1. Savoy
Shout
2. It's Tight
Like That
3. New Call Of
The Freaks
4. Feelin' The
Spirit
5. Jersey Lightning
6. The Way He
Loves Is Just Too Bad
7. Doctor Blues
8. Saratoga Shout
9. Song Of The
Swanee
10. Give Me Your
Telephone Number
11. Higginbotham
Blues
12. Louisiana
Swing
13. On Revival
Day
14. Muggin' Lightly
15. Panama
16. High Tension
17. Saratoga
Drag
18. Ease On Down
19. You Rascal
You
20. Freakish
Blues
21. The Darktown
Strutters' Ball
22. Ghost Of
The Freaks
23. Hokus Pokus
24. Primitive
25. Ol' Man River
Collective personnel
Luis Russell - Piano
Louis Metcalf, Henry "Red" Allen
- Trumpets, vocals
Bill Coleman, Otis Johnson, Robert Cheek,
Gus Aiken, Leonard Davis - Trumpets
Rex Stewart - Cornet
J.C. Higginbotham - Trombone, vocals
Jimmy Archey, Dicky Wells, Nat Story - Trombones
Charlie Holmes - Clarinet, alto sax, soprano
sax
Albert Nicholas - Clarinet, alto sax
Henry Jones - Alto sax
Teddy Hill - Tenor sax
Greely Walton, Bingie Madison - Tenor saxes,
clarinets
Will Johnson - Banjo, guitar
Lee Blair - Guitar
Bass Moore - Tuba
"Pops" Foster - Bass
Paul Barbarin - Drums, vibes
Fats Pichnon, Andy Razaf, Sonny Woods, Palmer
Brothers - Vocals
This
collection of recordings from 1929 to 1934
charts the heyday of Luis Russell’s band,
before it became Louis Armstrong’s backing
band and sacrificed much of its individuality.
In fact all but five of these recordings date
from the three years between 1929 and 1931,
when the band was arguably at its very best.
It benefited not only from Luis Russell’s
characterful compositions and tight arrangements
but also from the contributions of some notable
soloists, including Henry "Red"
Allen, Charlie Holmes and J. C. Higginbotham.
The
first two tracks are actually by a small group
called Luis Russell and his Burning Eight,
filling in for a record date that Luis’s former
employer, King Oliver, couldn’t make. In Savoy
Shout, trombonist J. C. Higginbotham establishes
himself as a soloist to reckon with, while
trumpeter Louis Metcalf exhibits some of the
wildness which Henry "Red" Allen
was later to inject into the band. It’s
Tight Like That owes more to the New Orleans
tradition of collective improvisation.
The
remaining tracks are mostly by "Luis
Russell and his Orchestra", although
it was hardly a big band in the later meaning
of the phrase, never exceeding a dozen members.
Tracks like Feelin’ the Spirit and
Jersey Lightning have an infectious
exuberance, even though Russell’s arrangements
often have sections playing in unison, which
sometimes results in stodginess. The musicians
certainly played with enviable precision,
but this didn’t stop players like Henry "Red"
Allen and Albert Nicholas from spicing things
up with lively solos. On later tracks the
same service is fulfilled by such individuals
as Rex Stewart and Charlie Holmes (who was
with Luis Russell on-and-off from 1929 to
1940). On most tracks the team of bassist
"Pops" Foster and drummer Paul Barbarin
keep the rhythm moving. Tracks like On
Revival Day and Panama prove the
value of Foster’s four-in-a-bar double bass.
Despite
its short effective life and its decline into
a mere backing band, the Luis Russell Orchestra
played a significant role in the development
of the style which flourished in the 1930s
into "swing". The evidence is clear
in nearly 80 minutes of recordings on this
CD.
Tony
Augarde
CD Reviews
Living Era
CDAJA 5658
