US Hot Jazzers Vol 2 Essentials and Rarities 1920s – 1940s – DL110
Released: 7th September 2015, Download Only
When The Viper chaps approached me to put together two volumes of Classic Jazz for release on their remarkable label, I said to myself, “That’ll be fun, pretty easy too”. Fun it certainly was; easy, it most certainly was not. The difficulty here was how to present this ground-breaking music to both new-comers and die-hard enthusiasts alike without over-duplicating what already exists in the market place. As a result, these two volumes contain items that are well-known but absolutely essential listening, together with a smattering of harder to find gems that have only been previously available in poor condition on long-deleted formats.
Much information is readily available regarding the importance of Jazz as the first truly Afro-American contribution to late 19th/early 20th Century Art and Popular Culture both at home then (incredibly swiftly), abroad. The importance of the myriad white contributors who history initially relegated to the role of copyists except in a few rare instances, is now firmly recognised. The selections presented here reflect this, with the music traveling from its roots in New Orleans (represented by both ‘Black’ and ‘White’ bands) to the rest of the World via Chicago and New York. New Orleans is re-visited in the 1940s with music from the revival which sparked the thousands of U.K. would-be ‘Trad Jazzers’ of the ‘50s (including myself).
Let’s not forget that this form of Jazz was first and foremost a music for dancing and represented the voice of a new Century, determined to banish the horrors of the ‘14/’18 War forever, just as Rock ‘N’ Roll would reflect the changes embraced by an equivalent post WW2 generation. Music remains a force for such change and this selection of early Jazz is a veritable cornucopia of top-notch, essential music, presented in the best possible sound quality.
Steve J’Cuzzi
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TRACKS | PRESS |
1. East St. Louis Toodl-oo – Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra (1927) 2. Endurance Stomp – State Street Ramblers (1928) 3. Biff’ly Blues – Henry ‘Red’ Allen and His New York Orchestra (1929) 4. Memphis Stomp – The Moonlight Revelers (1929) 5. Cushion Foot Stomp – Clarence Williams Washboard Five (1927) 6. Dr Blues – Luis Russell and His Orchestra (1929) 7. Honky Tonk Train Blues – Meade Lux Lewis (piano solo) (1935) 8. Hot Bones And Rice – Charlie Johnson’s Paradise Orchestra (1929) 9. Jackass Blues – Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra (1926) 10. Nagasaki – Albert Ammons and His Rhythm Kings (1936) 11. King Kong Stomp – Joe Robichaux and His New Orleans Rhythm Boys (1933) 12. Miss Hannah – McKinney’s Cotton Pickers (1929) 13. Reckless Blues – Bessie Smith with Louis Armstrong (1925) 14. Shake That Jelly Roll – J.C. Cobb and His Grains Of Corn (1929) 15. Moose March – Bunk Johnson’s Superior Jazz Band (1942) 16. Sobbin’ Blues – New Orleans Rhythm Kings with Jelly Roll Morton (1923) 17. Someday Sweetheart – King Oliver and His Dixie Syncopators (1926) 18. St Louis Man – The Dixie Four (1928) 19. Black & Tan Fantasy (take c) – Duke Ellington and His Orchestra (1927) 20. Stardust – The Chocolate Dandies (1928) 21. The Crave – Jelly Roll Morton (piano solo) (1939) 22. The Count – Bennie Moten’s Kansas City Orchestra (alternate take) (1930) 23. Two Tone Stomp – Eddie Lang and Lonnie Johnson (1928) 24. Willie The Weeper – Doc Cook and His 14 Doctors Of Syncopation (1927) 25. Yonder Come The Blues – Ma Rainey and Her Georgia Jazz Band (1926) 26. She’s Crying For Me – Albert Wynn’s Creole Jazz Band (1928) |