Swing Music

Wow! What a fun record! This is one of the hottest (and peppiest) western swing bands of the time, a San Antonio outfit that had a way with saucy novelty songs, and a real sweet-tooth for jazzy arrangements... With over two dozen tracks and nice sound quality, this disc is a darn fine way to spend your hard-earned sheckels. Also, check out Joe Barnes' trademark trick banjo playing -- where he plays so fast that the notes start to blur and distort chromatically -- a technique used on "Sarah Jane" and several other tunes. High-powered pickin' and hilarious storytelling. HIGHLY recommended!!

This is the first volume in the Chronological Classics series on Count Basie, and most of the music on it should and will live forever. It begins with the Jones-Smith Inc. sides that gave John Hammond coniptions, contracturally speaking, but only give the rest of us everlasting joy. "Shoe shine boy" and "Lady be good" are masterpieces from this session; Lester Young is amazing. Then come the first five Decca sessions with the full big band, and the honey continues to flow. We get "Swingin' at the Daisy Chain," "Roseland shuffle," "One o'clock jump," "Topsy," and "John's idea" just to name a few of the gems from these sessions. These are must-have recordings.

Yeah, this is the real deal: before the '50s revival of boogie-woogie and the invention of rock-a-billy, there was Albert Ammons and the original late '30s boogie-woogie--which was part of the natural evolution of jazz piano from the early ragtime of Joplin, via the stride of Morton and Johnson. A rockin' good disc!

This CD is very good! Starting with a July 1936 Decca session fronted by Nat's brother Eddie. Nat was only 19 and sounds much like Earl Hines. The other 16 sides were recorded for the short-lived Davis & Schwegler (1/39) and Ammor (2/40) labels, making these sides very rare. These recodings are great but are rough sounding at best. "On The Sunny Side Of The Street" and "By The River St. Marie" are the highlights of the later session. This CD is for the serious Nat "King" Cole fan due to the lack of hit material, familar to the passive fan. A greatest hits CD, this ain't, but it is good, none the less! Another great CD from the folks at Jazz Chonologial Classics or is that "Chonogical" LOL.

This CD is very good! Starting with a July 1936 Decca session fronted by Nat's brother Eddie. Nat was only 19 and sounds much like Earl Hines. The other 16 sides were recorded for the short-lived Davis & Schwegler (1/39) and Ammor (2/40) labels, making these sides very rare. These recodings are great but are rough sounding at best. "On The Sunny Side Of The Street" and "By The River St. Marie" are the highlights of the later session. This CD is for the serious Nat "King" Cole fan due to the lack of hit material, familar to the passive fan. A greatest hits CD, this ain't, but it is good, none the less! Another great CD from the folks at Jazz Chonologial Classics or is that "Chonogical" LOL.