonition of Billie Holiday's version, which was recorded a couple of months later for Vocalion. The Eldridge Orchestra as heard on the 1939 Varsity recordings featured reedmen Franz Jackson and Prince Robinson, with pianists Kenny Kersey and Clyde Hart. Bassist Ted Sturgis was highlighted during a hot stomp for big band entitled "Pluckin' the Bass." Milt Hinton had ground out his own version of this tune -- composed by the Eldridge brothers -- with Cab Calloway's Orchestra several months prior to the recording heard here. Eldridge's band also blew off some steam working up the old traditional numbers "High Society" and "Muskrat Ramble." This chronological grab bag finishes up with four handsome if conventional big-band recordings from February 1940 by Freddie Rich & His Orchestra. The vocal tracks are not especially substantial. What distinguished this band was the collective presence of Roy Eldridge, Benny Carter, Babe Russin, Clyde Hart, and Hayes Alvis. Only the instrumentals -- "Till We Meet Again" and "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" -- really carry any weight. arwulf arwulf
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REX STEWART – 1934-1946 | The Classics Chronological Series – 931 (1997) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

On January 9, 1935, Rex Stewart made his first records with Duke Ellington. Clearly, Duke was already a very strong presence in the young cornetist's musical life. "Stingaree," recorded on December 12, 1934, by Rex Stewart & His Orchestra, sounds more than a bit like "Stompy Jones," recorded by Duke Ellington & His Orchestra on January 9, 1934. "Baby, Ain't You Satisfied" was the flip side of "Stingaree," issued on a 78-rpm Vocalion record bearing the serial number 2800. This is the kind of information that the Classics Chronological reissue series provides in its discographies, by the way. You can savor the gradual evolution of an artist's career while poring over recording data and neat little lists of personnel. One name that stands out from the "Stingaree" session is reedman Rudy Powell, who was distinguishing himself in the company of Fats Waller during this same time period. Powell's verbal expostulations during "Satisfied" are as funky and funny as those gruff outbursts usually spoken by Waller or Louis Armstrong. These two numbers are the perfect curtain-raiser for an unusually diverse musical profile. Many of Stewart's best and most often reissued recordings were made under the auspices of Irving Mills and Duke Ellington. Here at last is a collection that expands the lens to include music well outside of that familiar ground. Rex Stewart's Big Seven made four sides on behalf of the Hot Record Society in the summer of 1940. Stewart led his Big Eight on a Keynote date in June of 1944. A slightly reconstituted Big Eight slapped down three contemporary-sounding tracks for Capitol in January 1945. Another octet, now billed as Stewart's "Orchestra," made four records for Parlophone in July 1945. Finally, there is the wild and woolly Mercury session of February 8, 1946. Seldom has an essential segment of Rex Stewart's career been so carefully represented on one disc. The Hot Record Society session glows with the rhythmically magical combination of Wellman Braud and Davey Tough. A slow drag entitled "Solid Rock" is exceptionally passionate and blue. The Keynote sides, especially "Zaza" and "Swamp Mist," are marvelous pieces of chamber jazz, graced with the minds of pianist Johnny Guarnieri and the great Harry Carney, who brought along his bass clarinet. Great changes in style took place within the span of time represented by this CD. A particularly good year for the appearance of young whips who seemed always to be looking ahead, like Earl Bostic and Al Sears, was 1945. There is a smoky tenor sax solo by Stafford "Pazuzza" Simon on "That's Rhythm." A 1946 remake of the famous Ellington/Stewart collaboration "Boy Meets Horn," a funky "Jug Blues," and the outrageous "B.O. Blues" demonstrate Stewart's increasingly eccentric approach to artistic expression and musical entertainment. arwulf arwulf  
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BENNY GOODMAN AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1941-1942 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1303 (2003) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

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BENNY GOODMAN AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1942 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1324 (2003) FLAC (tracks), lossless

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BENNY GOODMAN AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1944-1945 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1345 (2004) FLAC (tracks), lossless

This segment of the Benny Goodman chronology documents the recordings he made with his trio, quartet, quintet, sextet, and "All Star Band" for V-Disc and Columbia from the end of June 1944 through the first week of February 1945. The disc opens with a magnificent instrumental version of "After You've Gone" played by a 16-piece ensemble featuring trumpeters Roy Eldridge, Charlie Shavers, and Yank Lawson; baritone saxophonist Ernesto "Ernie" Caceres; Teddy Wilson at the piano; and Gordon "Specs" Powell behind the drums. As if to preface the recording industry's postwar infatuation with star vocalists, Goodman waxed a side with ex-Ted Weems crooner Perry Como and two additional titles with vocalist Mildred Bailey. Backed only by his rhythm section, Goodman concluded the day's work by frying up one of the hottest versions of Vincent Youmans' "Hallelujah" ever captured on record. The rest of this compilation is devoted to a wonderful series of small-group V-Disc and Columbia sessions, most of which feature Mildred Bailey's ex-husband Red Norvo on the vibraphone. Interspersed with occasional sweet vocals by Jane Harvey and Peggy Mann, the instrumental numbers are small-band swing of the highest order. The Goodman sextet in particular was greatly enhanced by the presence of bassist Slam Stewart. arwulf arwulf  
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JOE BUSHKIN – 1940-1946 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1434 (2007) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Joe Bushkin (1916-2004) was a fine swing pianist who operated in a groove similar to that of Teddy Wilson, Jess Stacy or Joe Sullivan. He worked with Bunny Berigan, Billie Holiday, Artie Shaw and Eddie Condon, then with Tommy Dorsey and young Frank Sinatra until 1942 whereupon he transferred most of his energies to the war effort by blowing trumpet in the United States Army Air Corps Band until 1946. Bushkin's postwar career would involve him briefly with Benny Goodman's band, in an excursion to Brazil with tenor saxophonist Bud Freeman and subsequently in New York's theater and nightclub scene. In 2007, the Classics Chronological Series took on the Joe Bushkin discography, beginning with his first solo Commodore session of May 17, 1940 (tracks one through five); lining up master takes from three subsequent Commodore dates and rounding off the album with four solid Savoy sides cut in Los Angeles at some undetermined point during the year 1946. Some of these recordings are uncommon and have been sought after for years by jazz lovers. Bushkin's harmonic sensibilities make his "Serenade in Thirds" the most attractive of the 1940 solos. An inspired threesome, Joe Bushkin's Blue Boys waxed five titles on March 28, 1941. "Morgan's Blues" spotlights string bassist Al Morgan and trumpeter Hot Lips Page is featured on the other four tunes. On May 23, 1944 Joe Bushkin waxed another five sides for Commodore, this time with bassist Sid Weiss and drummer Cozy Cole. The following day Bushkin, Weiss and drummer Specs Powell backed trumpeter Ernie Thomas Figueroa, trombonist Bill Harris and 18-year-old tenor saxophonist Zoot Sims; what a thrill to hear a teenage Zoot riding the swift and straightforward changes of "Pickin' at the Pic." The Savoy session of 1946 (tracks twenty through twenty-three) resulted in four choice cuts, rendered pleasantly cool by the lightly amplified guitar of Barney Kessel with subtle support from bassist Harry Babasin. Bushkin's technique at this point brings to mind the dexterity of Nat King Cole, a master pianist who would soon all but abandon the instrument in order to focus his energies on singing pop tunes for mass consumption. The next leg of Joe Bushkin's career would find him recording for V-Disc, MGM, Atlantic, Columbia and Capitol. Hearing this artist's recordings laid out neatly session by session is a wonderful treat for which many listeners are and will continue to be grateful. arwulf arwulf
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