Jazz Focus
Jazz Focus explores the highways and byways of classic recorded jazz, covering from the ragtime era to the day before yesterday. The podcast delves into various styles and eras of jazz music, offering listeners a journey through its rich history.
Episodes
Show - Morning With Pops . . Louis Armstrong 1935
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.
Morning with Pops - Louis and the Gershwins
Recordings of a variety of Gershwin tunes featuring Louis Armstrong with Oscar Peterson and Ella Fitzgerald.
Show - Barrelhouse Piano Rolls! 1920-31
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 Lewi
Fenix Jazz Band - Trad Jazz in Argentina 1978-99
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.
Show - Jimmy Blythe Southside Chicago . .1924-31
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!
Morning with Pops - Louis and New Orleans 1946
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.
Morning with Pops - Louis and the All-Stars 1946, 7
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.
Show- Ernie Carson with the Original Salty Dogs 1991-93
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!
Muggsy Spanier Commodore Sessions - 1944
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!
Show- Hal McIntyre and His Orchestra 1942-47
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 under
Morning with Pops - Louis and the Big Band 1937-40
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)
Morning with Pops - Louis Armstrong and the Mills Brothers 1938-40
Chamber jazz with Louis Armstrong featured with the classic Mills Brothers!
Allan Eager - Savoy recordings 1946, 47
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 Russel
Sharkey Bonano and Harry Shields . .New Orleans Revival!
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 Cast
Show- Early Lucky Thompson 1945-47
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!
Morning with Pops - Louis Armstrong plays King Oliver (1960)
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
Morning with Pops - Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith
1925 sessions featuring Armstrong backing up the Empress of the Blues - Bessie Smith along with Fred Longshaw, Charlie Green and Fletcher Henderson
Show- Louis Armstrong and The Dukes of Dixieland
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!
Hi Hat Live! Recordings by Stan Getz, Sonny Stitt, Charlie Parker, Serge Chaloff, Miles Davis and Allen Eager
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 Ch
Show - Yank Lawson
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,
Morning with Pops - Louis with Earl Hines 1928
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 fee
Morning with Pops - Louis Armstrong with Bing Crosby II
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!
Show - Allen Eager with Tadd Dameron, Gerry Mulligan, Johnny Bothwell and the 52nd Street All-Stars
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
Bud Freeman - 1944, 45
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, Bo
Show - Lucky Thompson in Paris 1956
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.
Show - The Dave Pell Sextet and Orchestra - small groups!
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 (g
Morning with Pops - Louis Armstrong with Bing Crosby I
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!
Morning with Pops - Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith, 1925
Classic blues recordings featuring the Empress of the Blues, Bessie Smith accompanied by a very young Louis Armstrong.
Yank Lawson - 1943, 44, 45
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)
Show- Sonny Stitt at the Hi Hat 1954
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.
Morning with Pops - Louis Armstrong and guests (Billie Holiday, Louis Jordan, Ella Fitzgerald)
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"
Morning with Pops - Louis Armstrong Orchestra 1956/7
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.
Show - Savoy Sultans! 1938-41
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
Woody Herman and His Orchestra on V-Disc
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
Show- Abstract British Jazz . . Joe Harriott Quintet
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 tr
Morning with Pops - Louis Armstrong Hot Seven
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)
Morning With Pops - Louis and the Pianists - Ellington, Hines, Peterson
Louis Armstrong featured with three legendary pianists in the 1920's (Earl Hines), 50's (Oscar Peterson), and 60's (Duke Ellington)
Show - Lucky Thompson with Milt Jackson 1956
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
Nuances by Norvo - Red Norvo 1936-42
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'Ami
Show-Shorty Rogers and Jimmy Giuffre
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 Enev
Charlie Parker Quintet at the Hi Hat
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, Geo
Show - Shorty Rogers and His Giants 1951, 53, 55
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
Mildred Bailey with the John Kirby Sextet and Red Norvo 1939
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
Charlie Ventura Quartet for Verve - mid 1950's
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!
Ken Peplowski - 1980's Recordings
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.
Show - Buddy Rich and Shorty Rogers play Basie!
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).
Sidney Bechet - Paris, 1949
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 an
Show- Flip Phillips and Charlie Ventura 1952, 54
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 . . .
Ella Fitzgerald and Her Famous Orchestra, 1939-40
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
Show - Bill Coleman and Don Byas in Europe 1949
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)
Buck Clayton in Paris 1949
The great Basie trumpeter Buck Clayton took a band to Europe in the fall of 1949 for about nine months - those recordings are elsewhere on this station! These are appearances by Clayton with two other groups led by pianists - Willie "The Lion" Smith and his Quartet (with Claude Luter and Wallace Bishop) and Earl Hines (with Barney Bigard, Arvell Shaw and Bishop). Four tracks by Hines with just
Show - Billie Holiday 1954 and 55 on Clef
Two sessions featuring the singer heading into her twilight years but still possessing great artistry and backed by great bands. The first has her own group with Harry Edison on trumpet, Willie Smith on alto sax and Bobby Tucker on piano. The second is the Tony Scott Orchestra with Scott on clarinet, Budd Johnson on tenor sax, Charlie Shavers on trumpet, Carl Drinkard on piano and Billy Bauer on
Ben Webster 1940's
Companion to the other program featuring groups with Webster as the only horn, this one has larger groups, but with the spotlight still on the tenor! Webster's group nominally led by Bill De Arrango recording for Haven with Leonard Hawkins (Idrees Sulieman) on trumpet, Tony Scott on clarinet, Argonne Thornton (Sadik Hakim) on piano, De Arrango on guitar, John Simmons on bass and Sid Catlett on dr
Show - Barney Kessel Septet on Contemporary
Great West Coast/Swing/Mainstream sessions led by guitarist Kessel (who also arranged and composed some of the tunes) for Contemporary Records. The To Swing or Not To Swing album from 1956 featured Harry Edison on trumpet and either Bill Perkins or Georgie Auld on tenor sax with Shelly Manne on drums and Jimmy Rowles on piano. The 1959 Some Like It Hot album has Joe Gordon on trumpet, Art Pepper
Flip Phillips and Bill Harris - 1950-52
Sides demonstrating the connection between trombonist Harris and tenor saxophonist Phillips recording for Clef/Mercury. The first session also features Harry Edison, Hank Jones and Buddy Rich, the second Lou Levy, Gene Ramey and Jo Jones and the third is by the Nick Esposito Sextet with Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown JC Heard and Bennie Green replacing Harris on four tunes.
Show - Tony Kinsey Trio with Joe Harriott and Quintet
British drummer Tony Kinsey had a long career as a player, composer and arranger. His mid-1950's groups played pretty uncompromising jazz but were commercially successful - a rarity! This version of his group's records on Esquire and Decca features Jamaican alto sax player Joe Harriott, pianist/vibist Bill Le Sage (who composed half the tunes) and a variety of bass players. Tenor player Don Ren
Show - Bass Clarinet 2!
More great bass clarinet performances by Don Byron, Eric Dolphy, Harry Carney, Joe Temperley, Hal McKusick, Gene Allen and Buddy De Franco!
Show - Cab Calloway 1932 Band
Great period in the Calloway discography . . from June through December 1932 the band had a very stable personnel featuring Doc Cheatham, Ed Swayzee and Lammar Wright (tpt), DePriest Wheeler and Harry "Fatha" White (tbn), Eddie Barefield, Arville Harris, Andrew Brown and Walter Thomas (reeds), Benny Payne (p), Morris White (g), Al Morgan (sb) and Leroy Maxey (d) backing the leader's athletic vocal
Willie "The Lion" Smith and Earl Hines - Paris, 1949
Great recordings for the French Vogue label featuring both Hines and Smith playing solo and a date (largely of his own originals) with Smith joined by Wallace Bishop . . stride and post-stride at its best!
Show - Tommy Whittle and the British bop scene
Almost forgotten tenor sax player of the late swing and early bop periods in England, Tommy Whittle played with Ted Heath, Harry Hayes and other mainstream groups from his early teens. By the late 1940's he was clearly influenced by bebop and these recordings demonstrate this. With the Jack Parnell Quartet and Quintet (from Heath's band), Tony Kinsey's group (with Dill Jones on piano) and two se
Barney Kessel - first three Contemporary Albums!
Kessel and his Charlie Christian-derived guitar playing was the focus of all these quintet sessions for Contemporary in the middle 1950's, but he gives good innings to Buddy Collette, Bud Shank and Bob Cooper on saxophones and flute, Claude Williamson, Arnold Ross and Hampton Hawes on piano, Red Mitchell on bass, Shelley Manne on drums and several others . . standards as well as original compositi
Show- Lu Watters and His Yerba Buena Jazz Band 1949-50
Recorded for Down Home at Hambone Kelly's . . Watters on trumpet, either Don Noakes or Warren Smith on trombone, Bob Helm on clarinet, Wally Rose on piano, Clancy Hayes on vocals and banjo, Pat Patton on banjo, Dick Lammi on tuba and Bill Dart on drums. A program of Watters' originals, blues and 1920's Jazz tunes.
Buck Clayton and Bill Coleman - Paris, 1949
Three sessions for Vogue and Swing in Paris, 1949 by two great Swing Era trumpets. Buck Clayton's Sextet with Don Byas and Wallace Bishop, the Buck Clayton and Bill Coleman Orchestra with Alix Combelle, George Kennedy and Andre Persiany, and Bill Coleman with the Jack Dieval Quartet with Paul Vernon
Show - Bass Clarinet !
Survey of the 1920's Hot Dance Band scene with all sides featuring a solo bass clarinet! Paul Whiteman, Gus Arnheim, Jelly Roll Morton, Cab Calloway, Doc Cooke, The Harlem Trio, Eddie South, Ben Selvin, Jesse Stafford and Mal Hallett, among others . . .
Buddy Rich Orchestra 1946-47
Big band formed at exactly the wrong time - Buddy Rich had a superb group he put together in the fall of 1945 . . .players like George Berg, Bitsy Mullins, Earl Swope, Allan Eager, Harvey Leonard and Tommy Allison played great arrangements by Ed Finkel, Tadd Dameron and Neal Hefti with vocals and drum features by the leader. These recordings are from V-Disc sessions and three sessions for Mercury
Show - Mel Powell solo, trio and quartet
The great if unheralded pianist Mel Powell was better known after he left the jazz world as a classical composer and teacher, but in his late teens through his thirties he was a terrific piano player and an even better arranger. These sides (for Vanguard and Capitol in 1947 and 55) show him playing solo in and in small chamber jazz groups featuring Ruby Braff, Bumps Myers, Oscar Pettiford, Skeete
Joe Harriott - Jamaican bebop and swing alto sax
Virtually forgotten Jamaican player who dominated the London jazz scene in the 1950's and 60's with a style that encompassed trad, swing and free - although his primary sound was bebop. Here he is featured with three different quartets in the mid 1950's and as a soloist with the Kurt Edelhagen radio band in Germany in 1959. Dill Jones on piano, Phil Seamen on drums and many others are also feat
Show- Ruby Braff and Ellis Larkins 1955
Several classic Vanguard albums from 1955 featuring the duo of trumpeter Ruby Braff and pianist Ellis Larkins doing a series of duets. Songs associated with Bing Crosby and composed by Rodgers and Hart are the feature . . .
Cab Calloway and His Cotton Club Orchestra 1933-34
From Sept 1933 through the end of January 1934 (when the band left for a European tour), the Calloway Orchestra recorded for RCA Victor, redoing some earlier hits (like "Minnie" and "Scat Song") and premiering some great jazz numbers by trombonist and arranger Harry "Father" White ("Fatha's Got His Glasses On," "Harlem Camp Meetin'," "Evening" etc). Featuring Ed Swayzee, Lammar Wright and Doc Che
Show - Ben Webster 1944-47
Great mid 1940's sides featuring the tenor sax player soon after his tenure with the Duke Ellington Orchestra. All these recordings feature Webster as the only horn with stellar rhythm accompaniment under his own name (with John Simmons, Al Haig, Johnny Guarnieri, Oscar Pettiford, Bill De Arrango and David Booth) and with Sid Catlett (with Marlowe Morris and Simmons).
Lu Watters' Yerba Buena Jazz Band - live, 1941-2
Live airshots, mostly from the Dawn Club in San Francisco of Lu Watter's first Yerba Buena band, featuring himself and Bob Scobey on trumpet, Turk Murphy on trombone, Ellis Horne on clarinet, Forrest Brown and Wally Rose on piano, Clancy Hayes and Russell Bennett on banjos, Dick Lammi on tuba and Bill Dart on drums . . .a bonus wartime date during the summer of 42 without Watters, but with Benny S
Show - Hilton Jefferson 1958, 60, 61
Three great (and vastly different) mainstream sessions featuring the alto of Hilton Jefferson, who was known more popularly as a lead alto player for Calloway, Henderson and Ellington. Here he is featured with Rex Stewart on a Feltsted album with Garvin Bushell on clarinet and bassoon and Everett Barksdale on guitar; the Swingville All Stars with Al Sears, Taft Jordan and Don Abney and a differen
Bass Clarinet Jazz 2!
A wide ranging survey of 1920's, Trad and Swing recordings featuring bass clarinet - with the Cotton Club Orchestra, PIccadilly Players, Monette Moore, Wilbur Sweatman, Anglo-American Alliance, Hoosier Hotshots and bands led by Lionel Hampton, Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Ray Noble, Marty Grosz, Bob Scobey, Turk Murphy, Jean Morel, Humphrey Lyttleton and Ted Weems!
Show - Taft Jordan 1960 and 1961
Selections taken from two lps featuring Taft Jordan playing Ellington tunes with a quintet including Kenny Burrell and Richard Wyands and the Swingville All Stars with Al Sears, Hilton Jefferson and Don Abney.
Billie Holiday on Clef 1955
Two great sessions from August, 1955 with Billie Holiday backed by the same band - Harry "Sweets" Edison, Benny Carter, Jimmy Rowles, Barney Kessel, Ray Brown and Larry Bunker. Holiday was at the tail end of her career, but the top-shelf accompaniment inspired her to some of her best singing - rerecording tunes for Clef in 1955 that she had done twenty years earlier for ARC and Brunswick.
Show- Clarence Williams Washboard Band 1927-29
Out and out jazz sessions led by the New Orleans pianist and entrepreneur Williams featuring mostly his own compositions/publications. Ed Allen and King Oliver play cornet, Buster Bailey, Arville Harris, Russell Procope, Benny Moten and Carmelo Jejo play reeds, Cyrus St. Clair on tuba and Floyd Casey on washboard, giving the group its name!
Ben Webster on Clef - 1951, 53
Some of the first feature recordings made by Norman Granz on his various labels. This represents three sessions led by Ben Webster (the last two of which were issued on LP as "King of the Tenors"). The first is 1951 with Maynard Ferguson on trumpet, Benny Carter on alto, Gerald Wiggins on piano, John Kirby on bass and George Jenkins on drums. The others are from 1953 and feature Oscar Peterson
Show - Jabbo Smith the Sideman
Great records featuring the iconoclastic trumpeter playing with other groups, including Charlie Johnson's Paradise Orchestra (with Charlie Irvis, Benny Waters, Ben Whitted and Monette Moore), Duke Ellington (with Joe Nanton, Rudy Jackson, Otto Hardwick and Harry Carney), Charles Lavere and His Orchestra (Joe Marsala, Preston Jackson, Zutty Singleton, Boyce Brown), Banjo Ikey Robinson (Omer Simeon,
Mel Powell - Orchestra and Septet
These recordings from a septet through a full band feature the arrangements and some compositions by the great Mel Powell. After he left jazz in the late 1950's he became well known as a serious composer and educator, but his arrangements for jazz groups demonstrate his earlier abilities as applied to more commercial ensembles. The 1946 orchestra features Bernie Privin, Johnny Carisi, Lou McGari
Show - Buck Clayton and Buddy Tate on Swingville 1960/61
Two of the stalwarts of Count Basie's band of the early 1940's, Clayton and Tate recorded many times in the 1950's and 60's, but these dates for Swingville really highlight their chemistry and affinity for the blues - with Sir Charles Thompson, Gene Ramey, Mousie Alexander and Gus Johnson.
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