Dixieland Music

This is a good Bechet disc, again featuring some longer tracks of over 4 mins. duration. Worth having.

This cd is notable for the appearance on the final six tracks of vocalist Stella Brooks. Brooks was from the West Coast, became popular as a jazz singer in New York's Greenwich Village in the 1930s and 1940s, and then returned to San Francisco and ultimately lived a humble quiet life until she died recently at 90 years of age. She was known to be the spunky sidekick of Billie Holliday, and also befriended Woody Guthrie and Marlon Brando. Smithsonian Folkways also has these six tracks on a cd of vocalists of the 1940s, actually a split cd with Greta Wright, an Austrian diva of the day. Stella's trademark song was "I'm A Little Piece of Leather" ('...very well put together...') although this song seems to be credited variously to her or other composers. (It appears on a Peattie Wheatstraw cd which makes me want to guess that it's an old blues and predates them both...the Beatles covered about 45 seconds of it in some early unreleased BBC tapes...)

Stella Brooks seems too interesting to disappear completely into history. (She's also on some re-released Stuff Smith sessions...)

New Orleans jazz veteran Kid Ory (1886 - 1973) emerged from his musical retirement in 1944 to lead one of the greatest of the revival bands.

Tracks 1 -13 feature what was arguably Ory's finest band. In addition to Ory himself, the band featured the wonderful muted trumpet of Mutt Carey and the rhythm section of Bud Scott, Ed Garland and Minor Hall, underpinned by the Jelly Roll Morton influenced piano of Buster Wilson. The clarinet chair was held by Darnell Howard, Albert Nicholas or Barney Bigard. The strength of the band lay in its ensemble playing. Clarinetists apart, they were not great solo players, but as a unit they were formidable. Excellently recorded, these tracks are strongly recommended.

The remainder of the CD contains recordings from 1950, by which time only Ory and Minor Hall remained of the original band. The front line of Ory, Teddy Buckner and Joe Darensberg was a cohesive one, and the performances included here are enjoyable ones.

Recommended for all fans of New Orleans revivalist jazz.

New Orleans jazz veteran Kid Ory (1886 - 1973) emerged from his musical retirement in 1944 to lead one of the greatest of the revival bands.

Tracks 1 -13 feature what was arguably Ory's finest band. In addition to Ory himself, the band featured the wonderful muted trumpet of Mutt Carey and the rhythm section of Bud Scott, Ed Garland and Minor Hall, underpinned by the Jelly Roll Morton influenced piano of Buster Wilson. The clarinet chair was held by Darnell Howard, Albert Nicholas or Barney Bigard. The strength of the band lay in its ensemble playing. Clarinetists apart, they were not great solo players, but as a unit they were formidable. Excellently recorded, these tracks are strongly recommended.

The remainder of the CD contains recordings from 1950, by which time only Ory and Minor Hall remained of the original band. The front line of Ory, Teddy Buckner and Joe Darensberg was a cohesive one, and the performances included here are enjoyable ones.

Recommended for all fans of New Orleans revivalist jazz.

When you listen to Joe Sullivan's piano playing, you often hear two other masters as well: Fats Waller in his left hand and Earl Hines in his right. He admired and listened carefully to both throughout his career. This CD, the third in Classics' complete works of Sullivan in chronological order, collects a Disc session from 1945 with Sidney Bechet, a piano trio 10-inch Epic LP from 1952, and mostly solo performances he made for Riverside in 1953.

The best music here is the Epic stuff. Sullivan performs well in the trio setting, with the rhythm section framing his work nicely. In fact, George Wettling, who plays brushes on these 8 titles, is wonderful to listen too - so delicate yet steady. WHAT'S YOUR NAME is a medium swinger, and CAN'T WE GET TOGETHER and THERE'LL COME A TIME WHEN YOU'LL NEED ME, both done slightly faster, are exceptional and highlight the CD. The 4 sides with Bechet are okay, nothing extraordinary, though Bechet, playing clarinet, squeaks on GOT IT AND GONE, the only time I can ever remember him doing that on record. The Riverside solo sides suffer from Sullivan's desire to play the first half of most of the tunes out of tempo or very slowly with a lot of embellishment before getting to the song proper - something he doesn't (couldn't) do with a rhythm section. A couple of the Riverside selections ARE trio pieces, and are much better, especially GIN MILL BLUES, a slow 12-bar blues that builds in power with each chorus. Sullivan was a delightful piano player and, although slightly past his prime here, this CD dishes up some fine piano jazz in the swing tradition.

Yeah, this is surely one of the best Armstrong discs I've heard. It features some of the great standards, and Armstrong sounds great on vocals and trumpet. The first four tracks alone are worth admission with a reconstituted "Hot Seven" band (not the originals from the '20s). Favorites include, "Sugar," "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?" "Black and Blue"--the latter recorded on V-Disc made for the G.I.s in WWII. V-Discs, of course, are prized for their quality and extended playing time (5-6 mins.) Other V-Disc tracks on this disc include, "Old Rockin' Chair," and another version of "Miss NO?" with Lady Day. This is an excellent disc, and would make a good gift or addition to one's collenction.

Yeah, this is surely one of the best Armstrong discs I've heard. It features some of the great standards, and Armstrong sounds great on vocals and trumpet. The first four tracks alone are worth admission with a reconstituted "Hot Seven" band (not the originals from the '20s). Favorites include, "Sugar," "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?" "Black and Blue"--the latter recorded on V-Disc made for the G.I.s in WWII. V-Discs, of course, are prized for their quality and extended playing time (5-6 mins.) Other V-Disc tracks on this disc include, "Old Rockin' Chair," and another version of "Miss NO?" with Lady Day. This is an excellent disc, and would make a good gift or addition to one's collenction.