Jazz Focus

Louis' first recordings after his return from Europe in 1935 inaugurated his career as a crooner . . pop tunes featuring him with the Luis Russell band.

Recordings of a variety of Gershwin tunes featuring Louis Armstrong with Oscar Peterson and Ella Fitzgerald.

Many piano players took advantage of player-piano technology to record their own compositions during the Jazz and Blues era of the 1920's.  While the playback didn't give a true sense of the performer (no dynamics), it can show a lot of what made those piano players integral to the New Orleans, New York and Chicago scenes.  Featuring Clarence Jones, Clarence "Jelly" Johnson, Lem Fowler, Steve Lewis, Cow Cow Davenport and Hersal Thomas.

Long-lived band from Buenos Aires, the Fenix Jazz Band recorded frequently during the 1980's and 90's and demonstrated a commitment to 1920's Jazz and Ragtime with driving performances of tunes associated with Ellington, Clarence Williams, Morton, Oliver, Armstrong, Bix and many others.

The short-lived barrelhouse pianist recorded a handful of solos and great blues accompaniments heard here - with Sodarisa Miller, Monette, Moore, Priscilla Stewart and Alexander Robinson, but mostly Jimmy Blythe!

Two Victor sessions before and during the filming of the film New Orleans.  With Vic Dickenson, Kid Ory, Barney Bigard, Charlie Beal, Bud Scott, Allan Reuss, Red Callender, Zutty Singleton and Minor Hall.

First sessions by the All-Stars for Victor, with Jack Teagarden, Bobby Hackett, Peanuts Hucko, Ernie Caceres, Dick Cary, Cozy Cole, Al Casey, Arvell Shaw, Sid Catlett, Barney Bigard.

Two GHB and one Stomp Off album present the Portland/Atlanta cornetist fronting a group drawn from the classic Salty Dog lineup - Tom Bartlett, Kim Cusack, Wayne Jones and Mike Walbridge with Debbie Schreyer, Bill Rutan and West Coast vests Bill Carroll, Wally Rose, Pete Clute and Bob Helm.  Great West Coast Trad!

Four great 1944 sessions for Commodore featuring Muggsy Spanier's Ragtimers - with Miff Mole, Lou McGarity, Pee Wee Russell, Ernie Caceres, Dick Cary, Gene Schroeder, Boomie Richman, Eddie Condon, Bob Casey, Bob Haggart, Joe Grauso and George Wettling . . style-setting Dixieland!

Glenn Miller's first lead alto player Hal McIntyre left that group in 1941 to form his own big band, which owed much more to Ellington's sound.  Tenor saxophonists Dave Matthews, Johnny Hayes and Willie Baker, trombonist Jim Emert, trumpeters Sal La Perche, Bobby Guyer and Joe Weidman and arrangers Matthews, McIntyre, Dan Hurd and Howard Gibbeling all contributed to an immensely talented but underrated band.

Great sides recreating some of Louis' earlier recorded hits - with JC Higginbotham (tbn), Charlie Holmes (alto), Bingie Madison (clt), Joe Garland (tenor), Luis Russell (p), Pops Foster (bass), and Sid Catlett (drums)

Chamber jazz with Louis Armstrong featured with the classic Mills Brothers!

Tenor sax player with Woody Herman and Buddy Rich - Eager became known as a highly original soloist although one who used the sound and light attack of Lester Young.  Here his three sessions under his own name and one by Teddy Reig feature Kai Winding (valve trombone!), Doug Mettome (trumpet), Terry Gibbs (vibraphone), Duke Jordan, Ed Finkel, George Wallington, Marty Napoleon (piano), Curly Russell, Leonard Gaskin, Eddie Safranski, Bob Carter (bass), Max Roach, Stan Levey and Shelly Manne (drums)

Bonano was a somewhat antic trumpet player who nevertheless always fronted excellent bands and usually played well himself.  This selection of recordings from 1951-58 feature the clarinetist Harry Shields (brother of Larry) along with Julian Lane, Bob Havens and Emile Christian on trombone, Stanley Mendelsohn and Armand Hug on piano, Joe Capraro on banjo, Chink Martin on tuba and bass, Johnny Castaing and Monk Hazel on drums and Hazel on mellophone.

Swing/Bop Tenor player Lucky Thompson with a series of small groups - His own all-stars and Freddie Green's Orchestra with Basie musicians (Buck Clayton, Karl George, J.J. Johnson, Rudy Rutherford, Bill Dogett, Shadow Wilson, Rodney Richardson) and under his own name with Dodo Marmarosa, Red Callendar and Jackie Mills.  The last session has a true all-star group with Neal Hefti and Benny Carter!

One of the stranger albums of his career, Louis Armstong's "tribute" to his mentor King Oliver features very few tunes Oliver ever recorded or possibly even played.  Nevertheless, the 1959 sessions feature some of Louis' best late period playing along with Trummy Young, Peanuts Hucko, Billy Kyle, Mort Herbert and Danny Barcelona

1925 sessions featuring Armstrong backing up the Empress of the Blues - Bessie Smith along with Fred Longshaw, Charlie Green and Fletcher Henderson

1959 and 1960 sessions for Audio Fidelity featuring the popular New Orleans band (Frank Assunto, Fred Assunto, Papa Jac Assunto, Jerry Fuller, Stanley Mendelsohn, Lowell Miller, Rich Matteson and others) with the greatest jazz musician of all time - Louis was at a late peak of his abilities and he drives the band to great heights!

The Hi Hat was a legendary club in Boston during the 1950's, featuring what was then known as "modern Jazz" - here are live dates featuring many local musicians (Dean Earl, Bernie Griggs, Jimmy Woode, Jimmy Zitano, Marquis Foster, Dick Twardzik, Herb Pomeroy, Jay Migliori and others) backing up the likes of Stan Getz, Bob Brookmeyer, Sonny Stitt, Allen Eager, Serge Chaloff, Miles Davis and even Charlie Parker!

The trumpeter Yank Lawson was best known for playing with Bob Crosby's band and later in his own groups.  Here he is heard as a sideman with several groups - the Mound City Blues Blowers (with Eddie Miller, Bob Haggart, Nappy Lamare, Ray Bauduc and Red McKenzie), Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra (with Johnny Mince, Babe Russin and Moe Purtill), Eddie Condon's Town Hall All-Stars (with Hank D'Amico, Jess Stacy and Lou McGarity), Bud Freeman's Orchestra (with Peanuts Hucko, Vernon Brown, Bill Mustarde, Dave Bowman, Ray McKinley), Deane Kincaide's Orchestra (with Paul Ricci, Hucko and others), and Eddie Condon's Orchestra (James P. Johnson, Gene Schroeder, Pee Wee Russell, Brad Gowans, Edmond Hall, Cutty Cutshall).

Part of the Hot Five recordings for OKeh, these are the ones usually called "The Savoy Ballroom Five" and include seven pieces - Armstrong, Fred Robinson (tbn), Jimmy Strong (clt/ts), Don Redman (as), Earl Hines (p), Mancy Carr (bjo) and Zutty Singleton (d).  With Redman's arrangements (some adapted from his charts for McKinney's Cotton Pickers) and playing, the small group takes on a big band feel.

More broadcast recordings from Crosby's CBS radio show between 1949 and 51 - these feature the "jazzier" sides and have Jack Teagarden, Joe Venuti, Matty Matlock, Buddy Cole, Nick Fatool and Dinah Shore helping out as well!

Allen Eager was recognized by Lester Young to be the best of the young white jazz players following in his style.  More Bebop-influenced than most of his contemporaries, Eager was able to record with Tadd Dameron (with Fats Navarro and Wardell Gray), Gerry Mulligan (with Nick Travis, Lee Konitz, Al Cohn and Zoot Sims), Johnny Bothwell (with Harry Carney and Ray Nance) and the 52nd Street All-Stars with Mary Osbourne, Jimmy Jones, Kenny Clarke and Pete Brown . . .quite a range!

Great small group sessions led by the Chicago tenor player Bud Freeman shortly after the end of WWII.  Recorded for Keynote, Majestic and V-Disc, these sessions feature Charlie Shavers, Wild Bill Davison, Billy Butterfield, Vernon Brown, Lou McGarity, Bill Mustarde, Ernie Caceres, Edmond Hall, Peanuts Hucko, Joe Sullivan, Gene Schroeder, Carl Kress, Carmen Mastren, Trigger Alpert, John Simmons, Bob Haggart, Ray McKinley, Dave Tough and George Wettling

Several sessions done by the visiting Thompson with the Dave Pochonet All-Stars for a variety of Parisian record labels - with Charles Verstraete on trombone, Michel du Villiers on baritone sax, Martial Solal on piano, Jean-Pierre Sasson on guitar, Benoit Quersin on bass and Pochonet on drums.  Late Swing meets Bebop.

Pell made two albums in 1959 and 1960 in tribute to the John Kirby Sextet and some other small groups of the Swing and Cool eras . . featuring Cappy Lewis, Ray Linn, Jack Sheldon (tpt), Hoyt Bohannon, Bob Enevoldsen (tbn), Abe Most and Dave Pell (clarinet), Benny Carter and Art Pepper (alto), Pell (tenor and baritone), Ronnie Lang, Marty Berman and Pell (baritone), John Williams (p), Tony Rizzi (guitar), Red Mitchell (bass), Frank Capp (d)...great playing, especially by the leader on some of his few appearances on clarinet!

Live recordings from the Bing Crosby radio show on CBS between 1949 and 51 - mostly Louis' pop records of the time with a few surprises thrown in!

Classic blues recordings featuring the Empress of the Blues, Bessie Smith accompanied by a very young Louis Armstrong.

Former trumpet soloist with Ben Pollack, Bob Crosby and Tommy Dorsey, Lawson was a powerful player devoted to the New Orleans/Chicago style of Dixieland.  Here, his groups recording for Signature (Ward Silloway, Brad Gowans, Lou McGarity, Miff Mole, Pee Wee Russell, Rod Cless, Bill Stegmeyer, Joe Marsala, Dave Bowman, James P. Johnson, Eddie Condon, Bob Haggart, Johnny Blowers and George Wettling) and a big band for VDisc (Ray Eckstrand, Vernon Brown and Nick Caiazza with Blowers, Bowman, and Haggart) show off his range and sound.

One day (February 11th) in 1954, Stitt played a gig at the HI Hat in Boston with a local rhythm section (Dean Earl, Bernie Griggs, Marquis Foster) and Roulette recorded the whole thing . . Two cds include the entirety of the date with Stitt featured equally on alto and tenor with several baritone sax tracks (about his last on that instrument) thrown in for good measure.

Louis made records with everyone - here are some Decca sides with Ella, Billie and Louis Jordan and a bonus - one track from a Bing Crosby radio show featuring Louis, Bing and Ella doing "Memphis Blues"

Recreation of Louis 1928-34 big band sides with an orchestra directed by Sy Oliver along with the All-Stars - Trummy Young, Billy Kyle, Edmond Hall, Squire Girshback, Barrett Deems . .done for the Louis Armstrong Autobiography project on Deccca.

Al Cooper's Savoy Sultans were the house band at the legendary Savoy Ballroom in New York City from 1937-1946 and so must have pleased the pickiest dancers in the world!  While their music (between a combo and a big band) was not subtle or sophisticated, it swung hard and was the bane of many better known groups who came up against it.  Here are most of their Decca sides from the period, featuring the leader on clarinet, Rudy Williams on alto, George Kelly, Ed McNeil and Irving Brown on tenor, Pat Jenkins and Sam Massenburg on trumpets, Cyril Haynes on piano, Grachan Moncur on bass and Alex Mitchell on drums

Extended recordings made for the V Disc program during WWII (1944 and 45) by Herman's First Herd - features for Sonny Berman, Ray Wetzl, Neal Hefti and Conte Candoli (trumpet), Bill Harris (trombone), Flip Phillips (tenor), Ralph Burns and Tony Aless (piano), Billy Bauer (guitar), Chubby Jackson (bass), Dave Tough (drums), Frances Wayne (vocals) and the leader Woody Herman playing some outstanding clarinet and alto along with a vocal or two.

Jamaican alto saxophonist Joe Harriott had a fascinating career in London during the 1950's and 60's - he recorded with big bands, trad bands, vocalists and others, but perhaps his greatest contribution was with his "Abstract Jazz" - much like the Free Jazz experiments Ornette Coleman was making at the same time.  Here is his quintet on a series of albums in the early 1960's with Shake Keane on trumpet, Pat Smythe and Harry South on piano, Bobby Orr and Phil Seaman on drums and others!

1927 sides featuring the Hot Seven (Louis Armstrong, John Thomas, Johnny Dodds, Lil Armstrong, Johnny St. Cyr, Pete Briggs and Baby Dodds) and Johnny Dodd's Black Bottom Stompers (Armstrong, both Dodds, Earl Hines, Barney Bigard, Bud Scott and Roy Palmer)

Louis Armstrong featured with three legendary pianists in the 1920's (Earl Hines), 50's (Oscar Peterson), and 60's (Duke Ellington)

The mostly forgotten tenor sax of Lucky Thompson was very prominent in the 1940's with Count Basie, Charlie Parker and on his own.  By 1956 he was becoming disillusioned with the music business and was shortly to move to Paris for several years.  Just before that he worked with the Milt Jackson Quintet (on Savoy) and Sextet (on Atlantic) to produce several exceptional recording sessions featuring those two along with Wade Legge, Hank Jones, John Lewis, Kenny Clarke, Wendell Marshall, Oscar Pettiford and Skeeter Best.

Red Norvo and His Orchestra was one of the most innovative and tasteful groups of the Swing Era - which accounts for its lack of commercial appeal and memory!  These are most of the instrumental recordings done by the group between 1936 and 1942 and feature great arrangements by Eddie Sauter and possibly the leader with Norvo taking the bulk of the solos on xylophone.  Also featured are Hank D'Amico and Slats Long on clarinet, Andy Russo on trombone, Frank Simeone on alto, Herbie Haymer, Jerry Jerome and George Berg on tenor, Stew Pletcher, Jack Palmer, Zeke Zarchy and Steve Lipkins on trumpet, Joe Liss, Bill Miller and Billy Kyle on piano and George Wettling and Maurice Purtill on drums

Great sides for Atlantic in the middle 1950's featuring the trumpet player/arranger/composer Shorty Rogers leading two groups - one, a quintet featuring Jimmy Giuffre on clarinet, baritone and tenor saxes, Lou Levy or Pete Jolly on piano, Curtis Counce or Ralph Pena on bass and Shelly Manne on drums.  The other is a larger group with the same quintet with added alto (Bud Shank), trombone (Bob Enevoldsen), tuba (Paul Sarmento) and french horn (John Graas).  West Coast Jazz, but with a lot of differences!

Charlie Parker was a frequent visitor to Boston in the early 1950's, often playing long engagements at the Hi-Hat club.  Here is a sampling of well-recorded radio broadcasts of his groups featuring Herb Pomeroy, Joe Gordon and Herbie Williams on trumpet, Dean Earls, Rollins Griffith and Dick Twardzick on piano, Charles Mingus, Jimmy Woode and Bernie Griggs on bass, Baggy Grant, Marquis Foster, George Salerno and Roy Haynes on drums and guest Jay Migliori on tenor sax

The trumpeter/composer/arranger Shorty Rogers did much work for Woody Herman and Stan Kenton in the 1940's - the 1950's found him working in the studios around Los Angeles, playing with the Lighthouse All-Stars on Hermosa Beach and leading record date.  These feature an eight or nine piece band in the style if not the sound of Miles Davis' Birth of the Cool sessions.   With Rogers, Milt Bernhardt on trombone, Art Pepper or Bud Shank on alto, Jimmy Giuffre on baritone and tenor, Hampton Hawes on piano, Shelly Manne on drums and John Graas on french horn, the solo contributions are every bit as good as the arrangements.

The ultra-musical jazz singer Bailey and her husband, xylophonist and bandleader Red Norvo recorded several sessions with the just-organized John Kirby Sextet in 1939 and the musical results were superb . . featuring Bailey and Norvo with Charlie Shavers, Buster Bailey, Russell Procope, Billy Kyle, O'Neil Spencer and Cozy Cole

The versatile reedman (here playing alto, tenor, baritone and bass saxes) featured with A+ rhythm sections including Hank Jones, Dave McKenna, Marty Napoleon (piano), Chubby Jackson (sb) and Jo Jones and Buddy Rich on drums.  Well-arranged and played standards and a few originals!

The late, great Ken Peplowski is here remembered on some of his early recording sessions with an astonishing range of styles and personnel.  Trad with Marty Grosz, Peter Ecklund and Terry Waldo; swing with Howard Alden and Dan Barrett, a funny baseball themed session with Dick Miller's National Pass Time Orchestra and two bonuses - one with Leon Redbone and one with Benny Goodman's last big band.  Great alto and tenor as well as clarinet!

Two tributes to Basie and his repertoire led by Rich in 1956 (with Harry Edison, Frank Rosolino, Bob Enevoldsen, Jimmy Rowles and Buddy Collette) and Rogers in 1954 (with Enevoldsen, Cooper, Zoot Sims, Jimmy Giuffre, Herb Geller, Bud Shank, Marty Paich, Curtis Counce and Shelly Manne).

Recordings made by the great New Orleans soprano saxophonist right before and after his permanent relocation to Paris.  Two sessions for Vogue and one for Blue Star feature Bill Coleman (trumpet), Frank "Big Boy" Goudie (tenor sax), Claude Luter (clarinet), Eddie Bernard and Christian Azzi (piano), Pierre Michelot (bass) and Kenny Clarke and Moustache Galipedes (drums).  Originals and standards and standards masquerading as originals.

Three great sessions (two with Flip Phillips and one with Charlie Ventura) of tenor sax backed by well-arranged band performances!  Featuring arrangements by George Williams and Chico O'Farrell with contributions by Charlie Shavers, Al Porcino, Kai Winding, Lennie Hambro, Dave McKenna, Richard Wyands, Max Roach, Freddie Green, Cecil Payne and others . . .

Great live dates from the Savoy Ballroom in 1939 and 1940, featuring the band of the recently deceased Chick Webb, now fronted by Ella Fitzgerald. These are terrific recordings - both musically and in sound quality - and feature great solos by Taft Jordan and Bobby Stark on trumpet, Sandy Williams and George Matthews on trombone, Garvin Bushell and Eddie Barefield on clarinet, Hilton Jefferson on alto, Teddy McRae and Lonnie Simmons on tenor, Wayman Carver on flute, Ram Ramirez and Tommy Fulford on piano, John Truehart on guitar, Beverly Peer on bass and Bill Beason on drums.

Two great record sessions and one live concert featuring the great expat American trumpet and tenor sax player . . with George Daly (vib), Michel de Villers (alto sax), Bernard Peiffer (piano), Jean Bouchety (bass) and Roger Paraboschi (drums)