Dixieland Music

These sessions were recorded around the recording ban in 1942/43 and show Condon at his fluent best with a variety of small combo's.The first six tracks were recorded before the ban. Tracks 7 and 8 were recorded with an entirely different band for Signature after the ban, and the rest of the tracks were all recorded in December 1943. Condon was able to surround himself with a fairly regular set of sidesmen, Max Kaminsky on trumpet and Pee Wee Russell on clarinet were fixtures, but he was also able to attract sympathetic players - and so Benny Morton is on trombone on tracks 9-12, whilst James P. Johnson plays piano on tracks 7 and 8. Above all it sounds as though they were enjoying themselves, not just working through a set of sessions. This is what emerges from this CD, another example of good remastering and excellent sleeve notes from the seldom less than excellent Classics Collection

This is the 4th CD from Progressive (that I know of) that issues an entire jazz recording session from the World War II years, including false starts, breakdowns, and alternate takes. Bobby seems to have been having trouble with his embouchure this day, and he hits a lot of clams, but the complete takes, though not perfect, are at least acceptable. The high rating is for two things: the window this CD provides into the nuts and bolts of a 1943 recording session, and Bobby's lovely further reflections on George Gershwin's "Embraceable You", a song Bobby had recorded 5 years earlier, to stunning effect.

This is the second installment of Classics chronological review of the recordings of great Chicago pianist Joe Sullivan, and if the tracks are not as well known as those in the first volume, they equal them in quality.

Tracks 1 - 8 are a beautiful set of solos recorded for the Capitol label, all, "Squeeze Me" apart, ballads. Tracks 9 - 10 feature a different side of Sullivan, his ability as a boogie pianist. 11-14 are undistinguished quintette sides. The remainder of the CD feature strong solos from 1945 Folkways and Disc sessions. Again ballads predominate, but dixieland warhorse "Fidgety Feet" is given two powerful performances as is Waller standard "Keepin' Out of Mischief Now" and Sullivan displays his blues credentials in "The Chimes".

This CD showcases the lyrical side of Joe Sullivan, and should be of interest to all lovers of jazz piano.