1. I Would Do Anything For You
2. On the Alamo
3. I Never Knew
4. Sugar
5. Nobody's Sweetheart
6. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
7. Tin Roof Blues
8. When My Dreamboat Comes Home
9. Nagasaki
10. Angry
11. Sunday
12. Crazy Rhythm
13. Down Where the Sun Goes Down
14. Darktown Strutteres Ball
15. Love Me or Leave Me
16. Big Butter and Egg Man
17. My Honey's Lovin' Arms
Mike Walbridge - Leader, tuba
Kim Cusack - Clarinet, alto sax
Don Stiernberg - Banjo, guitar (tracks 1-8)
Bob Cousins - Drums (tracks 1-8)
Johnny Cooper - Piano (tracks 9-14)
Eddie Lynch - Banjo (tracks 9-17)
Glen Koch - Drums (tracks 9-17)
"Chicago
Footwarmers" is a name with a history. It
was originally the name of a band formed in
1927 simply to make recordings. The band started
as a quartet comprising Natty Dominique, Johnny
and Baby Dodds, and Jimmy Blythe. In 1928
the group recorded more tracks as a sextet
with the addition of Kid Ory and bassist Bill
Johnson, and then with Honore Dutrey replacing
Ory. Tuba player Mike Walbridge chose the
name Chicago Footwarmers for a new band more
than 40 years ago and has led it spasmodically
ever since. This CD contains recordings made
by the band in 1966 and 1967 for the Blackbird
label and another session recorded in 2007
- the latter making up the first eight tracks
here.
Mike
Walbridge and reedman Kim Cusack are on every
track of the CD - and Cusack is a revelation.
He supplies clear theme statements and well-constructed
solos throughout the album, and is the undoubted
star. The other notable soloists are the two
banjo players who not only work well as part
of the rhythm sections but also add interesting
solos which retrieve the banjo from some of
the contempt it undeservedly attracts.
Mike
Walbridge also plays plenty of tuba solos
but they are sometimes marred by the pitching
problems caused by tremulousness and the fact
that this cumbersome instrument renders it
almost impossible to produce a smoothly rhythmic
series of notes at any speed except the slowest.
As the dominant instrument in the rhythm section,
the tuba also forces most of the rhythm into
a rather stodgy two-beat style. Nonetheless
the band keeps one's interest by its fresh
handling of the traditional material that
it chooses. This is particularly true of the
2007 quartet sessions, where the work of Cusack
and Stiernberg is consistently appealing.
For example, hear how Cusack expressively
bends notes on the clarinet in I Never
Knew, and Stiernberg discreetly blends
chords and single-note lines in his solo on
Tin Roof Blues.
In
some ways I prefer the recent quartet session
to the earlier recordings, as the 2007 session
is refined chamber jazz while the other tracks
are closer to conventional good-time Dixieland
music. But banjoist Lynch produces some fine
playing on the early sessions, and the sound
is rounded out on six tracks by pianist Johnny
Cooper, who somehow counteracts the two-beat
feel and helps the band to swing more easily.
In addition, Mike Walbridge's tuba playing
flowed more easily in those younger days.
Apparently
Mike Walbridge's Chicago Footwarmers advertise
themselves as exponents of happy, foot-tapping
Dixieland jazz and this album certainly fulfils
that promise.
Tony
Augarde
CD Reviews
Delmark DE 247
