EARL HINES AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1945-1947 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1041 (1999) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This is a very interesting CD full of rarities. Part of Classics' "complete" series, the disc features the Earl Hines big band after Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie had come and gone. Tenor-saxophonist Wardell Gray was still part of the band and has quite a few solos on their selections from 1945-46. The arrangements are sometimes uncomfortably boppish (they do not really mesh with the leader's piano and the repertoire) and in other spots swinging. Lord Essex has a few high-toned vocals that sound ten years out of date but singers Dorothy Parker and Hines himself (who is heard on "Ain't Gonna Give None Of This Jelly Roll" and the novelty "Oh My Aching Back") are much better. Fortunately there are quite a few instrumentals. While the first 14 numbers are from 1945-46, there is also a small group romp on "Sweet Honey Babe" from 1947 (featuring clarinetist Scoops Cary) and six big band selections from late in the year with four vocals from Johnny Hartman who is heard at the beginning of his career. Other than a few more numbers recorded in Dec. 1947, these were the last recordings of the Earl Hines Orchestra. The music (originally released by the ARA, French Jazz Selection, MGM, Sunrise and Bravo labels) had formerly been mostly quite scarce. Worth exploring. Scott Yanow  
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EARL HINES – 1953-1954 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1440 (2007) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The 11th installment in the Classics Earl Hines chronology charts the pianist and bandleader's professional progress during a time period running between May 1953 and August 1954. This entertaining segment of the Hines story includes eight excellent sides cut for the King label in New York, 14 selections recorded in Los Angeles for the Nocturne label, and lastly a five-and-a-half minute interview with Hines himself. The four King instrumentals ("Hot Soup," "Sleep Walking," "In the Attic," and "Space Ship") demonstrate how adaptable Hines was during these transitional years. This compilation opens with two surprisingly fine and funny vocals by world-famous pugilist Sugar Ray Robinson, while "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody" and "When I Dream of You" are sung by 30-year-old crooner Johnny Hartman. "Crazy Rhythm" was done up by four members of the band (including trombonist Dicky Wells!) who transformed themselves into a vocal group billed as the Hines Varieties, while "Almost Like Being in Love" and "I Don't Hear Sweet Music Any More" were sung by sax and flute man Jerome Richardson. Hines himself was the featured vocalist on "New Orleans," "Pennies from Heaven," "I Can't Believe That You're in Love with Me," and "I'm a Little Blackbird Looking for a Bluebird." (This last number dates back to the mid-'20s when it was first recorded by Eva Taylor and the Clarence Williams Blue Five with Louis Armstrong and Sidney Bechet.) All of these diverse treats, along with cameo appearances by reedmen Budd Johnson, Morris Lane, Aaron Sachs, and Haywood Henry, make this one of the great "variety packs" in the Earl Hines discography. arwulf arwulf
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HELEN HUMES – 1948-1950 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1333 (2003) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The last two years of the '40s saw Helen Humes growing considerably as a performer. While still showing her mastery of classic blues ("Married Man Blues") and high-octane swing (a frenetic live version of her previous hit, "Be-Baba-Leba"), she continued refining the type of blue-and-sentimental ballads she'd made famous during her Count Basie years (also the type of song that would carry her through the '50s). "Time Out for Tears" and "Don't Fall in Love With Me" find Humes reaching out to the trad-pop audience, and her version of "Somebody Loves Me" shows her finding the blues even in a Gershwin standard. As if her range wasn't stunning already, 1948-1950 also includes a splendid one-shot, a title called "I Ain't in the Mood" that sounds like it came straight from the Sun studio. John Bush
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