1. Frisco Jazz Parade
2. Georgia Blues
3. Too Much Mustard (take five)
4. There's Nothing In Dixie (take three)
5. Memories Of Bunk
6. Sudan (take six)
7. Geary Street Blues
8. Feelin' The Spirit
9. That's For Sure
10. Strawberry Time
11. My Hearts In Dixie (take three)
12. Hobo Blues (take two)
13. Don't Count Your Kisses
14. Southern Comfort
15. Bourbon Street
16. Tailgate Romance
17. Cable Car Swing
18. Clarinet Capers
19. While You Are Away
20. Along The Wabash Shore
21. Hobo Blues (take three)
22. Too Much Mustard (take four)
23. What A Lonesome Day (take five)
24. Bob's Blues (take one)
25. Two Beat (take four)
Bob Scobey - Trumpet
Ralph Hutchinson, Doug Skinner - Trombones
Jack McConnell - Clarinet
Floyd Bean - Piano
Clancy Hayes - Guitar, banjo, vocals
Bob Short - Tuba
Dave Black - Drums
Is there anything more infectious than well-played Dixieland jazz? Even when played more with enthusiasm than skill by your local pub trad band, there is a certain amount of toe-tapping joyfulness in the music. Bob Scobey and his Frisco Jazz Band bring all the necessary verve and enthusiasm to this Dixieland-style jazz compilation.
Although history tends to be dismissive of Dixie today, its antecedents go all the way back to New Orleans and the recordings issued by The Original Dixieland Jazz Band in 1917. Louis Armstrong, King Oliver and Kid Ory refined these early rough musical efforts and took the music north where it flourished until the 1930s and the advent of the big band era. Now while Scobey's trumpet playing is not at the same level as Armstrong's, Muggsy Spanier, Wild Bill Davison or Bobby Hackett, he nevertheless demonstrates a style that is fresh with ideas. The tunes brought together on this disc come from a period in the 1950s when Scobey's band was graced by banjoist Clancy Hayes, whose Southern allure was a key to the band's presentation. Hayes can be heard to great effect on five tunes, Too Much Mustard, (including an alternate take), Strawberry Time, Don't Count Your Kisses and While You Are Far Away.
Of the remaining instrumental cuts on the disc, few if any will immediately come to mind as classics of the genre, and they are not among Scobey's better-known efforts. They are, however, representative of the Scobey band style. Although short in length (generally around the three-minute mark), all the tunes have solid arrangements supported by an excellent rhythm section that featured the ex-Ellington drummer Dave Black. The sassy Scobey style is particularly evident on Georgia Blues, Memories Of Bunk and the title-track Feelin' The Spirit.
Bob Scobey died in 1963 at the age of 47 from cancer. His career had, up to that point, been on an upward trajectory and these recordings are an interesting and well-presented representation of his music.
Pierre Giroux
CD Reviews
Sounds of Yester Year DSOY 817 (Distributed by The Woods)
