The early 20s was a time of musical ascendancy for black women, who were the first to popularize the blues. Kentucky-born Edith Wilson was an actress and vaudeville performer who joined a Perry Bradford musical revue in NYC in 1921. It was Bradford who helped sign her to Columbia label in 1921 following the explosion of interest in blues records that came after Mamie Smith’s hit “Crazy Blues”.
She recorded 36+ sessions for Columbia from 1921-25, including a number of unissued numbers. Most were with Johnny Dunn’s band – but some sessions were with other performers such as guitarist Roy Smeck or a small combo curated from the Fletcher Henderson orchestra. In 1929 she made a record for both the Brunswick and Victor labels.
Wilson first recorded this Bradford-penned song, Evil Blues, (along with Pensacola Blues) on September 18, but those takes were never issued and no known test pressings have been located. The group came back to the studio on October 2 and new versions under the same matrix numbers were made. One of the instrumental highlights of this take is the band taking a full double-time chorus starting at 1:55 .
I put the lyrics in the subtitles – a few I couldn’t figure out. So add a comment if you think you’ve deciphered any of the lines I couldn’t catch!
Recorded in New York City on October 2, 1922. Released as Columbia A3746.
Credits Edith Wilson – vocals Johnny Dunn (or Gus Aiken?) – cornet Herb Flemming (or Eugene Bud Aiken?) – trombone Garvin Bushell – clarinet Will Tyler – violin Leroy Tibbs (or Dan Wilson?) – piano John Mitchell – banjo
Here we have one of the crown jewels of the last recording session of the fabled Kansas City jazz band led by Bennie Moten. Moten’s orchestra first recorded in 1923 and in nine years released 80+ sides for the Okeh and Victor labels.
But by late 1932, deep in the early years of the Great Depression, the band’s fortunes had taken a turn for the worse. They hadn’t recorded since April of 1931 – but had been through a dramatic reorganization that brought on many new talented players – while seeing several Moten old timers such as Woody Walder and Harlan Leonard leave the group.
In the winter of 1931, they brought on bassist Walter Page who had led a legendary band in Kansas City called the Blue Devils. Page had made the transition from tuba to string bass – and his mastery of the instrument – along with the addition of a handful of Blue Devils alumni – helped transform the sound of the Moten orchestra.
In late 1932 the band was coming off a long spotty tour of the midwest and east coast where bookings were short (often only a single night) before Moten would have to travel ahead to hustle up their next gig. While the band waited word where their next performance would be, they subsisted on “hot dogs, sardines, crackers, soda pop, and bootleg whiskey.”
In December they booked a show at the Pearl Theater in Philadelphia – and record with Victor in Camden while they were there. But the band was flat broke and “very hungry”. As Eddie Barefield told it in a 1960 interview with Jazz Review:
“While we were working our show we were tabbing everything. We didn’t have any money, so we charged our rent, our clothes, our whiskey… Payday came and Bennie didn’t get any money. He owed Steiffel [the theatre owner] so much money that he didn’t have any coming in. I pawned a suit and my clarinet, and we wound up standing in front of the Pearl, broke. We had to get to Camden to record, and along comes this little guy Archie [Robinson] with a raggedy old bus, and he took us there. He got us a rabbit and four loaves of bread, and we cooked rabbit stew right on a pool table. That kept us from starving, and then we went on to make the records.”
They recorded ten songs that day – starting with this one: a firecracker Barefield composition arranged by Eddie Durham that has Count Basie riffing on Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” in the intro before a torrent of solos are unleashed, starting with Barefield playing a hot guitar break, then a trumpet solo by Hot Lips Page, an alto solo by Durham, a piano solo by Basie, a clarinet solo by Durham, and many other short hot breaks throughout the final section that drive the unstoppable momentum toward its inevitable conclusion.
Throughout, the composition is punctuated with riffy lines from the brass and reed sections – a harbinger of the swing sound that would later take over jazz in the mid to late 1930s. It’s a colossal sound with a bold energetic feel. I guess that rabbit stew was just what the doctor ordered.
Recorded in Camden, New Jersey on December 13, 1932. Originally released as Victor 23384 and reissued as Bluebird B-6032.
Credits: Bennie Moten – director Hot Lips Page, Joe Keyes, Dee Stewart – trumpet Dan Minor – trombone Eddie Durham – trombone, guitar, arranger Eddie Barefield – clarinet, alto sax Jack Washington – alto sax, baritone sax Ben Webster – tenor sax Count Basie – piano Leroy Berry – guitar Walter Page – string bass Willie McWashington – drums
Sources: Jazz and Ragtime Records (1897-1942), 6th Ed. Brian Rust
Kansas City Jazz: From Ragtime to Bebop – A History, Frank Driggs and Chuck Haddix
Jazz Style in Kansas City and the South-west, Ross Russell
Another very scarce Kenyan guitar record on the elusive Mwangaza label founded by musician and producer David Amunga in 1964 – and I believe this side was likely recorded in 1965. This disc came to me with greying grooves full of surface noise – but the music I was able to coax out of it is an amazing listen!
Though 78 rpm records began to be phased out in the U.S. in the late 1950s, they continued to be pressed in various parts of the world well into the 1960s.
Fanuel Amimo was born in 1947 in Western Kenya – so that would have made him around the age of 18 when this record was made. His first recordings were on the Mwangaza label. He played fingerstyle omutibo guitar and here is heard accompanied by a second vocalist and glass bottle percussion.
This song title can be translated as: “Leave the child with me”. The lyrics seem to describe a poor woman with a sick child who begs her neighbors to leave the child in her care. Instead, they forcibly take the child to a traditional healer, where the child dies.
In the 1970s, Amimo would found his own record label, African Beat. He lost his sight later in life.
The flipside of the 9″ Emerson disc by Louisiana Five I posted earlier.
A rousing version of “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by African-American songwriter Eddie Green. The chorus bemoans that “A good man is hard to find. You always get the other kind.”
Recorded in New York City on February 1, 1919. Released as Emerson 9158 and Medallion 847.
Credits: Charlie Panelli – trombone Alcide Nuñez – clarinet Joe Cawley – piano Karl Berger – banjo Anton Lada – drums
Today: Spinning another cute lil’ 9″ Emerson disc by Louisiana Five. Funny enough, I found an ad from May 1919 that described these 9″ records as their “large size” records (compared to their other 7″ issues).
Another ad promoting the band bears the headline: “Do they have the ‘Blues’ in Boston?” and goes on from there: “Yes indeed, ‘Blues’ one-steps and fox-trots have taken staid, conservative Bostontown by storm. All New England, for that matter! New England Folks are one-stepping and fox-trotting to the melodious dance records which the famous Louisiana Five is making, these days, for the Emerson Phonograph Company.”
This was their second recording session – but their first that resulted in released material. Their first session for Victor in November 1918 went unissued (A take of “Yellow Dog Blues”).
This was not, however, the first record issued by the group. Another tune from this session (“Heart Sickness Blues”) and a tune from another session in February (“Orange Blossom Blues”) were first issued by Emerson in April of 1919 (catalog number 9150). This record was released a month later, in May of 1919.
Laughing Blues was an original composition co-credited to three of the L5 members. It features New Orleans – style ensemble playing that showcases Alcide Nuñez on clarinet with support from Charlie Panelli on trombone.
As you might expect from the title and the year of release, novelty “laughing” effects are presented by Nuñez starting at 1:46. Notably, two years before Louis Panico would popularize the “laughing” technique in “Wabash Blues” by the Isham Jones Orchestra.
Recorded in New York City on February 1, 1919. Released as Emerson 9158 and reissued as Medallion 846.
Credits: Charlie Panelli – trombone Alcide Nuñez – clarinet Joe Cawley – piano Karl Berger – banjo Anton Lada – drums
Varsity Eight was one of several “band-within-a-band” ensembles made up of members of the California Ramblers. The concept was simple: form a small combo from a larger dance orchestra and record them playing jazzier numbers with more playing time for individual soloists and experimentation with novelty instruments such as the kazoo or the goofus.
Richard Sudhalter, in his book Lost Chords, writes: “…small groups from the personnel, recording for minor labels… could afford a looser, more relaxed approach. Small labels, with small budgets, small distribution and sales expectations, seemed less subject to the constraints governing major-label policy. The resultant small-band performances, infrequently reissued and hard to find, are the real key to understanding the Ramblers in 1920s hot music.”
Varsity Eight recorded extensively for the Cameo label from 1923-28. Some titles were also released on the Lincoln and Romeo labels. This lineup features Jimmy Dorsey – who replaced Bobby Davis on alto sax and clarinet in the Sept-Oct 1924 V8 recordings.
This jaunty number opens with Bill Moore’s trumpet leading the way. The alto sax figures prominently – and I believe the solos are Dorsey. Rollini gets a bass sax showcase, accompanied by Dorsey’s clarinet.
Here’s a treat – a jazz record from 1924 on Edison Records – which could hold more music than a standard 78 rpm shellac disc. This tune clocks out at over four minutes and ten seconds!
If you’re a frequent 78 listener, around the 3 minute mark you’ll have to resist the urge to get up to flip the record.
Some fun doo-wacka-doo sections, a piano solo at 1:44, a sax solo at 2:08, a muted trumpet solo at 2:31, and a clarinet solo at 3:17 round things out to make this blue evening blues quite a cheerful number.
Recorded in New York City on September 15, 1924. Released as Edison 51406.
Credits: Charlie Fry – alto sax, violin, director Julian Kurtzman, Theo Wohleben – trumpet Ben Morgan – trombone Ray Thwaite, Oscar Moldaur – clarinet, soprano sax, alto sax John Baviton – clarinet, tenor sax Ray Allen – piano Frank Kriell – banjo Herman Schmidt – tuba Fred Niehardt – drums
The State Street Ramblers is a name given to three different ensembles that recorded 1927-31. The one consistent member was pianist Jimmy Blythe.
The first iteration included Johnny Dodds and recorded for Gennett in 1927-28. The third iteration featured trombonist Roy Palmer and recorded for the Champion label in 1931. This, the second iteration, was made up of a collection of players centered around Blythe and frequent collaborator W.E. Burton.
Endurance Stomp is a rollicking number that exudes optimism and shouts encouraging blandishments to keep the energy high and solos flowing. You can’t help but have a ball listening to it!
In this Decca reissue from the late 1930s, the alias “Blue Jay Boys” is used.
Recorded in Richmond, Indiana on July 18, 1928. Originally released as Gennett 6552, Champion 15615 and 40025. Reissued in the late 1930s as Decca 7224.
Credits: Baldy McDonald – clarinet unknown white teenager – alto sax W. E. Burton – kazoo, vocals Jimmy Blythe – piano Bill Johnson – string bass Cliff Jones – drums, vocals
A peppy early dance number composed by Jimmy Durante, “I’ve Got My Habits On”, as recorded by Ben Selvin’s Dance Orchestra in late 1921.
The vocalist is not officially identified – though it’s been attributed to Selvin himself. Also – I’m not convinced Loren McMurray can be heard on this one.
Lots of trombone glissandos throughout and a rollicking piano solo at 1:42 give it the jazzy flava that earned it a place in Rust’s Jazz Records discography.
Recorded in New York City on November 16, 1921. Released as Vocalion 14277.
Credits: Ben Selvin – violin, director, vocalist? Jules Levy, Jr. or Harry Gluck, Hymie Farberman – trumpet Ephraim Hannaford – trombone Loren McMurray (?), Bernie Daly (?) – soprano sax, alto sax Joe Winshup – tenor sax Norman Spencer – piano John Cali – banjo John Helleberg – tuba Milton Sands – tuba
Sources: Jazz and Ragtime Records (1897-1942), 6th Ed., Brian Rust
When you listen to a lot of 78s, you inevitably just stumble upon performers you might otherwise never have heard. Though Cleo Brown’s prewar recordings are limited to a handful of sides for Decca in 1935-36, her piano stylings and iconic voice turn one into an immediate fan.
“When” is a pleasant little tune that will set you adoringly, at the feet of Ms. Brown as she croons so cajolingly.
Fun fact: Fans of 20s jazz will recognize the legendary Vic Berton sitting in on drums.
Recorded in Los Angeles, California on November 20, 1935. Released as Decca 632.
Credits: Cleo Brown – vocals, piano Bobby Sherwood – guitar Manny Stein – string bass Vic Berton – drums
