NEWSLETTER
#124
Jazz, Dance Bands, Vocalists
Larry Adler -> Lester Young
| LARRY ADLER | Empress RAJCD 835 | Rhapsody In Blues | ● CD $13.98 |
| Back in stock. 21 tracks recorded in the 30s by this
brilliant and influential harmonica player. Larry, who died last year, was
particularly popular in England where many of these recordings were made.
Accompanied by an orchestra Larry performs a selection of pop songs, jazz
tunes and a couple of classical pieces - The Continental/ Sophisticated
Lady/ Rhapsody In Blue/ Creole Love Call/ Rubensteins Melody In F/ They
All Laughed/ Hungarian Dance No. 5/ With Plenty Of Money And You/ Stormy
Weather and others including several medleys. |
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| HENRY "RED" ALLEN | ASV CDAJA 5356 | Ride, Red, Ride | ● CD $11.98 |
| 25 tracks, 77 mins, highly recommended A fine introduction
to the work of this superb trumpeter featuring him a wide variety of
settings recorded between 1930 and 1946. The earliest sides from 1930
feature him with the classy Luis Russell Orchestra, a 21 year old kid
along side the likes of J.C. Higginbotham, Albert Nicholas and Paul
Barbarin. There are tracks with Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra as well as
Fletcher's brother Horace Henderson. Red does a vocal on the old favorite Who
Stole The Lock On The Hen House Door with Jack Bland & His
Orchestra as well as sides with Coleman Hawkins & His Orch., Benny
Morton & His Orch, Teddy Wilson & His Orch. (backing Billie
Holiday), Sidney Bechet & His New Orleans Feetwarmers and others.
Allen was a topnotch improviser his whole life, frequently ahead of his
time, even garnering praise into the 60's for his creativity when his
peers were still playing When The Saints Go Marchin' In. Sound is
excellent and there are informative notes by Vic Bellerby. Check him out.
(FS/AE) |
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| HENRY "RED" ALLEN | JSP JSPCD 3403 | And His New York Orchestra, 1929-1930 | ● CD $16.98 |
| Two CD set with 43 sides remastered by John R.T. Davies.
Disc one features the master takes of 22 tunes including accompaniments to
blues singers Victoria Spivey and Sweet Peas. Disc 2 features 17 alternate
takes of tunes on disc one plus four tracks froma session by Luis Russell
& His Orch. with Allen. Musicians include Pops Foster, Charlie Holmes,
Albert Nicholas, Luis Russell, Teddy Hill, Paul Barbarin, Will Johnson,
J.C. Higginbotham, Charlie Holmes and others. |
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| HENRY "RED" ALLEN | Neatwork 2031 | The Alternative Takes, Vol. 1 : 1929-1941 | ● CD $13.98 |
| 24 tracks , 75 min, highly recommended. Though it says
"29-41" only a rejected OKeh take of KK Boogie from '41
is later than '35, with 22 tracks from '29-33. The first 11 tracks are Red
with His New York Orch (actually Luis Russel's mostly New Orleans orch.
with such greats as Albert Nicholas, JC Higginbotham & Pops Foster, on
a series of initially unissued Victor sides from '29-30. The next sessions
find Red as a sideman with various bands with vocalist Billy Banks, with
such greats as Gene Krupa, PeeWee Russel, Eddie Condon & Joe Sullivan,
along with a ARC session as The Rhythmakers from 7/26/32 with Banks,
Peewee, Condon, Fats Waller et al, & a 10/8/32 sessions as by Jack
Bland & his Rhythmakers with Peewee, Condon, Tommy Dorsey. A rejected Call
Of The Delta by Buster Bailey & His Seven Chocolate Dandies was
done for Vocalion & includes Higginbotham, Bennie Carter &
arranged by Fletcher Henderson. (GM) |
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| COUNT BASIE | Neatwork 2038 | The Alternative Takes, Vol. 1 : 1936-1940 | ● CD $13.98 |
| 24 tracks, 68 min, essential. The Basie Orch at their peak!
Except for the first three tracks (which includes an alternate of the
legendary Shoe Shine Boy from Basie's pseudonymous first recording
session from '36 as Smith-Jones Inc) these are alternates of the
incredible '39 /'40 sides done for Brunswick/ Vocalion/ Columbia/ Decca.
With such giants as Lester Young, Buck Clayton, Sweets Edison, Dickie
Wells, Chu Berry, Jimmy Rushing & Helen Humes on vocals & of
course, The Rhythm Section - Basie, Freddy Green, Walter Page & Jo
Jones, & great songs like Blow Top/ How Long Blues/ When The Sun
Goes Down (the last two covers of Leroy Carr sides!), Don't Worry
'Bout Me/ If I Could Be With You (One Hour Tonight)/ Gone With
"What" Wind, etc. (GM) |
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| CONNIE BOSWELL | Jasmine 386 | They Can't Take These Songs Away From Me | ● CD $15.98 |
| Two CD set featuring 44 sides by the most talented of The
Boswell Sisters recorded between 1931 and 1946 including six duets with
Bing Crosby. Includes Start The Day Right/ Me Minus You/ I'll Never say
"Never Again" Again/ I've Got A Feelin' You're Foolin'/ You Can
Call It Swing/ Mr. Freddie Blues/ Simple And Sweet/ Someday You'll Find
Your Bluebird/ Under A Falling Star, etc. |
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| THE BOSWELL SISTERS | Nostalgia Arts 3023 | The Boswell Sisters Collection, Vol. 5 | ● CD $16.98 |
| The fifth in this great series reissuing all the recordings
by this fine vocal group features 22 tracks recorded between 1933 and
1936. The girls are featured in the company of The Dorsey Brothers Orch.,
Jimmy Grier & His Orch and others on songs like O.K. America/
Alexander's Ragtime Band/ Don't Let Your Love Go Arong/ If I had A Million
Dollars/ It's Written All Over Your Face/ Way Back Home/ Travelin' All
Alone/ Fare Thee Well, Annabelle/ Top Hat, White Tie & tails/ I'm
Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter and others. Remastering
by John R.T. Davies and extensive notes by David W. McCain. We missed
listing previous volumes in this series but can get them - numbers are
3007, 3008, 3009 and 3022. |
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| DUKE ELLINGTON | Neatwork 2033 | The Alternative Takes, Vol. 4 : 1933-36 + Bonus Tracks | ● CD $13.98 |
| 25 tracks, 76 mins, essential 25 rare & wonderful
Ellington alternates. The first 15 come from '33, with a very stable
version of the band including Cootie Williams, Juan Tizol, Tricky Sam
Nanton, Johnny Hodges et al, when the band was simultaneously recording
for Columbia, Decca & Victor, with takes of Rude Interlude/
Merry-Go-Round & Sophisticated Lady as well as the two part
Blackbird Melody including the very rare C take of part 2. Also
here is the very rare Oriole (UK) A Souvenir Of Duke Ellington, an
interview from London with some solo piano. There's another eight from
'34-'36 including rare alts of the Duke Ellington Sextet for Brunswick in
'35. The set ends with two that didn't make it in time for the previous
volumes, a rejected Victor take of Flaming Youth from '29 & the
rare first take of Old Man Blues from '30 (GM) |
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| DUKE ELLINGTON | Neatwork 2039 | The Alternative Takes, Vol. 5 : 1936-1937 | ● CD $13.98 |
| 25 tracks complementing the Classics series including Lazy
Man's Shuffle/ Caravan/ Scattin' At The Kit Kat/ The New east St. Louis
Toodle-Oo/ Digga Digga Doo, etc. |
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| SLIM GAILLARD | Classics 1221 | 1947-1951 | ● CD $15.98 |
| 24 tracks, highly recommended 24 tracks of the voutest with
his long time foil and bassist Bam Brown plus Dodo Marmarosa, Buddy Tate,
Dick Hyman and others. Includes such timeless ditties as The
Bartender's Just Like A Mother/ Arabian Boogie/ Momma's In The Kitchen/ (I
Don't Stand) A Ghost Of A Chance (a great Billy Eckstine
impersonation)/ Little Red Riding Woods (a true classic)/ Money, Money,
Money/ Serenade To A Poodle (truly demented)/ Down By The Station/
When Banana Skins Are Falling/ Organ-Oreenie/ Soony-Roony/ / Oh, Lady Be
Good/ Bablu and others. (FS) |
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| LIONEL HAMPTON | Neatwork 2036 | The Alternative Takes, 1929-1947 | ● CD $13.98 |
| 24 tracks, 70 min, essential. This set is essential in that
it's one of the only ways to get the complete recordings of Hamp's
pre-vibes & fame group Paul Howard's Quality Serenaders, where he was
the drummer & sometimes pianist & vocalist. The dozen sides were
done in Hollywood for Victor in '29 & '30 & feature fine trumpet
by George Orendorf & includes future Ellingtonian Lawrence Brown on
trombone. Most of the remaining sides are originally unissued Victor sides
from '37-40 with all-stars & members of Benny Goodman's orch.
Including Gene Krupa, Ziggy Elman, Vido Musso, Jess Stacy, Art Rollini,
Chu Berry.. Here's an amazing lineup for When Lights Are Low from
9/11/39 - Dizzy Gillespie (t), Benny Carter (as), Coleman Hawkins (ts),
Ben Webster & Chu Berry (ts), Clyde Hart (p), Hamp (vibes), Charlie
Christian (el g), Milt Hinton (b) & Cozy Cole (d) - doesn't get any
better than that! (GM) |
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| JOHNNY HARTMAN | The Jazz Factory 22829 | Complete Regent Recordings | ● CD $12.98 |
| 27 tracks, 78 min, essential. Starting off in '47 in Earl
Hines' Orch, later in Dizzy Gillespie's Orch, Hartman became one of the
best balladeers in the business. Starting with LPs done for Bethlehem in
'56 & peaking with the classic Impulse LPs of the early 60s including
one with Coltrane, Hartman recorded only sporadically , and most of his
stuff was out of print until his career was posthumously revived with the
soundtrack of Bridges Of Madison County. These are his pre-LP sides
done for Regent/Savoy 1947-52, 14 of which have been available on Savoy's
"Just You, Just Me - Johnny Hartman Sings". This is the first
time the entire recordings have been available, including being backed by
Diz's orch, Erroll Garner's Trio, Perez Prado, & as a bonus, three
tunes from '61 done live with the Andrew Hill Trio. I Let A Song Go Out
Of My Heart/ I'll Never Smile Again, Close Your Eyes/ That Old Black
Magic., etc. (GM) |
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| BILLIE HOLIDAY | Baldwin Street 308 | The Billie Holiday Set | ● CD $15.98 |
| Previously unissued live recordings of Lady Day with Mal
Waldron's trio recorded at the 1957 Stratford Summer Shakespeare Festival
in Ontario, Canada. This set also includes rare interviews. |
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| ILLINOIS JACQUET | Delmark 538 | Jumpin' At The Apollo | ● CD $14.98 |
| 23 jazz and R&B sides waxed by tenor giant Jacquet for
Apollo in 1945 with Russell Jacquet, Bill Doggett, Charles Mingus, Sir
Charles Thompson, Freddie Green and others. Includes two vocals from great
blues shouter Wynonie Harris. |
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| THE KANSAS CITY SIX & SEVEN | Neatwork 2034 | The Alternative Takes, 1938-44 | ● CD $13.98 |
| 18 tracks, 62 minutes, highly recommended. The KC 5, 6 &
7 were small groups of Basieites, led by Lester Young, that recorded for
smaller labels with a very refreshing looseness. The five alternates by
The Kasnsas City 6 were done 9/8/38 for Commodore & feature Prez on
clarinet as well as tenor, Buck Clayton on trumpet , & Eddie Durham on
electric guitar, fronting a Basie-less & piano-less version of The All
American Rhythm Section of Freddy Green, Walter Page & Jo Jones.
Though Durham & Page are replaced by Dickie Wells (tb) & Rodney
Richardson (b), they're joined by Basie for The KC 7 sessions for Keynote
from March '44, with Bill Coleman replacing Clayton on the final session.
Includes multiple takes of such gems as Three Little Words/ Six Cats
& A Prince & I Got Rhythm. (GM) |
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| HAL KEMP & HIS ORCHESTRA | Jasmine 2584 | Remember Me | ● CD $11.98 |
| 25 track collection of sides by this sweet band who was one
of the most popular in the late 30s and early 40s. |
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| HAL KEMP & HIS ORCHESTRA | Retrieval 79025 | The Hot Sides, 1926-1931 | ● CD $14.98 |
| Early jazz oriented recordings by band that later went on to
rival Glenn Miller as the most popular sweet dance band of the late 30s.
Musicians on these sessions included Horace "saxie" Dowell/
clarinet & alto, Robert "Skinnay" Ennis/ drums & vocals,
Bernard "Bunny" Berigan/ trumpet, John Scott Trotter/ piano
& arrangements, Dick McDonough/ guitar and others. 24 tracks
remastered by John R.T. Davies including Peg Leg Stomp/ Go, Joe, Go/
Oh, Baby!/ The Eyes Of Texas/ Walking With Susie/ Carolina/ Washin' The
Blues From My Soul, etc. |
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| EDDIE LANG & JOE VENUTI | JSP 3402 | 1920s and 1930 Sides | ● CD $16.98 |
| Two CDs for the price of one these tracks were originally
issued on JSP 309 and 310. 42 classic recordings of string jazz cut
between 1926 and 1931 featuring violin virtuoso Joe Venuti with guitar
wizard Eddie Lang. In addition to duet performances there are tracks with
small groups including sidemen like Adrian Rollini, Frank Signorelli, Don
Murray, Rube Bloom, Jimmy Dorsey and others. Remastered by John R. T.
davies with notes by Nevil Skrimshire. Unbeatable string workouts! |
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| VAUGHN MONROE | Flare 226 | The Night Is Young | ● CD $19.98 |
| Two CD set with 50 tracks by Monroe and His Orch. recorded
between 1941 and '51 - all previously unissued on CD. |
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| THE NEW ORLEANS RHYTHM KINGS | Retrieval 79031 | The Complete Set, 1922-1925 | ● CD $21.98 |
| Two CD set with 48 tracks. |
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| THE ORIGINAL DIXIELAND JAZZ BAND | Retrieval 79033 | In London, 1919-1920 | ● CD $14.98 |
| Alo includes the Okeh sessions from 1922 and '23. |
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| THE ORIGINAL INDIANA FIVE | Jazz Oracle 8030 | Vol. 2 : Recorded In New York, 1925 | ● CD $14.98 |
| The second volume of this hot white band features 24 tracks. |
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| CHARLIE PARKER | Neatwork 2037 | The Alternative Takes, Vol. 4 : 1948-1950 | ● CD $13.98 |
| 41 tracks, 74 min, highly recommended, essential if you
don't have 'em! Like the other three volumes, the main detraction of this
set is that all the Bird studio outtakes have long been readily available.
He recorded mainly for just three labels, Savoy, Dial & Mercury, all
of which have been released in "complete" boxes. If you just
want to delve into some alternates, this may be the way to go, but you
don't get the master takes. This set ends the Savoy sides, with Charlie
Parker's All-Stars (Miles Davis, John Lewis, Curley Russell & Max
Roach) from 9/48 doing three alternates of Parker's Mood, six of Perhaps,
seven of Marmaduke & one of Merry-Go-Round. Next up are
the Mercury recordings, which have been owned for decades by Verve. The
main stuff here is the legendary Bird & Diz session, the final time
these giants would record, joined by Thelonious Monk, Curley Russell &
the totally unsympathetic & bombastic drumming of Buddy Rich! (it
would kinda be like if the final Lennon-McCartney recordings had Keith
Moon!). There's extended sessions for Leap Frog & Relaxing
With Mr. Lee, + alternates of the other tunes from the session. (GM) |
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| LES PAUL TRIO | The Jazz Factory 22842 | Complete Decca Master Takes | ● CD $12.98 |
| 27 tracks recorded between 1944 and 1947 by important
electric guitarist Paul with his trio (and sometimes quartet!). Half the
tracks are instrumental and the rest feature them accompanying vocalists
Bing Crosby, Helen Foorest, The Delta Rhythm Boys and Dick Haymes.
Includes Begin The Biguine/ Dark Eyes/ Hawaiian Paradise/ Everybody
Knows But Me/ KIng's Serenade/ Aloha Oe/ A One Sided Affair/ Guitar
Boogie/ Drifting & Dreaming, etc. |
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| THE RHYTHM RASCALS/ SWING RHYTHM B | Timeless 1-047 | OYS/ SID PHILLIPS & HIS RHYTHM : 1935-36 | ● CD $16.98 |
| Hot British Dance band music from the mid 30s. The Rhythm
Rascals and Swing Rhythm Boys were essentially the same group led by Fred
Wilbur and featuring such important British musicians as Ted Heath, Paul
Fenhoulet, Freddie Gardner, Max Abrams and others with vocals by Sam
Costa, Sam Browne and others. The set is rounded out by four rare sides
from Sid Phillips & His Rhythm featuring musicians drawn from
Ambrose's Orchestra. |
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| JIMMY SMITH | RCA 39012 | The Fantastic Jimmy Smith | ● CD $14.98 |
| 16 tracks, 46 min, recommended. These are known as "the
lost recordings", Jimmy's pre-Blue Note 45 sides for the legendary
Bruce label, home of The Harptones (Jimmy backed them up sometimes, though
not here). From the early 60s while Jimmy was a member of Don Gardner's
Sonotones, this set has 16 sides of everything, from ballads with vocals
to swinging trio & quartet sides. Many of these tunes were released on
the budget Upfront label with no info on the tracks - the info here is
only slightly better. No dates, musicians or any discographical info
listed. But it's the tunes that count, & the sound has been greatly
improved by the mastering by Little Walter Devenne. Includes Stranger
In Paradise/ I Hear A Rhapsody/ Tell Me (the latter 2 with Don Gardner
vocals) Jughead. Lots of booting sax featured. (GM) |
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| CAL TJADER | Verve 521 668-2 | Soul Sauce | ● CD $17.98 |
| 13 tracks, 57 minutes, highly recommended. Cal Tjader is a
fine west coast jazz vibraphonist who, when he started to play after World
War II, had the good sense to take Lionel Hampton as his role model. Early
in his career he also played with Dave Brubeck and George Shearing. But
then, in the mid-1950's bassist Al McKibbon took him to hear the likes of
Tito Puente and Machito and he caught the Latin music bug. As a result Cal
got in the ground floor of Latin/jazz fusion music (described in the liner
notes of his first LP as "mambo without migraine"). This CD
reissues one his finest latin/jazz LP efforts, Soul Sauce, along with four
bonus tracks. These 1964 recordings bring together jazz greats like Kenny
Burrell on guitar and Grady Tate on drums with latin percussion titans
Willie Bobo and Alberto Valdes. The album has a live performance feel (in
the good sense) The main studio recording session took only three hours
and included much of what Cal and his band played in their regular club
sets. (JV) |
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| FRANKIE TRUMBAUER | Classics 1216 | 1928-1929 | ● CD $15.98 |
| 25 tracks with Eddie Lang, Bix Beiderbecke, Charlie Margulis,
Matty Malneck, Joe Venuti and others. |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Charly CPCD 8279 | 50 Million Sellers | ● CD $18.98 |
| A collection of 50 recordings issued between 1938 and 1946
that sold more than one million copies. Includes Is You Is Or Is You
Ain't My Baby by Louis Jordan, All Or Nothing At All by Frank
Sinatra, I'm Making Believe by Ella Fitzgerald, I Had The
Craziest Dream by The Harry James Orchestra, Till The End Of Time
by Perry Como, Paper Doll by The Mills Brothers, Prisoner Of
Love by Billy Eckstine and lots more. |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Storyville 8205 | The Continental Sessions, Vol. 1 | ● CD $16.98 |
| Three sessions from 1945 recorded for New York's Continental
Records featuring some of the leaders of swing music (Edmond Hall, Ellis
Larkins, Clyde Hart & Slam Stewart) joining forces with some of the
innovators of bebop (Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Don Byas and Red
Norvo). |
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| JOE VENUTI | Classics 1211 | 1926-1928 | ● CD $15.98 |
| First of what promises to be an exciting series devoted to
the recordings of the great jazz violinist Joe Venuti. 24 tracks with
Eddie Lang, Adrian Rollini, Jimmy Dorsey, Frank Signorelli & others. |
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| CLARENCE WILLIAMS & HIS ORCHESTRA | Timeless 1-056 | Vol. 1 : 1933-1934 | ● CD $24.98 |
| Two CD set with 49 tracks. |
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| CLARENCE WILLIAMS & HIS ORCHESTRA | Timeless 1-057 | Vol. 2: 1933-1937 | ● CD $24.98 |
| Two CD set with 47 tracks. |
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| TEDDY WILSON | Neatwork 2032 | The Alternative Takes, Vol. 2 : 1941-45 + Bonus Tracks | ● CD $13.98 |
| 24 tracks, 69 mins, essential Another treasure trove of
solos & small group recordings by the master, but not including his
sessions which feature Billie Holiday. Starting with seven rejected
Columbia takes, including four of China Boy with just JC Heard on
drums from 4/11/41, Sheik Of Araby from 9/16/41 with a sextet
including Benny Morton & Emmett Berry. Next up are some performances
from the Town Hall (NY) Concert of 6/9/45 a quintet led by Wilson &
Flip Phillips, as well as some more solo excursions. An all-star sextet
for Musicraft from '45 features Buck Clayton & Ben Webster. Also
includes solo alternates done for his mail-order only "Teddy Wilson
School For Pianists" in '38! (GM) |
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| LESTER YOUNG | Neatwork 2035 | The Alternative Takes, Vol. 1 : 1939-1947 | ● CD $13.98 |
| 25 tracks, 73 min, essential Though mostly small-label &
small group sides, this set starts with a session that's not even in the
Classics series, a 6/26/39 Columbia session by Glenn Hardman & His
Hammond 5, a group that finds the organist joined by Benny Goodman
trumpeter Lee Castle & Basie-ites Young (ts/cl), Freddie Green (g)
& Jo Jones (d). The 7 tunes here are all small-group standards
including China Boy & On The Sunny Side Of The Street,
along with Hardman's wonderfully titled Upright Organ Blues!!. Prez
is then heard as sideman with Dickie Wells & his Orch that finds the
Basie trombonist leading a septet for Signature that also includes Bill
Coleman, Green & Jones, & Johnny Guarneieri Swing Men, with the
pianist leading a septet including Billy Butterfield & Hank D'Amico on
multiple takes of Exercise In Swing & Salute To Fats.
The remaining titles are small group Prez, including a '44 Savoy session
with Basie & a great '46 Mercury recording of I Cover The
Waterfront in a trio with Nat Cole & Buddy Rich! (GM) |
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