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KID ORY Vol.2 Ory’s Creole Trombone Original 1945-1953 Recordings NAXOS JAZZ LEGENDS 8.120769

 

1. Maryland, My Maryland
2. Down Home Rag
3. 1919 Rag
4. Original Dixieland One-step
5. Ory’s Creole Trombone
6. Maple Leaf Rag
7. Weary Blues
8. Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho
9. The World’s Jazz Crazy, Lawdy so am I
10. Creole Bo Bo
11. At a Georgia Camp Meeting
12. The Glory of Love
13. Mahogany Hall Stomp
14. Go Back Where You Stayed Last Night
15. Yaaka Hula Hickey Dula
16. South Rampart Street Parade
17. St James Infirmary
18. Aunt Hagar’s Blues
19. Creole Love Call
20. Milenburg Joys

Tracks 1-7
Ory – Trombone
Mutt Carey – Trumpet
Darnell Howard – Clarinet
Buster Wilson – Piano
Bud Scott – Banjo
Ed Garland – Bass
Minor Hall – Drums
Tracks 8-10
Ory – trombone
Mutt Carey – Trombone
Barney Bigard – Clarinet
Elzie Cooper – Piano
Bud Scott – Banjo
Ed Garland – Bass
Minor Hall Drums
Tracks 11-13
Ory – Trombone
Teddy Buckner – Trumpet
Joe Darensbourg – Clarinet
Lloyd Glenn – Piano
Julian Davidson – Guitar
Monty Corb – Bass
Minor Hall – Drums
Tracks 14-15
As above but Ed Shrivanek – Guitar replaces Julian Davidson.
Tracks 16-20
Ory – Trombone
Teddy Buckner – Trumpet
Bob McCracken – Clarinet
Don Ewell – Piano
Julian Davidson – Guitar
Monty Corb – Bass
Minor Hall – Drums

Fans of Traditional Jazz, who will have many of these tracks on 78-RPM records, surely eagerly await this release. Naxos have as usual done an excellent job of tidying up these recordings, eliminating hiss and other unwanted noises and thereby making listening much more enjoyable.

Kid Ory’s claim to fame is that it was he who invented the so called ‘Tailgate’ style of Trombone playing that is universally used by all those who aspire to play trombone in a Trad Band. It differs from the Trombone style in any other form of jazz, because it is both percussive and musical at the same time and it does lift the ensemble as they render the trad jazz classics. As I have mentioned before, it is amazing that in pubs throughout the world, on certain nights of the week, there are bands attempting to recreate this music, with various levels of success! It is essentially happy music, I have played with bands of this type on Canal Boats, in pubs, at universities and colleges and it always creates a great atmosphere. It is a shame that people don’t dance in jazz clubs anymore, this is great music to dance to.

Kid Ory had a very long career; he first made an impact on the jazz scene around 1915 and was heard on many famous recordings of the era. He continued to record until 1961, but he did not retire until he moved to Hawaii in 1966. He passed on in 1973 at the age of 86, who says that jazz legends don’t have longevity!

The forceful style of Teddy Buckner on Trumpet, a player who had an excellent technique and had obviously been influenced by Louis Armstrong, is to be heard on all the last 10 tracks. The band by this time had developed much better dynamics and the lighter touch of the later rhythm section, gives a noticeable improvement. All the clarinet players are impressive, but for me Bob McCracken just about shades it. Ory of course did not modify his playing, his style was the basis of his band and it was what his audience was expecting to hear. Pianist Don Ewell added a powerful lift to the rhythm section in the latter band and Monty Corb and Minor Hall combine with him to provide a rhythm section anyone would be pleased to play with, a reference point for this would be the last track Milenburg Joys.

I found this a fascinating disc, because it charts the progress of the Kid Ory Band over an 8-year period. Despite what most of the Trad fans may think, the music continued to develop even though Ory was quite an old man

Don Mather

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