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Crotchet

PAUL WHITEMAN & HIS ORCHESTRA VOL.3 SWEET AND LOW DOWN Original 1925-1928 Recordings. NAXOS Nostalgia 8.120628

1. Charleston
Ferde Grofe & Harry Perella, pianos.
2. Ukulele Lady
Southern Fall Coloured Quartet, vocal.
3. The Farmer Took Another Load Away! Hay! Hay!
4. Manhattan
5. The Rhythm Rag
6. I Miss My Swiss Miss
John Sperzel, vocal; Fritz Zimmerman, yodelling.
7. Just A Little Drink
Billy Murray, Lewis James, Elliot Shaw, Wilfred Glenn, vocal.
8. Indian Dawn
9. Ogo Pogo
Bill Murray, vocal.
10. Sweet And Low Down
11. Valencia
Franklyn Baur, vocal.
12. Bell Hoppin' Blues
13. St. Louis Blues
14. Why Do Ya Roll Those Eyes
Jack Fulton, Charles Gaylord, Austin Young, vocal.
15. Me Too
Jack Fulton, Charles Gaylord, Austin Young, vocal.
16. Dancing Tambourine
17. Just A Memory
18. My Angel
Jack Fulton, Charles Gaylord, Al Rinker, vocal.
19. Whiteman Stomp
Featuring Jimmy Dorsey.
20. Sensation Stomp
Featuring Jimmy Dorsey.

Paul Whiteman has been, for many years, a much maligned musician. In more recent times it has become increasingly obvious that he was not only an admirer of the black Jazz players and a significant force in the greater universal acceptance and spread of this wonderful music, but he was also the leader of a most accomplished and ground breaking dance orchestra in his own right.

This compilation contains a wide variety of styles, from the comic "I Miss My Swiss Miss" complete with yodelling refrain to the jazzier numbers such as "St. Louis Blues". "Whiteman Stomp" and "Sensation Stomp" are features for the technically facile Jimmy Dorsey. Apart from this the other pieces only list vocalists, or in the case of "Charleston", the twin pianos of Ferde Grofe and Harry Perella.

Obviously the music reproduced here now sounds extremely dated - perhaps more so than such contemporary bands as Fletcher Henderson and Duke Ellington. Nevertheless there is a certain charm inherent in these performances and one cannot deny the proficiency and accuracy of the musicians involved. It is just a pity that there is no comprehensive personnel listed. This disc is for the lover of the more nostalgic issues.

Dick Stafford

 

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