Swing Music

Pelo fato de ter sido uma pessoa absolutamente normal durante toda sua longa carreira, Carter não costuma ser muito festejado nos meios jazzísticos. Sem a ira dionisíaca de um Charles Mingus, sem a excentricidade esquizofrênica de um Thelonious Monk e sem o sorriso perigoso de Duke Ellington, Carter dificilmente é citado como um dos maiores músicos do jazz. É grande o engano ou flagrante a injustiça colocá-lo no segundo escalão.

Carter é, entre outras coisas, o melhor arranjador da transição entre as décadas de 1920 e 1930, época em que Heisenberg proclamava o princípio da incerteza na Física. Tendo aprendido o ofício da orquestração por conta própria, chegou a rivalizar e até mesmo superar alguns mestres da época, como Don Redman. Fugindo ao modelo de sucesso fácil oferecido pelo swing, estilo que assolava o EUA nesses tempos, Carter construiu uma obra genial com humildade, independência e sensibilidade. Sua obra somente pode ser comparada à montanhesca criação da dupla Ellington & Strayhorn. Ao contrário do trabalho de Ellington, essencialmente instrumental, as composições de Carter são extremamente `cantáveis', característica que comprova sua veia de grande solista.

Além do trabalho como arranjador e compositor, Carter era um exímio instrumentista, capaz de cantar, tocar piano, trombone, trompete e os saxofones soprano, alto e tenor. Embora excelente trompetista, foi com o sax alto que Carter se destaca como um dos mais importantes improvisadores do jazz: suave, doce e tranqüilo, nem mesmo a velocidade assustadora imposta por Charlie Parker foi capaz de ofuscar a beleza de seus solos. Sua sonoridade única influenciou vários mestres do saxofone, entre eles Sonny Rollins. Carter era o tipo de pessoa que, assim como o inigualável Lester Young, apesar de negro, nunca teve vergonha ou malícia em negar a profunda influência recebida de Frank Trumbauer, um excepcional saxofonista branco renegado no jazz por sua cor. Para Carter a beleza da música estava acima do racismo irracional.

Carter provou com seu trabalho que nem toda música doce e agradável é necessariamente música de elevador ou de consultório dentário. Sua obra comprova que a música pode ser inteligente e complexa sem ser necessariamente chata e inaudível. Ele sabia, mais e melhor que todos nós, que o sucesso obedece cegamente ao princípio da incerteza, principalmente When Lights Are Low. Mas o mestre, é claro, não se importava com isso.

These selections are form the early phase of the career of Louis Jordan, the super-lunatic madman supreme of Jazz comedy and grandfather of soul.

He specialized in singing (and acting out) wildly comical stories about everyday African-American life in his times, as well as playing one of the meanest saxophones around. Knee-slapping as well as foot-patting.

In this set of recordings, it shows him struggling to find his winning formula. Most of the tunes here are hit-or miss, undistiunguished, standard small combo jazz of the era, although instrumentals like "Pintetop's Boogie Woogie" and "saxa Woogie" are not bad and listenable. But we catch a few glimpses of the audio-cartoon insanity that was to come.

"Somebody Done Hoodooed the HooDoo Man" is as fall down-on the floor funny as his more famous records. Here he sings about a voodoo con-artist "selling jive" to his gullible customers. In "De Laff's On You," we hear the foundation of his "Jafakean" accent tunes with a West-Indian theme, which endeared (rather than offended) Carribean fans of Jordan.

"Do You Call That a Buddy" is a mildly amusing blues about a "friend" who sneaks off with Jordan's lover, but not as hilarious as the stuff that was to come. "How I Love My Teacher," is a moderately funny tale about a "strapping boy" who falls in love with his teacher.

Jordanites who love the belly-laugh and foot-stomping inducing "Saturday Night Fish Fry," "Beans and Cornbread" brand of Jordanism should be warned that this is largely of historical interest, but even they will be amused by some of this stuff. Buy it used and you'll do alright.

This was the hot, sweet, but sophisticated, party music of the Swing Era. No one was more popular among Black youth who needed music to party than Lunsford. No one out performed them in their stage show. They were decisive to the shape of big band music with their arrangers setting the pace for many other swing bands for decades after Lunsfords death in the mid 1940s.


When I saw the series that was purported to tell the story of Jazz on PBS a couple years ago, I thought I had missed an episode because there was not a full program about Lunsford, or continual mention of the great band and its decisive influence on Jazz. Then I went to my friend who is one of the planet's major jazz lovers and who videotapes anything broadcast with jazz or good music and asked him about the missing episode. He said there wasn't one. I couldn't believe it, just couldn't.

Jimmie Lunsford's orchestra was one of the great Jazz Bands along with Basie, Ellington, and Chick Webb. In many ways, they were the popular royalty of swing, because they presented a higher level of entertainment and were probably more popular among African Americans than Ellington, and were longer lasting than Basie.

Listen to this music. It's smooth, cool, fun, nothing but danceable. The vocals are clean and cool and when the band sings it isn't the usual hoarse half-shout---which I still ador whenever a swing band shouts back--but an organized choir. This is music that must have been what the coolest of the cool guys and gals of the time listened to and above all partied to at the height of the depression.

While they may not have had the kind of impact on Jazz as an art as Ellington's excellent arrangements and compositions or the way Basie's rhythmn section made four beat swing unconquerable and provided a platform for the greatness of Lester Young and, Lunceford had a deeper influence on the white swing bands on post-swing "big band" music. The tight but swinging sound of the Lunsford orchestra, the way the horn sections alternated, the way the voicings were so clear and un mistakeable became the pattern for most of the popular swing bands. The great arrangers within the Lunsford Orchestra like Eddie Durham (Basie actually made a deal with Lunsford to borrow Durham for two years!!), Sy Oliver, and Gerald Wilson were hired by all the big white Swing bands of the 1940s like Glenn Miller who is forever identified with Eddie Durham's arrangement of "In the Mood." Oliver and Wilson outlasted the Swing era either as arrangers and leaders of recording and movie score orchestras into the 1970s.

It wasn't just dance and party music, smooth performanced, choreographed stage shows, Lunsford even had and pulled off great arrangements of light classical pieces.

Unfortunately, while Hampton, Ellington, and Basie lived on and kept their flames going, Jimmie Lunsford died in an auto accident in the forties. So, a lot people don't realize he belongs there with Basie and Ellington in the pantheon of Swing.

This CD starts with 12 more side recorded for Davis & Schegler (7/40) and closes with their first sides for Decca (12/40 & 3/41). Nat's piano playing could not be better. "Sweet Lorraine" and "Honeysuckle Rose" are awesome. His playing is so complicated yet simplistic. I love "This Side Up", as well. Oscar Moore's guitar is excellent here and Wesley Prince, bass, is great also. These CDs are excellent. Again the sound quality on the D&S sides are a bit rough but, the Decca side sound clean. For the serious Nat Cole fan!!!

I am a big fan of Lionel Hampton's pre-war stuff. It is happy, and always that pop, and flare. It is happy syncopating music that never loses melody, rhythm, or cool.

Just received the 1934-1939 and 1940-1941 CD's of Jack Teagarden and his orchestra in the Classics series and I now have the complete set, and what a pleasure it is to listen to this wonderful music, great sound and I think the sound people deserve a pat on the back to produce this sound from old recordings, some from 1930. Mr. T, is he not simply the best. I recently bought a DVD in Amsterdam (Snader Telescriptions) and what a pleasure it is to see the man play, he makes it all look so easy. And of course all the musicians are great. Recommend the music to everyone.
Aalf J Molenberg (Australia)