Nowadays,
even among jazz fans, Jimmie Lunceford may
be little more than a name - a bandleader
who had hits with such records as Rhythm
is our Business
and Organ
Grinder's Swing.
Because of this neglect, it is useful to have
this four-CD boxed set to give us a fair idea
of Lunceford's work.
Nearly
every write-up about the Lunceford orchestra
uses the words "well-drilled" and "polished".
Certainly the band's most notable feature
was the precision of its ensembles. The section
writing by arrangers like Sy Oliver and Gerald
Wilson was delivered with impeccable discipline
by the musicians. This precision, though impressive,
could become mechanistic. You might say that
Jimmie Lunceford's band was a well-oiled machine,
but this implies a certain soullessness. Another
deadening effect was the band's tendency to
play in a two-beat style which failed to swing
as much as the relaxed rhythm section of Count
Basie - or, indeed, the bands of white contemporaries
like Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw. Coquette
is
typical in plodding along with virtually no
swing in it. There's nothing coquettish about
this rather joyless performance.
This
stodginess might have been countered by Lunceford's
eminent soloists, who at various times included
altoist Willie Smith, tenorist Joe Thomas,
trumpeter Sy Oliver and trombonist Trummy
Young. But the soloists were seldom allowed
to shine, because the ensembles were given
more prominence than the solos. In 1942, Jimmie
Lunceford even fired six members of his band
for being "prima donnas", which suggests that
he was wary of individualism.
The
Lunceford band was noted not only for its
precision but also for its showmanship, but
this quality doesn't transfer onto recorded
discs, so we have to judge the band by what
we can hear. This boxed set covers the band's
career fairly comprehensively - from 1927
(when they were called the Chickasaw Syncopators)
to 1946, the year before Lunceford died. The
first two tracks are fairly primitive but
In
Dat Mornin'
is accomplished enough to remind you of a
slow Ellington number like East
St Louis Toodle-Oo.
By
the fifth track, the storming Flaming
Reeds and Screaming Brass,
that famed precision is already very evident,
with each section displaying estimable togetherness
in a complex arrangement, especially in the
cliff-hanging ending. There are also good,
if short, solos from Willie Smith and Joe
Thomas, probably the two strongest soloists
in the band. The next track, however, is "sweet"
rather than "hot", with lush saxophones and
bland brass. Here and on many later tracks,
the orchestra sounds more like a dance band
or show band than a jazz group, with too many
schmaltzy tunes and crooning vocals. At times
it is reminiscent of the often stilted jazz
of the Paul Whiteman Orchestra - perhaps not
surprisingly, as when Lunceford was a schoolboy
in Denver, the town's director of schools
music was Paul Whiteman's father!
After
listening to all 102 tracks in this compilation,
I yearn for the easy swing of Count Basie's
band or the individuality of Duke Ellington
and his men. Jimmie Lunceford showed the tightness
that could be achieved with well-integrated
playing (and, by all accounts, he overworked
his men as well as underpaying them). But,
except for a few tracks, it led to a rather
soulless, arid style where personality was
squeezed out in favour of discipline.
Tony
Augarde
CD
1
1.
Chickasaw Stomp
2.
Memphis Rag
3.
In Dat Mornin'
4.
Sweet Rhythm
5.
Flaming Reeds and Screaming Brass
6.
While Love Lasts
7.
White Heat
8.
Jazznocracy
9.
Chillun, Get Up!
10.
Leaving Me
11.
Swingin' Uptown
12.
Breakfast Ball
13.
Here Goes (a Fool)
14.
Rememeber When
15.
Sophisticated Lady
16.Mood
Indigo
17.
Rose Room
18.
Black and Tan Fantasy
19.
Stratosphere
20.
Nana
21.
Miss Otis Regrets
22.
Unsophisticated Sue
23.
Stardust
24.
Dream Of You
25.
Stomp It Off
26.
Call It Anything
CD2
1.
Because
You're You
2.
Chillun,Get Up!
3.
Solitude
4.
Rain
5.
Since My Best Gal Turned Me Down
6.
Jealous
7.
Rhythm Is Our Business
8.
I'm Walking Through Heaven With You
9.
Shake Your Head
10.
Sleepy Time Gal
11.
Bird Of Paradise
12.
Runnin' Wild
13.
Four or Five Times
14.
Rhythm
in My Nursery Rhymes
15.
Swanee River
16.
I'll Take the South
17.
Avalon
18.
Hittin' the Bottle
19.
I'm Nuts About Screwy Music
20.
Best Things In Life Are Free
21.
The Melody Man
22.
Organ Grinder's Swing
23.
On the Beach at Bali Bali
24.
Muddy Water
25.
Harlem Shout
CD3
1.
Running a Temperature
2.
He Ain't Got Rhythm
3.
Slumming
On Park Avenue
4.
Coquette
5.
The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down
6.
Hell's Bells
7.
For Dancers Only
8.
Posin'
9.
The First Time I Saw You
10.
Pigeon Walk
11.
Annie Laurie
12.
Frisco Fog
13.
Margie
14.
The Love Nest
15.
Down by the Old Mill Stream
16.
My Melancholy Baby
17.
Sweet Sue Just You
18.
By The
River Sainte Marie
19.
'Tain't What You Do
20.
Cheatin' On Me
21.
Le Jazz
Hot
22.
Time's A Wastin'
23.
Baby Won't You Please Come Home?
24.
Lonesome Road
25.
What Is This Thing Called Swing?
26.
Easter Parade
CD4
1.
Ain't She Sweet?
2.
Well, All Right Then
3.
I Used To Love You
4.
Belgium Stomp
5.
Wham
6.
Uptown Blues
7.
Lunceford Special
8.
What's Your Story, Morning Glory?
9.
I Got It
10.
Monotony in Four Flats
11.
Blue Prelude
12.
Twenty-Four Robbers
13.
Battle Axe
14.
Chocolate
15.
Flamingo
16.
Siesta at the Fiesta
17.
Hi Spook
18.
Yard Dog Mazurka
19.
Impromptu
20.
Blues in the Night (parts 1 and 2)
21.
Strictly Instrumental
22.
Knock Me A Kiss
23.
Back Door Stuff (parts 1 and 2)
24.
The Honeydripper
25.
Cement Mixer
CD Reviews
Proper PROPERBOX 125
