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JOE VENUTI & EDDIE LANG Stringing The Blues; their 52 finest, 1926-33 |
RETROSPECTIVE RTS 4386 [79:37 + 78:13]
Contents:
CD 1 (1926-1929)
1. Black And Blue Bottom
2. Stringing The Blues
3. Bugle Call Rag
4. Eddie’s Twister
5. Just The Same
6. Doin’ Things
7. Goin’ Places
8. For No Reason At All In C
9. I’m Somebody’s Somebody Now
10. Kickin’ The Cat
11. Beatin’ The Dog
12. Cheese And Crackers
13. A Mug Of Ale
14. Wringin’ And Twistin’
15. Perfect
16. Penn Beach Blues
17. Fo ur String Joe
18. Dinah
19. The Wild Dog
20. The Man From The South
21. Wild Cat
22. Church Street Sobbin’ Blues
23. Two-Tone Stomp
24. In The Bottle Blues
25. Jet Black Blues
26. A Handful Of Riffs
27. Bullfrog Moan
CD 2 (1929-1933)
1. Freeze And Melt
2. Walkin’ The Dog
3. Runnin’ Ragged
4. Apple Blossoms
5. Put And Take
6. Really Blue
7. I’ve Found A New Baby
8. Little Girl (With Harold Arlen)
9. I’ll Never Be The Same (Little Buttercup)
10. Oh, Peter, You’re So Nice
11. To To Blues
12. Beale Street Blues
13. After You’ve Gone
14. Farewell Blues
15. Someday, Sweetheart
16. Pickin’ My Way
17. Some Of These Days
18. Raggin’ The Scale
19. Hey, Young Fella!
20. Jigsaw Puzzle Blues
21. Pink Elephants
22. Sweet Lorraine
23. Doin’ The Uptown Lowdown
24. The Jazz Me Blues
25. In De Ruff
There’s seldom been a shortage of Venuti-Lang compilations. When CBS issued an LP twofer back in 70s – also called, as is the release under review, Stringing the Blues – they included 32 tracks. The greater capacity of CD means 52 have been included by Retrospective. Another approach is a more chronologically inclusive one that includes alternative takes, an idea pursued by, for example, JSP where you can find both the A and C takes of Put and Take and alternative takes of Doin’ Things and Wild Cat.
There are no alternative takes in Retrospective’s handy compilation. Their first duo recording is rightfully here, Black and Blue Bottom made in September 1926, and thenceforth the succession of permutations of the pool of New York white players is given its head via the bands of Red Nichols and this Five Pennies. Venuti’s Blue Four, Lang’s own Orchestra, and the Venuti-Lang Blue Five as are other one-off meetings, such as those featuring Lang with variously Clarence Williams, Lonnie Johnson, and King Oliver.
There are no surprise inclusions here, just a steady succession of great, largely chamber-scaled classic recording packed into a very brief time frame as Lang (1902-1933), like his friend and frequent band mate Bix Beiderbecke, died at a tragically early age. The approach in their duo performances was established early with Lang providing the necessary subtle rhythm and Venuti spinning a melody line predicated om his classical training but opening out with jazz breaks. Spry and ebullient, Venuti was the jester in the pack, but he played beautifully; try the famous brace of Doin’ Things and Goin’ Places made with Arthur Schutt’s supportive piano accompaniment to hear the stylistic variety that could be generated.
Naturally those famous Beiderbecke-Trumbauer-Lang trio sides are here and there’s a souvenir of the Lang-Venuti background contribution to a recording by the adorable Annette Hanshaw (Retrospective has already devoted a splendid release to this great singer). This twofer also indirectly but inevitably pays tribute to some of the great musicians who contributed to this form of chamber jazz – towering figures such as Adrian Rollini and fine though lesser-known players such as clarinettist and sax player Don Murray and a strong presence in this twofer, pianist Frank Signorelli. Both are in Venuti and Lang’s little band that recorded a rare outright Blues, Penn Beach Blues and that featured a fabulous ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll’ intro in Four String Joe. The rapport that Lang established with the versatile Lonnie Johnson can be gauged on that exceptional coupling of A Handful of Riffs and Bullfrog Moan and Johnson must have rejoiced to have so eloquent a partner, having had to accompany so many rhythmically errant Blues singers on record. Jet Black Blues has always caused discographic confusion. For a long time, the cornet player was believed to have been King Oliver possibly influenced by the fact that Oliver did play on the earlier recording of In the Bottle Blues. But latest research suggest that he was, in fact, Tommy Dorsey, something of a multi-instrumentalist.
In late 1929 Venuti and his Blue Four – which means Lang, Frank Trumbauer and Lennie Hayton – recorded Runnin’ Ragged on which Trumbauer’s foray on the bassoon marked an example of extending the vocabulary of these small sessions. Jimmy Dorsey was always an asset on sessions like these, his fluency on the clarinet as well as the saxophone family ensuring plenty of contrast in arrangements - lend an ear to Spencer Williams’s then relatively new but now fast swinging standardI’ve Found a New Baby. Harold Arlen can be heard singing Little Girl, Vic Berton is encountered playing the drums – very badly – on Oh Peter, You’re So Nice, all of which leads to two of the greatest sessions Venuti and Lang ever recorded, the October 1931 recordings with an all-star band made up of Charlie and Jack Teagarden and Benny Goodman in the front line and the February 1933 sessions, made shortly before Lang’s death, where a small band plays some big music full of colour, instrumental doubling and real virtuosity. One feels the temperature soar when Lang and Venuti take over. A great duet with Lang and Carl Kress shows how adaptable Lang was. The last tracks are a sad reminder of Lang’s death as they’re played by Venuti and his Blue Six soon after the guitarist’s death.
If you only have a few scattered examples of the Venuti-Lang discography you need more. This finely selected twofer has fine notes and good sound and will be much to your liking.
Jonathan Woolf