Dixieland Music

This CD is vintage jazz at its best!

The accompanying personnel is a "Who's Who" in jazz, ...with Chu Berry, Joe Eldridge, Scoops Carry, Gladys Palmer, Clyde Hart, Benny Carter, Zutty Singleton, Dave Young, John Collins to name a few.

Several of the cuts, 'Heckler's Hop' 'Florida Stomp' 'Wabash Stomp' were recorded in Chicago and played famously at a jazz venue known as the "Three Dueces." The "Three Dueces" got its name by its location in Chicago, 222 No. State Street, Chicago IL.

Roy Eldridge is quoted as saying, "there was nothing those cats couldn't do ... the most flexible" (Barry Ulanov, 'A History of Jazz 1950). Mr. Ulanov is eloquent, "those of us who heard Roy and his brother Joe and Scoops Carry on altos, John Collins on guitar, Teddy Cole on piano, Truck Parham on bass, Zutty Singleton on drums in that band, remember very well the suppleness and authority with which it played. It makes us starry-eyed about the mythical Golden Age of jazz when we listen to those Vocalions ... styles and ideas ... are not ephemeral values that fade with the passing of a style, an era, or a movement in jazz." (B.Ulanov)

Heckler's Hop -- vintage jazz at its best!

This is the watershed collection of Roy Eldridge's work. His reputation may be built on his live engagements in the small clubs lining 52nd street back in the day, but this is the studio-recorded evidence of those days by which history judges him. It is breathtaking work. In these recordings, Little Jazz is the clearly seen as the bridge between Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie. Adjectives that could be applied to the work include, but are by no means limited to: frenzied, burnished, controlled, impassioned, funky, cool, red-hot, swinging. --Which is to say the man covers a lot of territory in terms of technique and emotion in this collection.
Heartily unconditionally recommended

A splendid compilation of some of Louis Armstrong's earlier work. The great thing about almost any Armstrong collection is that it will have a few songs that are well known (either by performances of Louis or another individual) and a few new discoveries. Happily, this is no different.

This disc has some delightful singing on standards like "I'm in the Mood for Love", and "Sunny Side of the Street". Of course, it would not be Pops without some equally wonderful trumpet work, particularly on "Love Walked In", "Red Sails in the Sunset" and "On Treasure Island". There is one absolutely fabulous duet with Frances Langford and Bing Crosby (would that make this a "tri-et"?) on "Pennies from Heaven".

This is some of Armstrong's best work from a time when his horn was sounding as sweet as it ever did.

The recording, lamentably is not the best, but given that these recordings are more than sixty years old, that is a minor problem.