DUKE ELLINGTON AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1946 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1015 (1998) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

For the casual listener, "best of" collections are a good way to explore Duke Ellington's legacy. But if you're a serious collector or a completist, it's important to be aware of Classics, a French label that put out more than 30 CDs of the Duke's work in the 1990s. Regrettably, Classics generally skipped alternate takes; but even so, it was nice to see a label reissuing Ellington's master takes chronologically. This rewarding CD focuses on Ellington's recordings of 1946, when his orchestra boasted such heavyweights as trumpeter Cat Anderson, alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges, tenor saxman Al Sears, baritone saxman Harry Carney, trombonist Lawrence Brown, and drummer Sonny Greer. It was in 1946 that the Duke recorded his last two sessions for RCA Victor, and this CD spotlights those two sessions before offering two pieces from an October 23 session for Musicraft ("Magenta Haze" and "Diminuendo in Blue") and several V-disc recordings from a November 23 concert at Carnegie Hall in New York, where Ellington's orchestra performed "The Golden Cress" and "Sultry Sunset" as well as the interesting, four-part "Deep South Suite." The suite's fourth part is the well-known "Happy Go Lucky Local," an infectious blues track that became the basis for Jimmy Forrest's 1951 smash "Night Train" (which was speeded up and covered by the Godfather of Soul James Brown in the early 1960s). Most of the material on 1946 is instrumental, although Ellington features singer Marion Cox on pleasing arrangements of "St. Louis Blues" and "Lover Man," and fares equally well with singer Kay Davis on "I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance With You." While 1946 falls short of essential, the selections are definitely rewarding and prove that the late 1940s was a creatively successful, if underrated, period for the Duke. Alex Henderson     Tracklist + Credits :

DUKE ELLINGTON AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1946-1947 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1051 (1999) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This installment of the Classics label document of the Duke Ellington story highlights recordings for the Musicraft label in November and December 1946, four V-discs recorded in New York on May 10, 1947, and the first sessions for Columbia in August and September 1947. Considering the financial challenges of keeping a large ensemble performing in the late '40s (which would have an almost devastating effect in the early '50s,) Ellington not only managed to continue creating intriguing music but he maintained a legendary horn section. These dates feature Ray Nance, Taft Jordan, Shorty Baker, Cat Anderson, Jimmy Hamilton, Johnny Hodges, Russell Procope, Tyree Glenn, Wilbur De Paris, Al Sears, and Harry Carney. Six vocal pieces are also included: one each from Kay Davis and Chester Crumpler, two featuring Al Hibbler, and Ray Nance clowns around on "Tulip or Turnip" and "Women (They'll Get You). Al Campbell   Tracklist + Credits :

JELLY-ROLL MORTON – 1929-1930 | The Chronogical Classics – 642 (1992) FLAC (tracks), lossless

With the exception of two dates as a leader and the remainder of the Wilton Crawley set that closes this album, this disc has the final Jelly Roll Morton recordings before the Great Depression temporarily halted his recording career. The pianist-composer is heard backing singers Lizzie Miles and Billie Young on two songs apiece and interacting with the wild vaudevillian clarinetist Wilton Crawley on "Big Time Woman" and "I'm Her Papa, She's My Mama." The best all-round session has four numbers performed by the trio of Morton, clarinetist Barney Bigard, and drummer Zutty Singleton. Of the band sides (some of which are a bit undisciplined), highlights include "Little Lawrence," "Load of Coal" (with Cozy Cole on drums), and "Fussy Mabel," which has a classic solo from trumpeter Bubber Miley. Whether acquired in this series or on a five-CD Bluebird set, this music is highly enjoyable and often quite essential in appreciating 1920s jazz and the musical genius Jelly Roll Morton Scott Yanow  
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SIDNEY BECHET – 1941-1944 | The Classics Chronological Series – 860 (1996) FLAC (tracks), lossless

This collection covers Sidney Bechet's recordings during most of the World War II years. Music from his final two Victor dates begins the CD, highlighted by memorable versions of "The Mooche" and "What Is This Thing Called Love?" Three extended V-Disc performances (all between four and five minutes long) match Bechet's soprano with trombonist Vic Dickenson in exciting fashion. Also included is a Blue Note date that has the classic "Blue Horizon" and four numbers on which Bechet is a sideman with pianist Cliff Jackson's Village Cats. While Bechet is the main star, there are also hot solos from Dickenson, trumpeters Charlie Shavers and Sidney DeParis, and pianists Willie "The Lion" Smith and Cliff Jackson. Sidney Bechet always sounds enthusiastic, and listeners not already owning a complete collection of his Victor dates will find this collection quite enjoyable. Scott Yanow
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SIDNEY BECHET – 1949 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1140 (2000) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

For some reason, many jazz historians seem to consider Sidney Bechet's collaborations with Wild Bill Davison as somehow flawed. Apparently, they expect the feisty, cornet-toting rascal to lie down and allow Sidney to walk all over him. If Bill were so compliant and non-assertive, he never would have earned his moniker. Sure, the two horns jostle each other during hot numbers, but that's what's supposed to happen. This is, after all, based in the traditions of competitive/cooperative New Orleans polyphony. Maybe a baritone sax would have added some ballast to the overall mix, but it didn't happen that way. Instead, on the session of January 21, 1949, we get bassist Walter Page, who was no slouch, and the magnificent piano of Art Hodes. "Tin Roof Blues" and "Down and Out" are both studies in eloquence, and "I've Found A New Baby" roars like a steam locomotive heading round the southern rim of Lake Michigan for Chicago. Hodes begins "Saints" with a lovely passage from "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" before drummer Freddie Moore kicks it into high gear. The big treat in this package is a relatively rare blowing session that yielded four tasty selections issued on the Circle Record label. The front line of Bechet, trumpeter Albert Snaer, trombonist Wilbur DeParis and clarinetist Buster Bailey execute thrilling runs with collective precision. The rhythm section of James P. Johnson, Walter Page and George Wettling is richly supportive. Bechet's beautiful "Song of the Medina" is pure wonderment, carrying a fragrance similar to that of his famous "Petite Fleur." Three titles for the Jazz Ltd. label illustrate the expanse of Papa Bechet's stylistic wealth: "Maryland" is traditional New Orleans parade music at its very finest. "Careless Love" is the choicest of blues, and "Egyptian Fantasy" resembles Duke Ellington's "Black and Tan." For their second 1949 Blue Note get-together, Bechet and Wild Bill are back with Hodes and Page, now accompanied by ex-Fats Waller percussionist Wilmore "Slick" Jones. Trombonist Ray Diehl blows solid, sensible lines, his every hoot funkily cohesive as the two lead horns carve a large swath through the middle of half-a-dozen staples of the Dixieland repertoire. Their nice update on "Cake Walking Babies From Home" is more than invigorating, and "Jericho" gets hammered out with rowdy insistence. By May of '49, Bechet had invaded Paris and was leading a team of eager, ambitious Frenchmen in creating a torrent of old-fashioned jazz records. It was the beginning of his career as le Grand Bechet, revered émigré, living with dignity in a city where they eventually had the good sense to name a street after him. arwulf arwulf  
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SIDNEY BECHET – 1950 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1280 (2003) FLAC (tracks), lossless

Volume 12 in Sidney Bechet's segment of the Classics Chronological Series opens with six blustery sides recorded in New York City on April 19, 1950 by Sidney Bechet's Blue Note Jazzmen, with a feisty front line of Bechet, cornetist Wild Bill Davison, and trombonist Jimmy Archey, and a fine rhythm section in Joe Sullivan, Pops Foster, and Wilmore "Slick" Jones. Tracks seven-eleven were recorded for the Commodore label on April 27, 1950, with Davison and Bechet now bolstered by trombonist Wilbur de Paris (who sings "I'll Take That New Orleans Music"), Ralph Sutton, Jack Lesberg, and George Wettling. Listen for Bechet's clarinet on the "Jelly Roll Blues" and the "National Emblem March." The rest of the material packed into this invigorating collection comes from the Vogue catalog, and documents Bechet's adventures in Paris during September and October 1950. Surrounded by members of Claude Luter et Son Orchestre, Bechet hammered out gale force traditional jazz that went over exceptionally well with the French people. Bechet would soon take steps to settle permanently in France, where he was elevated to the status of a national treasure, as indicated by the cover photograph of him peering out from beneath a hefty bejeweled crown. arwulf arwulf
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MILLS BLUE RHYTHM BAND – 1936-1937 | The Classics Chronological Series – 731 (1993) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The fifth and final Classics CD by the Mills Blue Rhythm Band starts out at the same high level as the fourth set. With trumpeter Henry "Red" Allen, trombonist J.C. Higginbottham, altoist Tab Smith and tenor saxophonist Joe Garland in the band (pianist Billy Kyle soon joined up as well), along with a solid rhythm section, the orchestra could swing quite hard, as shown on such numbers as "St. Louis Wiggle Rhythm," "Merry-Go-Round," "Big John's Special" and "Algiers Stomp." However, by 1937 (when the second half of this CD was recorded), Allen, Higginbottham and Garland had departed. The music is still worthwhile, with Smith and young trumpeters Harry "Sweets" Edison and Charlie Shavers in the band, but the enthusiasm was starting to drop. Due to the heavy competition from the many better-known orchestras, the Mills Blue Rhythm Band would soon become a forgotten part of history, but as the five Classics CDs show, the orchestra did create quite a bit of worthwhile music in the 1930s. Scott Yanow
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GEORGE WETTLING – 1940-1944 | The Classics Chronological Series – 909 (1996) FLAC (tracks), lossless

Chicago percussionist George Wettling was famous for his delightful old-fashioned rim-tapping and rock-solid support behind jazz bands both large and small. He was practically the house drummer for Commodore Records and appears on the majority of Eddie Condon's recordings. For the seasoned traditional jazz fanatic, an entire CD documenting a series of sessions led (or fortified) by George Wettling is like some sort of a dream come true. Although mostly typical of what music historians call Chicago-style traditional jazz, everything here was recorded in the Big Apple. On January 16, 1940, Wettling's Chicago Rhythm Kings ground out four excellent sides for release on the Decca label. The lineup is incredible -- trumpeter Charlie Teagarden, trombonist Floyd O'Brien, clarinetist Danny Polo, and Joe Marsala -- usually associated with the clarinet, heard here on tenor sax -- backed by Jess Stacy, Jack Bland, Artie Shapiro, and Wettling. In March of 1940, Wettling recorded a pair of fine duets with pianist Dick Cary. Rodgers & Hart's lively "You Took Advantage of Me" brings to mind the terrific version that Wettling made with Bud Freeman and Jess Stacy back in 1938. The Dick Cary records and four sides by the George Wettling Jazz Trio were issued by the Black & White label. The trio in question involved pianist Gene Schroeder and clarinetist Mezz Mezzrow. Although the Classics liner notes take potshots at Mezzrow's "technical shortcomings," an unbiased listener will sense no such deficiency and might even appreciate the refreshingly funky informality of this or any other session in which Mezzrow took part. By the way, this has got to be the slowest, most relaxed version of "China Boy" ever recorded, up until Wettling kicks it up into third gear and they cook it to a gravy. The George Wettling Rhythm Kings assembled again in an almost completely different incarnation on July 21, 1944. Four tasty sides were sautéed for the Commodore catalog, beginning with the old "Heebie Jeebies." Wettling, with pianist Dave Bowman and bassist Bob Haggart, supported a front line of Billy Butterfield, Wilbur DeParis, and Edmond Hall. Anybody who loves and respects the memory of DeParis will want to obtain this CD in order to have this session on hand at all times. It's also great to have four Keynote sides recorded on December 12th by George Wettling's New Yorkers. Harry Lim's Keynote project often mingled players from different backgrounds, and this band is an extreme example of this tendency at work. Jack Teagarden -- he sings two of these melodies in his warm, soothing voice -- is joined by trumpeter Joe Thomas, clarinetist Hank D'Amico, the mighty Coleman Hawkins, lightning pianist Herman Chittison, bassist Billy Taylor, and the always dependable George Wettling. If this band sounds as though it had little time for rehearsing, that's a good thing. It's what this kind of jazz is all about. arwulf arwulf  
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