Dixieland Music

Barabara Lea has been an acceptional jazz singer, all of her life, she started out singing with Benny Goodman, she was very active in the 50's with the Dixieland revial. Often accompanied by New Orleans style musicians, Lea is highly influenced by another great, but not too well known jazz legend Lee Wiley. Lea has a clear tone, and wonderful diction, her voice is swinging, and highly appealing, yet she also does remarkably well on ballads like Hoagy Carmichael's "Baltimore Oriole" included here on this generally excellent mid 50's seesion. Here she is acompanied by top notch jazzmen, occasionally doing some dixieland style backing. This generally swinging session is among Lea's finest sessions. A wonderful version of "Nobody Else But Me,"(which became a jazz standard after she recorded it) which Tony Bennett would record a few yaers later with The Ralph Sharon Trio. This is highly recommended music by a truly graet talented and unfortionately forgotten jazz vocalist

Yes that's right she perched with Benny Goodman's Orchestra, and she sounds as great as ever on her own singing standrds, and swinging wonderfully... Recomended.

Barabara Lea has been an acceptional jazz singer, all of her life, she started out singing with Benny Goodman, she was very active in the 50's with the Dixieland revial. Often accompanied by New Orleans style musicians, Lea is highly influenced by another great, but not too well known jazz legend Lee Wiley. Lea has a clear tone, and wonderful diction, her voice is swinging, and highly appealing, yet she also does remarkably well on ballads like Hoagy Carmichael's "Baltimore Oriole" included here on this generally excellent mid 50's seesion. Here she is acompanied by top notch jazzmen, occasionally doing some dixieland style backing. This generally swinging session is among Lea's finest sessions. A wonderful version of "Nobody Else But Me,"(which became a jazz standard after she recorded it) which Tony Bennett would record a few yaers later with The Ralph Sharon Trio. This is highly recommended music by a truly graet talented and unfortionately forgotten jazz vocalist

Yes that's right she perched with Benny Goodman's Orchestra, and she sounds as great as ever on her own singing standrds, and swinging wonderfully... Recomended.

I usually hate xmas compilations, but this one has a coupla gems. Louis Prima's "What Will Santa Claus Say (when he finds everybody swingin')" is so jivin'. AND he wrote it! Also, Duke Ellington's take on that hardened chestnust, "Jingle Bells" is impressive. And the jovial call-and-response vocals of "I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm" is worth the price of admission alone.

These are just some of the reasons to get this disc:
* Duke Ellington & His Orchestra doing "Jingle Bells is just about the best of the hundreds of versions of that song.
* Louis Prima's "What Will Santa Claus Say (When He Finds Everybody Swingin'?)" is sone vintage Christmas swing.
* Big Tiny Little's (I just love that name) ragtime piano intrumental "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" will make you want to sing along.
* Charles Brown does the original "Merry Christmas, Baby". If you don't already own it on another compilation, you can get it here.

Most of the songs here are good representations of Christmas in New Orleans. Still, I have to wonder why the producers of this disc chose to include Fats Domino's "When The Saints Go Marching In", since he has recorded some great Christmas songs. And how did the Boston Pops end up on a New Orleans compilation? Also, Victoria Spivey's "Christmas Morning Blues" has kind of grating 1920's blues sound that would appeal mostly to music historians.
This is probably about a 3 1/2 star set, but the generous Christmas spirit bumps it up to 4.

This is a classic. Armstrong's voice is its own blend of sandpaper and silk and it is satisfying to listen to him.

There are tunes in here like "Zat you Santa Claus" that are a hoot: "What's that I spy there, is that an eye there? Zat you Santa Claus?" Now, once you hear it, you'll have a hard time getting it out of your head.

The playing is solid and the tunes are all well executed. This is jazz played the way "it used to be," and it is a throroughly satisfying experience. I bought this on vinyl originally and am glad it has made the trip to CD.

So few people today have heard Satchmo (Armstrong) that when you put this one on and people start to hum along and pick up the words, they get quiet and listen. It's a blast from the past!