CD1
1. China Boy – McKenzie & Condon’s Chicagoans
2. Sugar - McKenzie & Condon’s Chicagoans
3. Indiana – Eddie Condon Quartet
4. Makin’ Friends – Eddie Condon and his Feetwarmers
5. I’m Gonna Stomp Mr Henry Lee – Eddie’s Hot Shots
6. Harlem Fuss – Fats Waller and his Buddies
7. I Can’t Give You Anything but Love – Louis Armstrong and his Savoy Ballroom Five
8. Never Had a Reason to Believe in You – Mound City Blue Blowers
9. Lookin’ Good but feelin’ Bad – Fats Waller and his Buddies
10. I Can’t Believe that You’re in Love with Me – Mound City Blowers
11. Yellow Dog Blues – Rhythmakers
12. Madame Dynamite – Eddie Condon and his Orchestra
13. Home Cookin’ - Eddie Condon and his Orchestra
14. What is There to Say? – Bud Freeman and his Windy City Five
15. Blowin’ Off Steam – Sharkey Bonano
16. Big Boy Blue – Sharkey Bonano
17. Beat to the Socks – Eddie Condon and his Windy City Seven
18. Meet Me Tonight in Dreamland - Eddie Condon and his Windy City Seven
19. Embraceable You - Eddie Condon and his Windy City Seven
20. Serenade to a Shylock - Eddie Condon and his Windy City Seven
21. Ballin’ the Jack – Eddie Condon and his Band
22. Copenhagen – Bud Freeman
23 At the Jazz Band Ball – Bud Freeman and his Famous Chicagoans
24. Don’t Leave Me Daddy – Eddie Condon
CD2
1. Riverboat Shuffle – Wild Bill Davison and his Commodores
2. Panama - Wild Bill Davison and his Commodores
3. Rose Room – Eddie Condon and his Orchestra
4. Love Nest - Eddie Condon and his Orchestra
5. Big Butter and Egg Man - Eddie Condon and his Orchestra
6. Pee Wee Blues - Eddie Condon and his Orchestra
7. Heebie Jeebies - Eddie Condon and his Orchestra
8. Presenting the Blues - Eddie Condon and his Orchestra
9. ‘S Wonderful - Eddie Condon and his Orchestra
10. Someone to Watch Over Me - Eddie Condon and his Orchestra
11. Sheik of Araby - Eddie Condon and his Orchestra
12. Farewell Blues - Eddie Condon and his Orchestra
13. Just You, Just Me - Eddie Condon and his Orchestra
14. Jazz Me Blues - Eddie Condon and his Orchestra
15. I’m Coming Virginia - Eddie Condon and his Orchestra
16. I’ll Be a Friend with Pleasure - Eddie Condon and his Orchestra
17. From Monday On - Eddie Condon and his Orchestra
18. Louisiana - Eddie Condon and his Orchestra
19. St James Infirmary - Eddie Condon and his Orchestra
20. Royal Garden Blues – Eddie Condon and his All Stars
21. Blue and Broken-Hearted - Eddie Condon and his All Stars
22. Muskrat Ramble - Eddie Condon and his All Stars
Much is made of the “Revivalist” activities in jazz during the 1930s and 1940s, which might be said to have led into the trad jazz that flourished in the
late fifties and early sixties. Yet for Eddie Condon there was never any need for a “revival” as his style of jazz had never gone away. It started in
Chicago in the 1920s when Condon played with the Austin High School Gang with such artists as Gene Krupa, Joe Sullivan and Jimmy McPartland. That was the
beginning of the Chicago style of jazz: free-blowing and free-flowing music which also fed into “Dixieland”. Later he worked with Red Nichols and Red
McKenzie’s Mound City Blue Blowers. The first two tracks on this double CD are by McKenzie & Condon’s Chicagoans, dating from 1927.
But Eddie soon formed his own recording groups, moving to New York and taking with him Krupa, Sullivan and McPartland, while recruiting such great
musicians as Jack Teagarden. Tracks 3 to 5 on the first CD illustrate these groups. Condon also played in bands led by Fats Waller (tracks 6 and 9) and
Louis Armstrong (track 7). Condon is not particularly audible on these or later tracks. He was never one to hog the limelight: instead he was content to be
a catalyst and enthuser, getting superb musicians together to make solidly swinging music which included excellent solos from the cornets of McPartland and
Muggsy Spanier, the piano of Joe Sullivan, and others.
Later tracks feature excellent work by top-class musicians – notably tenorist Bud Freeman (with his gorgeous velvety tone), the unique clarinettist Pee Wee
Russell, and a whole host of cornettists and trumpeters, including Red Allen, Bobby Hackett, Max Kaminsky, Billy Butterfield and – first and foremost in
Condon’s later groups – Wild Bill Davison, an essential member of what might be described as Eddie’s repertory company. Eddie kept the flame burning
brightly at the clubs he ran and the concerts he gave.
These 46 tracks make a fair representation of Condon’s music all the way from 1927 to 1961, arranged chronologically and showing how Condon maintained a
consistently high standard of good-humoured, un-pompous, swinging jazz. His bands avoided the stodgy two-in-a-bar beats of the Revivalists and instead
achieved a relaxed four-in-a-bar which might be said to have anticipated the swing era. He described his musical life in his uproarious memoir We Called It Music – a title which reflects his unpretentious approach.
The sound quality is not impeccable throughout the two CDs. For instance, the volume on Indiana and several other tunes seems to fade in and out,
while other tracks start or end abruptly. It is also a shame that the selection omits such classic recordings as Jam Session Coast to Coast from
1954, especially the incredible Jam Session Blues/Ole Miss. Condon outlines the routine beforehand for the players by saying “It’s not that
difficult, girlsa…We might have a chance”. There follows an exhilarating ten minutes of joyous jazz, culminating in an amazing series of four-bar breaks
featuring almost every member of the band, most notably drummer Cliff Leeman.
But this compilation is good value and it includes many fine moments led by a musician who, like Louis Armstrong and Fats Waller, has been in danger of
being underrated just because he refused to take himself too seriously. However, he contributed greatly to the gaiety of nations.
Tony Augarde
www.augardebooks.co.uk
CD Reviews
Acrobat FADCD 2045
