Wild Bill Davison – Cornet, mellophone, with:
CD1
Chubb-Steinberg Orchestra of Cincinnati
1. Because They All Love You
2. Mandy, Make Up Your Mind
3. Steppin’ in Society
Burt Allen – Cornet,
Frank Bamberger – Trombone
Ray Evans, Horner Beecraft –Alto sax
Jack Weber – Clarinet, tenor sax
Art Hicks – Violin, vocals, director
Jack Saatkamp – Piano
Carl Clauve – Banjo
Ray Fetzer – Bass
Bud Ebel – Drums
Benny Meroff and his Orchestra
4. Smiling Skies
5. Me and the Man in the Moon
6. Happy Days Are Here Again
Don Forney – Trombone
Lemmie Cohen – Alto sax
Arnold Pritikin – Tenor sax
Roy Cohen – Violin
Al Nillson – Piano
Sid Pritikin - Guitar
Benny Metz – Clarinet
Benny Meroff – Vocals, leader
Collector’s Item Cats
7. On a Blues Kick
8. I Surrender Dear
Boyce Brown- Alto sax
Mel Henke – Piano
Wally Ross – Bass
Joe Kahn – Drums
Lakota Quartet
9. Goin’ Home
10. I’m Confessin’ Part 1
11. I’m Confessin’ Part 2
12. Lady Be Good Part 1
13. Lady Be Good Part 2
Ted May – Accordion
Ted Meisenheimer – Guitar
Wally Ross – Bass
Chateau Country Club Orchestra
14. I Can’t Believe that You’re in Love with Me
15. Wolverine Blues
16. Star Dust
Ralph Hilderman – Trombone
Russ Zarling – Clarinet
Sig Heller, Sammy Armato – Tenor sax
Hilly Hansen – Piano
Ted Meisenheimer – Guitar
Gene Juckem – Drums
Denver Darling with Wild Bill Davison and his Range Riders
17. Deep Delta Blues
18. Silver Dew on the Blue Grass
Denver Darling – Vocals, guitar
Roy Ross - Accordion
Moe Wechsler – Piano
Vaughn Horton or Eddie McMullen – Steel guitar
Sid Weiss – Drums
Eddie Condon and his Orchestra
Ain’t Misbehavin’
Brad Gowans – Valve trombone
Tony Parenti – Clarinet
Gene Schroeder – Piano
Eddie Condon – Guitar
Bob Casey – Bass
George Wettling – Drums
American Music Festival
20. Clarinet Marmalade
21. Just a Gigolo
22. She’s Funny That Way
23. Hotter Than That
George Brunis – Trombone
Garvin Bushell – Clarinet
Ralph Sutton – Piano
Sid Weiss – Bass
Morey Feld – Drums
Eddie Condon and his Orchestra
24. I Ain’t Gonna Give Nobody None o’ This Jelly Roll
25. Intro by Lord Buckley, Eddie Condon
26. I’m Confessin’
Brad Gowans – Valve trombone
Pee Wee Russell – Clarinet
Dick Cary – Piano
Eddie Condon – Guitar
Jack Lesberg - Bass
George Wettling – Drums
Eddie Condon and his Orchestra
27. That’s a Plenty
28. When Your Lover Has Gone
Cutty Cutshall – Trombone
Peanuts Hucko – Clarinet
Gene Schroeder – Piano
Eddie Condon – Guitar
Jack Lesberg - Bass
George Wettling – Drums
CD2
1. The Lady’s in Love With You
2. Kiss Me
Buzzy Drootin – Drums replaces George Wettling
Claire “Shanty” Hogan – Vocals added
Eddie Condon and his Orchestra
3. I Never Knew I Could Love Anybody
4. After You’ve Gone
Personnel same as prec except that Sid Weiss – Bass replaces Jack Lesberg
Eddie Condon and his Orchestra
5. Beale Street Blues
6. Medley: Emaline / Worry ‘bout Me / I Can’t Give You Anything but Love
7. Riverboat Shuffle
Personnel same as prec, except that Edmond Hall replaces Peanuts Hucko, Walter Page replaces Sid Weiss, and George Wettling replaces Buzzy Drootin.
Piano Rolls
8. Rose of the Rio Grande
9. Squeeze Me
10. Walking My Baby Back Home
11. Farewell Blues
John Field – Bass
Walt Gifford – Drums
Wild Bill Davison Pick-Up Band
12. Ostrich Walk
13. Yesterdays
14. When Your Lover Has Gone
15. As Long As I Live
16. She’s Funny That Way
17. Wolverine Blues
Ed Piering – Trombone
Joe Barufaldi – Clarinet
Sid Hurwitz – Piano
Herb Ward – Bass
Danny Alvin – Drums
Connie Parsons with Wild Bill Davison and his Quartet
18. Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?
19. The Lonesome Road
20. Lover Man
21. How Come You Do Me Like You Do?
Stan Wrightsman – Piano
George Van Eps – Guitar
Morty Corb – Bass
Nick Fatool - Drums
Connie Parsons – Vocals
Wild Bill Davison Band
22. Main Street
23. Savoy Blues
24. Mayrath
Abe Lincoln – Trombone, vocals
Matty Matlock – Clarinet
Ray Sherman – Piano
Phil Stevens – Bass
Nick Fatool – Drums
“Wild” referred to Davison’s private life rather than his playing, which was either fiery yet controlled or peacefully lyrical. The sound quality varies
wildly on this double album but it usefully traces Wild Bill’s career from his early days with the Cheubb-Steiberg Orchestra of Cincinnati in 1925 to his
performances in 1960 with his own band. The earliest tracks are closer to dance music than jazz, although Mandy, Make Up Your Mind is a Dixieland
standard. As there are three brass players in Chubb-Steinberg’s band, it is difficult to isolate any solos by Bill but he obviously fulfils his role
adequately.
Smiling Skies
by Benny Meroff’s band from 1928 opens with a rather morose-sounding violin, which is not a good omen for a jazz track, but there is a good solo from
Davison as things warm up. Jumping forward to 1940, two Collector’s Items are more undeniably jazz, with Wild Bill’s trumpet lead sounding confident. I Surrender Dear illustrates his maturing style: already improvising the theme as he states it, and taking a wild upward swing in the final middle
eight.
The incomplete recordings of I’m Confessin’ (from very scratchy acetates) show Bill as capable of gentle rhapsodizing. Tenor-saxist Sig Heller
recorded tracks 14 to 16 on acetates at his home in 1941, with the first two cuts starting with lots of chat among the musicians. Star Dust is a
feature for Bill and he makes the most of it, with swirling lyrical phrases before he briefly breaks into double time and then finishes the tune in the
stratosphere. Tracks 17 and 18 of the first CD display Wild Bill riding the range with a hillbilly-style group called the Range Riders. A steel guitar is a
prominent part of these tracks but they don’t steal the spotlight from Bill.
When Davison gets involved with Eddie Condon’s pick-up groups, you can immediately tell that he is comfortably at home. Davison found a place where his
style fitted like a glove: either a velvet glove or a diamond-encrusted one. Playing alongside equally talented musicians like Dick Cary, Peanuts Hucko and
Cutty Cutshall, Bill found an easy-going Chicago style which suited him perfectly. Many of these later tracks were cut on tape or acetate, so the sound is
still variable but at the same time conveying a sense of immediacy. The version of I’m Confessin’ here is better recorded than the previous ones
and is prefaced by some backtalk between Eddie Condon and the presenter about “Wild William”, whose solo is both passionate and tender. In this context,
and with his own groups, Davison proved what Philip Larkin said about his style: “each note is perfectly shaped and pitched as if the cornet were his
speaking voice”.
Four tunes recorded in Hub Pruett’s basement in 1955 have Bill in the unusual role of playing along with piano rolls by the likes of Fats Waller and James
P. Johnson. Joined only by bass and drums, these recordings give us a chance to hear Davison clearly without other musicians intruding. Yes – he was a
unique voice and an indispensable part of the Chicago Jazz movement which gave us traditional jazz that swung without stodginess.
Tony Augarde
www.augardebooks.co.uk
CD Reviews
Sounds of Yester Year 
