Dixieland Music

Fuhgetaboudit, this is the real deal when it come to great swinging jazz trombone. These guys have fantastic sounds, great technique and ideas that seem to flow like the fountain of youth! You can hear a ton of the trombone roots that Carl Fontana employed in his storied career in this fantastic, free blowing session. Bill Allred's son, John is one of the best bone players working today, but his old man and Roy Williams really set the bar at the top notch on this one. Enjoy!

The trombone playing on this CD is fantastic. Usually, when I buy a CD I can expect to find that I really like 3 or 4 of the songs. On this CD, every song is a winner. If you are a jazz trombone player, you have to buy this one.

These two monster trombone players are unbelievable. They swing like crazy with great technique and tone, and obviously enjoy playing together. Backed up by one of my all-time favorite drummers (Have you heard Butch Miles with Basie?) these guys are gassing each other, I'm sure....A wonderful album. I have heard Allred has a son named John. Gotta check out the kid to see if he blows as great as his dad.

Fuhgetaboudit, this is the real deal when it come to great swinging jazz trombone. These guys have fantastic sounds, great technique and ideas that seem to flow like the fountain of youth! You can hear a ton of the trombone roots that Carl Fontana employed in his storied career in this fantastic, free blowing session. Bill Allred's son, John is one of the best bone players working today, but his old man and Roy Williams really set the bar at the top notch on this one. Enjoy!

The trombone playing on this CD is fantastic. Usually, when I buy a CD I can expect to find that I really like 3 or 4 of the songs. On this CD, every song is a winner. If you are a jazz trombone player, you have to buy this one.

These two monster trombone players are unbelievable. They swing like crazy with great technique and tone, and obviously enjoy playing together. Backed up by one of my all-time favorite drummers (Have you heard Butch Miles with Basie?) these guys are gassing each other, I'm sure....A wonderful album. I have heard Allred has a son named John. Gotta check out the kid to see if he blows as great as his dad.

This is a terrific mainstream swing CD from 1954 (originally on Urania) featuring a monster front line of Teagarden on trombone, Ruby Braff on trumpet, and Lucky Thompson on tenor. Four of the six tracks are taken slowly (one, BLUE AND ESOTERIC, is a blues), and the playing here is lush and beautiful. Jack sings on 3 tunes (LOVER, AFTER YOU'VE GONE, and STARS FELL ON ALABAMA) - he's a superb jazz singer. AFTER YOU'VE GONE is the best of the bunch: it swings like mad, it has an excellent Teagarden vocal, and everyone solos well. The rhythm section is solid throughout the album, especially Denzil Best on drums. Grab this gem if you can; you won't be disappointed.

This one was recorded live at the Grandview Inn in Columbus Ohio sometime in the early 70's. Wild Bill recorded it on his tape machine for personal use. The tapes were so good that they were eventually released on lp and finally cd.

George Wettling was leading a hot trio with Charlie Queener on piano and Kenny Davern on clarinet when Bill came by to sit in. The engagement was extended for a few weeks because of the popularity of the group. The music that these guys made was relaxed, joyous, and steaming. It was definetely an inspired evening when the tape player was rolling.

Kenny Davern sounds great on clarinet. His strong playing partners well with Bill's cornet lead. The under-recorded Charlie Queener was a fine pianist and a mainstay at Nick's for many years. George Wettling was a brilliant drummer in the Baby Dodds to Cozy Cole mould and a favourite of Eddie Condon. Together, they played Dixie classics in a timeless way. Call it unhurried with heat and in this case it was probably fueled by more than a little scotch or bourbon.

This one is easily worth a listen. It's a real insight into what these guys were still capable of doing on a nightly basis if the mood struck them. Over an hour of choice Wild Bill for your enjoyment. Recommended.

Can't believe this is available on CD. I found this LP in the cut-outs at a K-Mart about 15 years ago. A kinder, gentler John Fahey - but one of my favorite albums. Don't know if it is worth the $ unless you're a hard-core Fahey collector - but certainly worth looking for at the used record store (although I've never seen another copy).

This was Fahey's second REPRISE album following OF RIVERS AND RELIGION. Those who know that album will want to have this one too. All the merits of RIVERS AND RELIGION are here....wonderful playing and glorious arrangements and production. Where RIVERS AND RELIGION was relaxed and mellow in mood, this album is more varied and, perhaps more memorable. Fahey plays solo on three tracks: the thoroughly characteristic HORSES with that muscular thumb work getting the album off to a flying start, a beautiful rendering of WHEN YOU WORE A TULIP, and the finest account of BEVERLY, a truly exceptional composition worth the purchase price on its own. Other tracks bring in a small band featuring clarinet, trumpet, trombone, mandolin, fiddle, guitars etc. We hear lovely arrangements of NEW ORLEANS SHUFFLE, I WISH I KNEW HOW IT WOULD FEEL TO BE FREE and AFTER THE BALL. BUCKTOWN STOMP, CANDY MAN and HAWAIIAN TWO-STEP (a familiar Fahey theme), feature strings without brass....a feast of acoustic fun! And this brings me to OM SHANTHI NORRIS, a truly lovely, wistful, nostalgic 6 minutes of sheer bliss, with Fahey's slide guitar singing the lovely theme (an Indian melody) over the most wonderful string arrangement, including plucked banjo and a gorgeous tremolo mandolin played by Allen Reuse. I think this is one of the most beautiful and captivating pieces of music I have heard. Any record with eight excellent tracks, and two tracks of outstanding perfection in BEVERLY and OM SHANTHI NORRIS has to have a 5 star recommendation. I can't see how anyone could fail to enjoy this honest, delightful record, full of melody, invention and first rate musicianship.

This is another of Fahey's finest albums. Some tracks solo, some with a small "orchestra."

BUT...do yourself a favor and purchase the 2-fer on Rhino UK of OF RIVERS & RELIGION and AFTER THE BALL. Really, you'll be much happer. The albums are stylistically similar, making it a seamless collection of tunes. It has Rhino's terrific re-mastering, courtesy of Bill Inglot (Collector's Choice seems to have done a simple transfer with no re-mastering), much more complete liner notes, courtesy of Sid Griffin, and a slipcase. At this writing it's available right here on Amazon USA -- you don't even need to pay the import shipping.

I became interested in John Fahey while in college through the credit Leo Kottke gave to Fahey in liner notes and in covering several Fahey tunes. Between Kottke releases, hungry for more of this type of music, I sought out Fahey and Peter Lang to satisfy my lust. Some Kottke fans can't make the transition to Fahey's slow tempo, and sometimes weird offerings. But I kept on listening because I heard an inner voice in the eccentricity of Fahey's music.

Among Fahey fans, this disc is not particularly popular because as with 'Rivers and Religion' (my Fahey favorite) he uses a Dixieland/ragtime orchestra on several cuts. But he uses it well, and sprinkles it judiciously throughout the recording. Now that bands like Squirrel Nut Zippers have risen in popularity, there might be a new audience for this disc.

Fahey was always trying to do something interesting with his music. Here he's picked the tunes, the musicians and the arrangements and pulled it off. New Orleans Shuffle (2) in the Squirrel Nut Zippers instrumental style, with solos of guitar, clarinet, and cornet. I wish I Knew How it Would Feel to be Free (5) is played with the reverence and precision a church hymn should. After the Ball (10) evokes images of the last number in a long night for 30's dance band.

But there's plenty of classic Fahey for the purists, and it's quality stuff. The acoustic tunes on *After The Ball* are more up-tempo than the funereal sound many people think of when Fahey's name comes to mind. Horses (1) is a jaunt with a bouncy, happy canter and a few flashes of Fahey's fancy fretwork. Beverly (3) starts out beautifully sinister and slow, then quickening in tempo and alternating again until it rises to satisfying finish. Om Shanti Norris (4) is my all-time favorite John Fahey tune for its intricacy of musical patterns. It's a delicate, blusesygrass mantra, done like a vocal round. It is like what a musical Jackson Pollack painting would be--- banjos providing a basic melodic drop cloth upon which slide guitars dribble ever so lightly, and Fahey's finger-pickin' good licks embroider their own patterns over all. When You Wore a Tulip and I Wore a Big Red Rose (6) A pleasant, happy song that evidences the influence Fahey's style had on the early Kottke. Hawaiian Two-Step (7) It's a shame this song is on such an obscure record, because it undoes the damage to ukulele music by Arthur Godfrey and Tiny Tim. Bucktown Stomp (8) acoustic guitar, with a little calliope/organ thrown in for good measure. Why didn't somebody use this for a TV commercial backdrop? Candy Man (9) A happy-go-lucky interpretation of the traditional tune.

Richie Unterberger wrote the interesting liner notes to the Collector's Choice Music CD, adding historical anecdotes of the production and marketing response to this recording and are worth reading. And if you like American music, this disc is well worth purchasing.

Don't let the cover picture mislead you. These are not rank amateurs getting together after one too many. Excellent musicianship and very professional!! The music is great feel-good stuff that is familiar to most players of wind instruments (George Cohen and other works with traditional American sound). Sad that our rich musical heritage (band music, jazz) is overlooked by so many. This group is a reminder of how rich it is-I can't recommend this recording enough.

An excellent recording from a great era of music that never gets dated. A nice lively spirit lifting experience for those who love brass and small town bands the way they used to be.

This album IS silky rich, sweet and sexy. I have Michel Plays Legrand, The Thomas Crown Affair and Windmills of Your Mind. I love them all but when I am in a quiet jazz mood this album is tops. It is on that same level as "Chet" by Chet Baker. It is slow jazz at it's best. Ya just gotta love it.

Since "Images" is not available (why????? one of the finest albums of all time.) this is as close as we get on compact disk. Phil Woods and LeGrand are special together. Anyone seriously searching the diskography of LeGrand already knows that, however. It is a must buy.

This is Michel LaGrand in a setting you will not hear often. On this recording there is a special feeling between the players. Phil Woods and Zoot Sims are a real treat. This is one fine jazz album that is very well done. Michel LaGrand stands up! I wish that they would reissue "Images" also with Phil Woods.