CD1
1. Frankie and Johnny
2. I've Been Working on the Railroad
3. City of the Blues
4. Careless Love
5. Bill Bailey Won't You Please Come Home
6. Maryland, My Maryland
7. In The Good Old Summertime
8. Sensation
9. Shreveport Stomp
10. Tres Moutarde
11. Hindustan
12. When the Saints Go Marching In
13. Collier's Clambake
14. Collier's Climb (Key Changin' Blues)
15. Rose Room
16. After You've Gone
17. Indiana
18. As Long as I Live
19. A Good Man is Hard to Find
CD2
1. At the Jazz Band Ball
2. Ol' Man River
3. I'll Be a Friend with Pleasure
4. Singin' The Blues
5. Fidgety Feet
6. From Monday On
7. I'm Comin' Virginia
8. Royal Garden Blues
9. Louisiana
10. Jazz Me Blues
11. That's a Plenty
12. Tin Roof Blues
13. Royal Garden Blues
14. Way Down Yonder in New Orleans
15. Beale Street Blues
16. Muskrat Ramble
17. Basin Street Blues
18. Wolverine Blues
19. I've Found a New Baby
The word "Dixieland" is one of those vague terms which
can be interpreted positively or negatively. It can conjure up a picture
of wild musicians playing old tunes in a ragged style which disregards
the traditions of classic jazz. However, Jazz: The Rough Guide
gives a more helpful interpretation of Dixieland as "the standardized
and internationalized version of Chicago-style jazz of the 1920s,
with extrovert, even brash ensemble improvisations framing solo statements
that are far more prevalent than in the New Orleans style typified
by the King Oliver Creole Band or even the contrarily named Original
Dixieland Band".
At any rate, this double CD illustrates a very acceptable form of
Dixieland music by some of its top artists. These are the kind of
easy-going sessions for which Eddie Condon made his name: assembling
a bunch of jazzers who knew all the old tunes and could create instant
magic together.
The first seven tracks come from a 10-inch LP called Happy Jazz
by Red Allen's All-Stars. Recorded in 1955, the session justifies
the title by using six all-star musicians, including trumpeter Henry
"Red" Allen, clarinettist Tony Parenti and trombonist Tyree
Glenn. Red Allen developed his trumpet style in the orchestras of
Luis Russell, Fletcher Henderson and Louis Armstrong - and he was
still developing until the fifties and sixties. As the sleeve-writer
for his marvellous 1966 album Feeling Good (well deserving
reissue), someone wrote: "Allen's trumpet playing is a frequently
astonishing array of bent notes; smeared notes; choked half-valve
notes; rips, glissandos; flutters; growls, and asymmetrical rhythms
that somehow come out right". This off-the-wall style led Don
Ellis, another daring trumpeter, to call Allen "the most avant-garde
trumpet player in New York".
Tyree Glenn's abilities are well-known from his stint with Louis
Armstrong's All-Stars and Duke Ellington. Here he shows his tender,
lyrical side with some melodious solos on ballads. The other star
for me on these opening tracks is drummer George Wettling. He stays
mostly in the background but, when he does burst out, as he does at
the end of I've Been Working on the Railroad, he is a veritable
tornado.
Red Allen and Tyree Glenn are also featured on the last album in
this collection: a 1957 LP entitled Dixiecats. Allen makes
a compelling lead trumpeter, and his growls, runs and slurs are very
evident on Tin Roof Blues. There are some useful contributions
from clarinettist Buster Bailey and pianist Willie "The Lion"
Smith.
It is a surprise to move from the first seven tracks to the next
five, which sound as if they were recorded in an extremely resonant
venue (perhaps a swimming bath?). These tracks were originally issued
in 1952 as an LP by Wilbur De Paris and the Rampart Street Ramblers
entitled New Orleans Jazz. This was the first LP recorded in
stereo, using a method called "Binaural" devised by Emory
Cook. The system never caught on - perhaps because it created
this cavernous sound. Sensation is the worst track of all,
with the level of discomfort raised by the thumping two-beat rhythm.
We return to sanity with the last seven tracks on the first CD. These
are from a 1951 session by George Wettling's Jazz Band, a pick-up
group assembled when "Collier's" magazine did a feature
on Wettling and wanted to photograph an actual recording session.
The recording is a bit echoey but it has the asset of such players
as cornettist Wild Bill Davison, clarinettist Ed Hall and pianist
Joe Sullivan. With Eddie Condon on guitar, this is very like the groups
that Condon got together for fairly informal performances - and it
has the same relaxed elegance. Collier's Climb is a piece by
George Avakian sub-titled "Key Changin' Blues" because the
key rises with each chorus. Indiana opens with Ed Hall accompanied
primarily by George Wettling playing kettledrums!
Talking of Eddie Condon, the first ten tracks of the second CD come
from an 1955 LP called Bixieland, by Eddie Condon and his All-Stars.
The personnel includes such Condon regulars as Wild Bill Davison and
Bobby Hackett (on five tracks each), Dick Cary, Ed Hall and George
Wettling. The tunes are ones that were associated with Bix Beiderbecke,
but there is no attempt to imitate Bix. I'm glad to find From Monday
On in the programme, as it's a charming but almost-forgotten song,
performed by Bing Crosby and the Rhythm Boys with Paul Whiteman in
1928.
Besides his choice of wonderful musicians, I love Eddie Condon's
groups because of his endings. He often rounds off a number with one
or more four-bar breaks, raising the temperature irresistibly. He
does it here with At the Jazz Band Ball and Ol' Man River.
But he can also let a band play a splendidly subdued ending, as at
the end of Singin' the Blues. As Eddie says in his original
sleeve-notes: "One reason I'm proud of these guys is that they
romped and balladed it up".
As usual with Avid releases like this, the tracks are packed together
thickly so as to provide excellent value, although the cramped arrangement
of the sleeve-notes makes them difficult to read.
Tony Augarde
CD Reviews
Avid AMSC 988
