New Orleans Jazz Professors Music

Isidore 'Tuts' Washington was one of the most important pianists to emerge in the New Orleans tradition in the 1930s and 40s. He was extremely sceptical towards recording, and consequently, there aren't many albums under his name. In the early 1980s, he agreed to do this album for Rounder Records, and the result is a glorious piano record. Washington handles jazz, blues and pop tunes with the utmost grace and skill, and he comes across as a musical entertainer of the highest order. Like many of his contemporaries, he knew how to please an audience without making artistic compromises. Washington is great to listen to, and he is a very important musician, because of his influence on later players like Longhair and Booker. If you like this album, you should also try to seek out the very rare "Live At Tipitina" which captures Tuts in his element; in front of an enthusiastic, noisy audience.

Tuts Washington's piano playing was a key link between New Orleans jazz and New Orleans rhythm-&-blues. Tuts was a primary influence on New Orleans-Caribbean-rock-n-blues pioneer Professor Longhair and on subsequent players like James Booker, Allen Toussaint, and Dr. John. He played and played, beautifully, both solo and in groups, until he was 80-something and passed away at a gig at the 1984 New Orleans World's Fair. This early-80's recording of solo piano is an outstanding, classic, and very fitting tribute to Tuts' virtuosity.

Apart from Tuts' historical significance, this is a very enjoyable album to listen to, just a delight. Tuts has a unique style which is very appealing, a light touch which is very soulful without becoming heavy handed. His technique is great but the feeling of the music is what is important. This is a great album and functions great as both pleasant background music and fascinating music to listen hard to--I mean that as a compliment.

Recorded in New Orleans in 1949/50. Sound quality good to excellent. Interesting to hear some of the songs in the raw. However not my favorite 'fess CD. For die hard fans only (like me!) I would recommend Gumbo, Crawfish Fiesta, House Party, and the Anthology all as better places to start unless you are a student of old recordings !

Best fess recording Ive heard! Strongly suggested. Always considered myself a guitar aficionado and Gatemouth's runs hereon are sweet but the keyboard work is second to none! This is about the only Piano player that I could listen to repeatedly...and I do! The sound quality is lacking on some of the other discs but not here.

This is one of two of the many Professor Longhair albums out there that is a must own - the other being Crawfish Fiesta. It truly does not get better than this.

This album is the best by Professor Longhair and The Fess is one of the best. Call his Style what you will: blues boggie woggie, blackability, Blues Gumbo or just plain good the Fes rocks. This album has an intersting history. Recorded by a French label it was over ten years before it was released state-side. This is the only album that The Fess recorded with Clarence Gatemouth Brown on guitar. The album is excellent, production quality is high, backing band is very good, and the Fess is amazing both on the keyes and vocally. If you like blues, piano, Orleans jazz, all the above - buy this album.

George Winston, the producer of this CD, was a top seller on Windham Hill records during the 1980s and early '90s. In case you've forgotten Winston (and he was eminently forgettable), he played soft, innocuous cocktail music on the piano which he was pleased to call "jazz," but for some reason unknown to Mankind, one of his idols was Fess Byrd, a.k.a. Professor Longhair, whose style was about as related to George Winston's as Charles Mingus' is to Kenny G.

This was my intoduction to Professor Longhair, and what an introduction it is. The man played the piano as if it were a tuned conga drum; when jazz legend Art Tatum heard him play in the early 1950s, he was mesmerized by his style. No, Fess was no Tatum, not even close, but WOW what a great, asymmetric piano style he had!! Highly recommended.

This album is by far the best Professor Longhair album on the market today. This is based on the fact that George Winston and Dancing Cat Records, have put in the time and effort to ensure a A+ recording. There are others version of the same songs out there by this master of the NO piano, however the sonic of them do not compare to this one. Thank you Mr. Winston. You have given this great musican a testiment that is worth it grain in salt.

This CD contains great, happy, expansive music. I love these unique, live versions of the 'Fess songbook. The piano and conga combine for an amazingly rich sound. For a live concert, the clarity is awesome. You hear every note the Professor plays. This is a wonderful piano album.

The Good Doctor Professor Longhair in a duo setting with conga drummer Alfred 'Uganda' Roberts. It just can't get any better than this. These two heavy gentlemen work their way through Longhair's greatest hits in a glorious live recording. Every keyboard trick is heard to the utmost advantage, and the beat never quits. Run out and buy this record.

This CD appears to have a factory defect. For a review of the music, see others' comments. Briefly, the CD is a wonderful companion to ROUNDER's "Houseparty New Orleans Style", which offers rareties culled from the same sessions as this CD. PROBLEM[!]: I purchased my CD from Amazon because the copy I already owned had a skip in it. In the Fats Domino Medley - during "Going To The River", there is a brief skip. Fess sings "The Rain/Rain is falling...". There was some surface damage on my CD, so I took it to a local record shop, they fixed the surface scratches, but the same skip remained. When I received my "like new" CD from Amazon, which has NO surface damage, the EXACT SAME SKIP appears. Does anyone have a "Mardi Gras In Baton Rouge" CD on which this skip does NOT exist?

This is a great CD to play at a cookout or crawfish boil; mostly high-energy 'Fess tunes, all with a beat you can step to. Kind of a 'greatest hits' albulm. You can't lay down and die before you've heard 'Jambalaya', lest you want to live eternity in regret.

Although this CD has some overlap with other 'fess CDs it is still worth a listen plus you get several classics not found elsewhere. Seems like the good Professor had about a dozen standards and it seems like at 6 of the them show up on every CD. This CD revolves around the standards that substained him through the lean years. Not a bad choice for the first time listener, although Gumbo and Crawfish Fiesta are my personal favorites.

The sound quality of every track is outstanding. I am very impressed with all of the Rhino CD's on that point. This is a real studio album and the sound quality reflects that.

I highly recommend this CD.

For me these Atlantic tracks are by far his best recordings.I have the LP but felt I must purchase the CD as well.Backed by Dave Bartholomews best musicians and produced by the excellent Atlantic Records team of Jerry Wexler,Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson it can't get any better!!What an excellent mix!!!These Atlantic greats should have made more trips to New Orleans (sorry Cosimo!)

This is a GREAT collection of Professor Longhair's piano-dominated songs.... he is just amazing. I can't believe it took me this long to stumble across his work. This CD is perfection.

These recordings date from 1949 and 1953 and are essential recordings for lovers of New Orleans music. Professor Longhair is the Godfather of modern New Orleans Piano and here he is on top form.

Playing with him is a star-studded collection of New Orleans players, some of the better known are:
Lee Allen - Tenor Sax
Red Tyler - Baritone Sax
Earl Palmer - Drums

The recordings were produced by Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler, the kingpins of Atlantic records. Of course what counts is the music and in this department you are guarenteed a good time. Fess is steaming on "Ball the Wall" and Lee Allens tenor sax solo is blisteringly good. There are no weak tracks on this album and all of Fess's best known songs on here. Enjoy...

To quibble about the sound quality (as a previous reviewer saw fit to) of these classic tracks is perhaps expecting too much from "modern" sound technology. I can only imagine what opinions would be forthcoming on the Delmark live Magic Sam releases! 6 STARS for the man I would consider to be the father of the New Orleans rock and blues sound !!

I have a copy of this CD from BMG and the sound quality is awful. Not sure if this version is re-mastered but I would not take the chance. I recommend Crawfish Feista and Rock and Roll Gumbo as far better examples of Fess's work.