An Archive of Early Jazz on 78 RPM
Recorded in Camden, New Jersey on June 19, 1924.
Released as Victor 19386
Don Bestor – director, piano
Walter Zurawski, Herb Carlin – trumpet
Siegfried Berendson – trombone
Dudley Doe – clarinet, alto sax
Harold Sturr – alto sax, tenor sax, flute
Art Kassel – clarinet, tenor sax
Myron Fisher – violin
Jack Lundin – banjo
Pierre Olker – tuba
Herb Quigley – drums, xylophone
Recorded in New York on March 16, 1939.
Master pressing released in the UK as Brunswick 02789.
Andy Kirk – director, bass sax
Floyd Smith – electric guitar
Earl Thomson, Harry Lawson, Clarence Trice – trumpet
Ted Donnelly, Henry Wells – trombone
John Harrington – clarinet, alto sax, baritone sax
Don Byas – alto sax, baritone sax
Earl Miller – alto sax
Dick Wilson – tenor sax
Claude Williams – violin
Mary Lou Williams – piano
Booker Collins – string bass
Ben Thigpen – drums
Equipment used in the transfer:
• Lenco L75 turntable with Shure M91ED cartridge
• Focusrite Scarlett 2i2
• Audacity (for digitization, de-clicking, and De-RIAA/Re-EQing)
• Logic (for additional EQ tweaks, light compression, and stereo mixdown to mono)
• Adobe Premiere (for adding label image and final export to MP4)
Columbia 14406-D
Recorded on January 30, 1929 in New York
Freddy Jenkins, Louis Metcalf – trumpet
Henry Hicks – trombone
Clarence Grimes – clarinet
Charlie Holmes – soprano sax, alto sax
Cliff Jackson – piano, cymbal
Elmer Snowden – banjo
Bud Hicks – tuba, scat vocals
Columbia 14406-D
Recorded on January 30, 1929 in New York
Freddy Jenkins, Louis Metcalf – trumpet
Henry Hicks – trombone
Clarence Grimes – clarinet
Charlie Holmes – soprano sax, alto sax
Cliff Jackson – piano, cymbal
Elmer Snowden – banjo
Bud Hicks – tuba, scat vocals
Recorded on May 4, 1936 in Paris, France.
Released in the U.S. on Victor 25511.
Credits
Arthur Briggs, Alphonse Cox, Pierre Allier – Trumpet
Eugene d’Hellemmes – Trombone
Stephane Grappelly – Violin
Django Reinhardt, Pierre Ferret, Joseph Reinhardt – Guitar
Lucien Simoens – String Bass
Equipment used in the transfer:
• Lenco L75 turntable with Shure M91ED cartridge
• Focusrite Scarlett 2i2
• Audacity (for digitization, de-clicking, and De-RIAA/Re-EQing)
• Logic (for additional EQ tweaks, light compression, and stereo mixdown to mono)
• Adobe Premiere (for adding label image and final export to MP4)
Recorded on December 10, 1929 in New York, New York.
Released as Brunswick 1186 in the UK.
Rough month for the market – fortunately, we’ve been there before – Duke Ellington’s Jungle Band shows us how to respond to market downturns.
A wild ride recorded on December 10, 1929 (just a few weeks after the crash that started the Great Depression), this side gives us a wealth of solos and hot breaks by Johnny Hodges, Cootie Williams, Barney Bigard, Joe Nanton, and Wellman Braud.
Duke Ellington – Piano, Arrangement, Director
Arthur Whetsel, Freddy Jenkins, Cootie Williams – Trumpet
Joe Nanton – Trombone
Juan Tizol – Valve Trombone
Johnny Hodges – Clarinet, Soprano Sax, Alto Sax
Harry Carney – Clarinet, Alto Sax, Baritone Sax
Barney Bigard – Clarinet, Tenor Sax
Fred Guy – Banjo
Wellman Braud – String Bass
Sonny Greer – Drums
Columbia 14337-D
Recorded in Chicago on July 14, 1926.
Credits
George Mitchell – cornet
Kid Ory – trombone
Johnny Dodds – clarinet
Joe Clark – alto saxophone
Lil Armstrong – piano
Johnny St. Cyr – banjo
Equipment used in the transfer:
• Lenco L75 turntable with Shure M91ED cartridge
• Focusrite Scarlett 2i2
• Audacity (for digitization, de-clicking, and De-RIAA/Re-EQing)
• Logic (for additional EQ tweaks, light compression, and stereo mixdown to mono)
• Adobe Premiere (for adding label image and final export to MP4)
Vocalion S-18 (matrix 16682-1)
UK Master Pressing
Recorded in New York on January 23, 1935
A lovely UK master pressing of the infectious “Whose Honey Are You?” by Henry “Red” Allen and his Orchestra.
Recorded in January of 1935 and released in the UK on the colorful “Swing Series”, this recording features a Buster Bailey clarinet solo bursting with energy sandwiched between two contrasting trumpet solos by Allen and Pee Wee Erwin. The excellent rhythm section of Pops Foster and Paul Barbarin keeps the swing swung.
Credits
Henry Allen – trumpet, vocals
Pee Wee Erwin – trumpet
George Washington – trombone
Buster Bailey – clarinet
Luis Russell – piano
Danny Barker – guitar
Pops Foster – string bass
Paul Barbarin – drums
Also released as Banner 33355, Conqueror 8474, Melotone MT-13322, Oriole 3097, Perfect 16080, Romeo 2471, and Imperial 6041.
HMV B.10645
Recorded in Chicago, Illinois on June 4, 1927.
If the Hot Seven version of “Wild Man Blues” took its sweet time slowly and masterfully unraveling its tale, the Jelly Roll Morton and his Red Hot Peppers version, recorded about a month later, seems to take a lighter approach.
It begins with a startling cacophonous series of knocks followed by a warning to “get away from that, boy, ‘fore the wild men get you” punctuated by a wild roar for good measure.
This tune clips at a faster pace with George Mitchell leading us through the first solo on cornet. Jelly and Johnny Dodds cut back and forth while proceedings are often interrupted by the novel acrobatics of Stump Evans on alto sax. The many starts, stops, and breaks also showcase the syncopations and fills of drummer Baby Dodds.
Though recorded in June of 1927, this side does not seem to have been released domestically on Bluebird until 1941. Here we have transferred a UK dub pressing.
Credits
Jelly Roll Morton – piano
George Mitchell – cornet
Johnny Dodds – clarinet
Gerald Reeves – trombone
Stump Evans – alto saxophone
Bud Scott – guitar
Quinn Wilson – tuba
Baby Dodds – drums
Lew LeMar – effects
Equipment used in the transfer:
Lenco L75 turntable with Shure M91ED cartridge
Focusrite Scarlett 2i2
Audacity (for digitization, de-clicking, and De-RIAA/Re-EQing)
Logic (for additional mild EQ tweaks, a light touch of compression, and stereo mixdown to mono)
Adobe Premiere (for adding label image and final export to MP4)
Okeh 8474
Recorded in Chicago, Illinois on May 7, 1927.
The Hot Seven version of “Wild Man” is a tour-de-force of extended contrasting solos by an increasingly exuberant Louis Armstrong and a dark “almost secretive” Johnny Dodds playing at the top of their game.
Louis Armstrong – Trumpet, Vocals
Johnny Dodds – Clarinet
Kid Ory – Trombone
Lil Hardin – Piano
Johnny St. Cyr – Banjo
Pete Briggs – Tuba
Baby Dodds – Drums