Boogie Woogie Music

I was fortunate to meet Big Joe in a club in Cinncinnatti back in the early 70's. I must say that Joes' heart is as big as his boogie-woogie hands, which get a real work-out on this cd! If you love true blues... you've got to love this cd! Even though this is compiled and partially recorded in his home....the quality is good and full of blues grit! Crank it up and enjoy! Take it from a musician and real music lover.....you won't be disappointed! Skip from Ohio

The pre-bop jazz piano master's unique dynamic style with incredible speed, accuracy, subtlty, and rich ornamentations is well presented in every tracks on the CD. Oscar Peterson mentioned "These guys are pretty good." before he knew Tatum and listened to Tatum's recordings for the first time. The fast accurate and subtle stride seems almost impossible to most pianists even today.

This is Tatum in the Springtime flush of strength and power-- the despair of all other musicians.'Liza',especially the second take recorded a few months after the first,gives us all the musical excitement we want, and more.With these early recordings Tatum burst upon the firmament like a supernova,and the language of jazz was changed forever.

This is a great collection of stuff that you're unlikely to find anywhere else, unless you're a 78 collector. The other reviews hit the mark.
However, my disc seems to have a sound flaw, and I don't know if it's just my particular copy or the whole lot. The left channel has annoying clicks whenever the music gets loud. This happens on every song, on every CD player I've tried. Because the clicks are only on the left side, and on every track, this seems to be a flaw with the CD and not the original recordings. Because I have a system that can play either channel in both speakers, I turn it to the mono right channel and the problem is solved. If you do not have this kind of setup, be warned.

With all the "Various Artists" CDs and what-nots you're very lucky to have found a collection like this. As I was, via a gift. This collection ranks up there with the best of the Yazoo collections, (Rukus Juice, etc)... and therefore up there with some of the best gifts ever.

I'm assuming you're well versed in the oldtimey recordings... if so... than don't hesitate, this collection is superb! It is one of my "dessert island" discs, which include such great recordings as Miles Davis - Kind of Blue, the Beach Boys - Pet Sounds,... you dig? It's that vital... and haunting... If you're not a regular listener of the old stuff and are curious... Pick It Up! This stuff is catchy and sounds great coming from old dusty 78s... SNIIIFFFF... ahhhh smell that history.

weeba-dooda bop-blop -skibbity boop

The title of this CD is a little misleading, "Offshoots of Ragtime" is perhaps a little more accurate. By definition, "Classic Ragtime" generally refers to a solo piano rag following the form AABBACCDD. I don't think any track on this disc fits that pattern. Nevertheless, this is one fantastic set! It's packed with historic recordings from the early 1910s to the late 1930s (the earliest recording here was made over ten years after the first rag was published so "roots" in the title is out). The remastering is excellent, and the liner notes with discographical information for each track are very good as well. The musical selections represent a wide variety of late ragtime and early jazz styles, presenting well-known classics such as Jelly Roll Morton's "The Pearls" and Fats Waller's "Gladyse" alongside forgotten gems like Sugar Underwood's "Dew Drop Alley Stomp" (my favorite on the disc) and Sam Moore's haunting "Laughing Rag." Because of the variety on this disc, it's one that I can listen to quite often without growing tired of hearing the same tracks again and again. If you have any interest in classic jazz music, ragtime, or vaudeville, this is a good disc to have. Highly recommended!

If you are curious about the entertainment and popular culture of America in the early decades of the 1900's, than this collection is for you. It is a fun audio exploration of the musical forms which influenced early jazz and blues. I think the term ragtime should be understood to have a broader meaning here than simply the form of the usual piano and orchestral pieces associated with it. THIS ALBUM IS A MUST FOR AMERICAN MUSIC HISTORY FANS!

this album has often been described by critics as haphazard and in many ways unfinished. that may or may not be the case, but check it out for yourself, there are plenty of golden gems here. i bet you a dollar or two that roger miller's "king of the road" will never be the same ever again to anyone who hears booker's far out version...

Dr. John and Harry Connick Jr. both acknowledge Booker as the greatest of New Orleans piano players. So who are we to argue? The beauty of music in New Orleans has always been the blurring of musical categories: blues, jazz (both traditional and modern), r&b, gospel, and Caribbean-infected funk were and are played in the Crescent City by the same great artists who also happen to be great entertainers. It's a gumbo town. And no one embodied this gumbo spirit better and with more virtuosity than James Booker. He could play it all, including classical, separately, at the same time, or all at the same time! I think this is Booker's best studio recording, and it is true that the version of "King of the Road" on this record is by itself worth the price -- trascendent.

I saw James Booker perform in a little hole in the wall bar in 1983 New Orleans. He had this album propped up on the piano while he played to a very small crowd, yet he played as if he were playing to thousands of people. James Booker enjoyed playing music, and he did it as well as anyone. This would be the last album he would record, and it's one of his best...We spoke while he was on break, and he tried to convince me to buy a copy, but I had just spent my last few bucks buying drinks. He said "take it anyway, and if you like it pay me the next time you see me". Well I went home, put it on, and needless to say, it was all good; from the first cut to the last. James Booker died three weeks later, and I never had the opportunity to go back and pay him, or to thank him for his kindness. I'll be forever indebted to him, not only for the album, but for the memory of that time, and for the story that ultimately came with it. Give James Booker a listen and you'll be rewarded, I promise....

this album has often been described by critics as haphazard and in many ways unfinished. that may or may not be the case, but check it out for yourself, there are plenty of golden gems here. i bet you a dollar or two that roger miller's "king of the road" will never be the same ever again to anyone who hears booker's far out version...

Dr. John and Harry Connick Jr. both acknowledge Booker as the greatest of New Orleans piano players. So who are we to argue? The beauty of music in New Orleans has always been the blurring of musical categories: blues, jazz (both traditional and modern), r&b, gospel, and Caribbean-infected funk were and are played in the Crescent City by the same great artists who also happen to be great entertainers. It's a gumbo town. And no one embodied this gumbo spirit better and with more virtuosity than James Booker. He could play it all, including classical, separately, at the same time, or all at the same time! I think this is Booker's best studio recording, and it is true that the version of "King of the Road" on this record is by itself worth the price -- trascendent.

I saw James Booker perform in a little hole in the wall bar in 1983 New Orleans. He had this album propped up on the piano while he played to a very small crowd, yet he played as if he were playing to thousands of people. James Booker enjoyed playing music, and he did it as well as anyone. This would be the last album he would record, and it's one of his best...We spoke while he was on break, and he tried to convince me to buy a copy, but I had just spent my last few bucks buying drinks. He said "take it anyway, and if you like it pay me the next time you see me". Well I went home, put it on, and needless to say, it was all good; from the first cut to the last. James Booker died three weeks later, and I never had the opportunity to go back and pay him, or to thank him for his kindness. I'll be forever indebted to him, not only for the album, but for the memory of that time, and for the story that ultimately came with it. Give James Booker a listen and you'll be rewarded, I promise....

this album has often been described by critics as haphazard and in many ways unfinished. that may or may not be the case, but check it out for yourself, there are plenty of golden gems here. i bet you a dollar or two that roger miller's "king of the road" will never be the same ever again to anyone who hears booker's far out version...

Dr. John and Harry Connick Jr. both acknowledge Booker as the greatest of New Orleans piano players. So who are we to argue? The beauty of music in New Orleans has always been the blurring of musical categories: blues, jazz (both traditional and modern), r&b, gospel, and Caribbean-infected funk were and are played in the Crescent City by the same great artists who also happen to be great entertainers. It's a gumbo town. And no one embodied this gumbo spirit better and with more virtuosity than James Booker. He could play it all, including classical, separately, at the same time, or all at the same time! I think this is Booker's best studio recording, and it is true that the version of "King of the Road" on this record is by itself worth the price -- trascendent.

I saw James Booker perform in a little hole in the wall bar in 1983 New Orleans. He had this album propped up on the piano while he played to a very small crowd, yet he played as if he were playing to thousands of people. James Booker enjoyed playing music, and he did it as well as anyone. This would be the last album he would record, and it's one of his best...We spoke while he was on break, and he tried to convince me to buy a copy, but I had just spent my last few bucks buying drinks. He said "take it anyway, and if you like it pay me the next time you see me". Well I went home, put it on, and needless to say, it was all good; from the first cut to the last. James Booker died three weeks later, and I never had the opportunity to go back and pay him, or to thank him for his kindness. I'll be forever indebted to him, not only for the album, but for the memory of that time, and for the story that ultimately came with it. Give James Booker a listen and you'll be rewarded, I promise....

The earliest takes of Sonny Boy at the Trumpet Recordings. Powerfull style and quality. Good songs.

These sixteen tracks are split equally between Sonny Boy Williamson II and pianist Willie Love, who befriended each other in the early 40s, and recorded a number of sides for Trumpet records.

All eight Sonny Boy-numbers are previously unreleased, and the fidelity is very good, better than on Trumpet's other Sonny Boy Williamson-releases. Rice Miller (Sonny Boy) is backed by various electric combos...three cuts feature Willie Love on piano, and Miller's harp blowing is augumented by the presence of a saxophone player on five tracks.

Here are early vesions of "Keep It To Yourself" and "I'm Not Beggin' Nobody", as well as a great "Shuckin' Mama" and the piano-driven boogie of the title track...well, everything is great, actually.
And it's no surprise that Miller's playing and singing is every bit as impressive as on his later Chess releases...he was in his fifties when these sides were recorded, fully developed as an artist, and had of course been a playing partner of Robert Johnson more than fifteen years before.

The underexposed and sadly underrecorded Willie Love was an energetic boogie piano player who died at 46 in the summer of 1953, just a few months after recording the latest of the eight tracks that are included here.
Little Milton Campbell, Joe Willie Wilkins and saxist Otis Green are among the musicians backing him, and he lays down excellent, swinging renditions of "Little Car Blues", "Take It Easy Baby", "Lonesome World Blues" and five other songs, all of them more than worth a listen.

If you want more, the Mimosa label's March, 2000 CD "Greenville Smokin'" contains all of Willie Love's recordings for the Mississippi-based Trumpet label. And I suppose you already have the rest of Sonny Boy Williamson's Trumpet sides on "King Biscuit Time" and "Goin' In Your Direction" :o)

4 3/4 stars - highly recommended.

The earliest takes of Sonny Boy at the Trumpet Recordings. Powerfull style and quality. Good songs.

These sixteen tracks are split equally between Sonny Boy Williamson II and pianist Willie Love, who befriended each other in the early 40s, and recorded a number of sides for Trumpet records.

All eight Sonny Boy-numbers are previously unreleased, and the fidelity is very good, better than on Trumpet's other Sonny Boy Williamson-releases. Rice Miller (Sonny Boy) is backed by various electric combos...three cuts feature Willie Love on piano, and Miller's harp blowing is augumented by the presence of a saxophone player on five tracks.

Here are early vesions of "Keep It To Yourself" and "I'm Not Beggin' Nobody", as well as a great "Shuckin' Mama" and the piano-driven boogie of the title track...well, everything is great, actually.
And it's no surprise that Miller's playing and singing is every bit as impressive as on his later Chess releases...he was in his fifties when these sides were recorded, fully developed as an artist, and had of course been a playing partner of Robert Johnson more than fifteen years before.

The underexposed and sadly underrecorded Willie Love was an energetic boogie piano player who died at 46 in the summer of 1953, just a few months after recording the latest of the eight tracks that are included here.
Little Milton Campbell, Joe Willie Wilkins and saxist Otis Green are among the musicians backing him, and he lays down excellent, swinging renditions of "Little Car Blues", "Take It Easy Baby", "Lonesome World Blues" and five other songs, all of them more than worth a listen.

If you want more, the Mimosa label's March, 2000 CD "Greenville Smokin'" contains all of Willie Love's recordings for the Mississippi-based Trumpet label. And I suppose you already have the rest of Sonny Boy Williamson's Trumpet sides on "King Biscuit Time" and "Goin' In Your Direction" :o)

4 3/4 stars - highly recommended.

The earliest takes of Sonny Boy at the Trumpet Recordings. Powerfull style and quality. Good songs.

These sixteen tracks are split equally between Sonny Boy Williamson II and pianist Willie Love, who befriended each other in the early 40s, and recorded a number of sides for Trumpet records.

All eight Sonny Boy-numbers are previously unreleased, and the fidelity is very good, better than on Trumpet's other Sonny Boy Williamson-releases. Rice Miller (Sonny Boy) is backed by various electric combos...three cuts feature Willie Love on piano, and Miller's harp blowing is augumented by the presence of a saxophone player on five tracks.

Here are early vesions of "Keep It To Yourself" and "I'm Not Beggin' Nobody", as well as a great "Shuckin' Mama" and the piano-driven boogie of the title track...well, everything is great, actually.
And it's no surprise that Miller's playing and singing is every bit as impressive as on his later Chess releases...he was in his fifties when these sides were recorded, fully developed as an artist, and had of course been a playing partner of Robert Johnson more than fifteen years before.

The underexposed and sadly underrecorded Willie Love was an energetic boogie piano player who died at 46 in the summer of 1953, just a few months after recording the latest of the eight tracks that are included here.
Little Milton Campbell, Joe Willie Wilkins and saxist Otis Green are among the musicians backing him, and he lays down excellent, swinging renditions of "Little Car Blues", "Take It Easy Baby", "Lonesome World Blues" and five other songs, all of them more than worth a listen.

If you want more, the Mimosa label's March, 2000 CD "Greenville Smokin'" contains all of Willie Love's recordings for the Mississippi-based Trumpet label. And I suppose you already have the rest of Sonny Boy Williamson's Trumpet sides on "King Biscuit Time" and "Goin' In Your Direction" :o)

4 3/4 stars - highly recommended.