Jazz Crazy Records

An Archive of Early Jazz on 78 RPM

Category: Jazz

  • “Ding Dong Blues” – Bennie Moten’s Kansas City Orchestra (1927)

    “Ding Dong Blues” – Bennie Moten’s Kansas City Orchestra (1927)

    Another of the many excellent sides recorded by the Kansas City-based Bennie Moten orchestra on the Victor label.

    This is the B-side to “Pass Out Lightly” – which I also enjoyed so much that I had to post both sides.

    Side A: “Pass Out Lightly”
    https://youtu.be/nVWptpf4Dv0

    This piece has some excellent solos, as well as an intriguing and lively hummed vocalization section that appears at the 1:55 mark – accompanied by what sounds like a kazoo or perhaps a paper and comb.

    Recorded in Chicago, Illinois on June 12, 1927.
    Released as Victor 21199.

    Credits
    Bennie Moten – piano, director
    Ed Lewis, Paul Webster – cornet
    Thamon Hayes – trombone
    Harlan Leonard – clarinet, soprano sax, alto sax
    Jack Washington – clarinet, alto sax, baritone sax
    Woody Walder – clarinet, tenor sax
    LaForest Dent – alto sax, tenor sax
    Leroy Berry – banjo
    Vernon Page – tuba
    Willie McWashington – drums

  • “Pass Out Lightly” – Bennie Moten’s Kansas City Orchestra (1927)

    “Pass Out Lightly” – Bennie Moten’s Kansas City Orchestra (1927)

    One of the many excellent sides recorded by the Kansas City-based Bennie Moten orchestra on the Victor label.

    After leaving the Okeh label at the end of 1926, the Moten band signed a contract with the larger Victor label.

    The band held auditions in Kansas City to augment its membership and to replace a few band members. Leroy Berry and Willie McWashington became the new rhythm section on banjo and drums, respectively – and the pair continued with Moten’s orchestra through 1932. You can really appreciate the power of the banjo in jazz listening to this track – which finds Leroy Berry adding a real sense of adventure to the tune with his playing.

    They also hired a new arranger, Jesse Stone (who later went on to a long and celebrated career as an arranger, bandleader, and songwriter) who found his job difficult, noting in an interview in 1977 that “These guys all played by ear… I was capable of writing the parts, but no one was capable of reading. So I had to sing the parts… I would sing a riff and then the group would learn that riff.”

    I find that the Moten band’s improvised style of this period, free from the stiff confines of precisely written arrangements, is quite fun to listen to – and no doubt was a hit with dancers of the time.

    Recorded in Chicago, Illinois on June 12, 1927.
    Released as Victor 21199.

    Credits
    Bennie Moten – piano, director
    Ed Lewis, Paul Webster – cornet
    Thamon Hayes – trombone
    Harlan Leonard – clarinet, soprano sax, alto sax
    Jack Washington – clarinet, alto sax, baritone sax
    Woody Walder – clarinet, tenor sax
    LaForest Dent – alto sax, tenor sax
    Leroy Berry – banjo
    Vernon Page – tuba
    Willie McWashington – drums

  • “Doin’ The Uptown Lowdown” – Joe Venuti and his Blue Six (1933)

    “Doin’ The Uptown Lowdown” – Joe Venuti and his Blue Six (1933)

    A hot number featuring an all-star cast of performers!

    Hot impassioned solos abound and clip by at a frenetic pace to give everyone a moment in the spotlight.

    0:00 Intro
    0:13 Clarinet solo (Benny Goodman)
    0:32 Tenor sax solo (Bud Freeman)
    0:42 Clarinet solo (Benny Goodman)
    0:54 Violin solo (Joe Venuti)
    1:13 Piano solo (Joe Sullivan)
    1:23 Violin solo (Joe Venuti)
    1:32 Bass sax solo (Adrian Rollini)
    1:50 Tenor sax solo (Bud Freeman)
    2:08 Clarinet solo (Benny Goodman)
    2:26 Violin solo (Joe Venuti)
    2:44 Guitar solo (Dick McDonough)
    2:54 Outro

    Recorded in New York City on October 2, 1933.
    Released in the UK as Columbia CB 708.

    Credits
    Benny Goodman – clarinet
    Bud Freeman – tenor sax
    Adrian Rollini – bass sax
    Joe Venuti – violin
    Joe Sullivan – piano
    Dick McDonough – guitar
    Neil Marshall – drums

  • “Squeeze Me” – Clarence Williams & His Orchestra (1928)

    “Squeeze Me” – Clarence Williams & His Orchestra (1928)

    Clarence Williams’ many sessions with the QRS label are some of my favorite recordings in jazz history. The quality of the recordings, small combo arrangements, and excellent performances are quite unique. While Williams recorded no fewer than 46 sides with QRS – a label that only issued 92 total records – they are quite scarce and hard to find.

    Recently I was lucky enough to acquire this beautiful record – both sides from Williams’ first session with QRS in August of 1928.

    “Squeeze Me” is a languidly sensual love song – and the performances here are as elegant as they are sultry. Cyrus St. Clair is wonderfully present on tuba, keeping a relaxed pace while Williams’ light touch on the piano and Leroy Harris’ banjo gingerly fill out the rhythm section.

    The first solo we hear is from Ed Allen on cornet, a muted wah-filled plaintive pleading, book-ended by Cyrus’s. Then comes one of the most unexpected trombone solos – I had to check the speed on my turntable for fear I had slowed the speed down – and Ed Cuffee delivers a sleepy surprise, taking his time to lay out the pillow talk before an unknown tenor sax (Ben Waters?) cajolingly delivers the final wooing.

    0:00 Intro
    0:44 Cornet solo (Ed Allen)
    1:28 Tuba solo (Cyrus St. Clair)
    1:49 Trombone solo (Ed Cuffee)
    2:09 Tenor sax solo (Ben Waters?)
    2:30 Ensemble

    Recorded in the Gennett Records studio in Long Island City, New York in August 1928.

    Credits
    Ed Allen, Joe Oliver – cornet
    Ed Cuffee – trombone
    Clarence Williams – piano
    Cyrus St. Clair – tuba
    Leroy Harris – banjo
    Unknown Artist – clarinet, alto sax (Arville Harris?)
    Unknown Artist – clarinet, tenor sax (Ben Waters?)

  • “Two Timin’ Man” – Lil Johnson (1936)

    “Two Timin’ Man” – Lil Johnson (1936)

    A rousing tune from Lil Johnson accompanied by an excellent group of Chicago performers.

    Recorded in Chicago, Illinois on June 11, 1936.
    Released as Vocalion 03266, Okeh 03266, Columbia 30059 and 37682..

    Credits
    Lil Johnson – vocals
    Arnett Nelson – clarinet
    Black Bob – piano
    Big Bill Broonzy – guitar
    Unknown Artist – bass (perhaps Bill Settles)?
    Unknown Artist – drums

  • “Crazeology” – Bud Freeman and his Orchestra (1928)

    “Crazeology” – Bud Freeman and his Orchestra (1928)

    After recording with Red McKenzie and Jimmy McPartland in 1927 and Ben Pollack’s orchestra and Wingy Mannone in 1928, tenor saxophonist Bud Freeman recorded these two sides for Okeh in December of 1928.

    “Here, in raw form, is the foundation of the mature Freeman style: there is a new ease with arpeggiated phrases; delivered on the beat and stitched together with triplets; he’d begun to work out little variations – altered notes, chordal superimpositions, characteristic runs and rhythms.” – Richard Sudhalter, “Lost Chords”, p. 244

    The tune’s title, an original Freeman composition, usually appears hyphenated as “Craze-ology” or “Craze-O-Logy”, but here appears as one uninterrupted word.

    Recorded in Chicago, Illinois on December 3, 1928.
    Released domestically as Okeh 41168 and master-pressed in the U.K. as Odeon PO 67.

    Credits
    Johnny Mendel – trumpet
    Floyd O’Brien – trombone
    Bud Jacobson – clarinet
    Bud Freeman – tenor sax
    Dave North – piano
    Norman Foster – banjo
    John Mueller – string bass
    Gene Krupa – drums

  • “Cushion Foot Stomp” – Clarence Williams & his Washboard Band (1927)

    “Cushion Foot Stomp” – Clarence Williams & his Washboard Band (1927)

    Clarence Williams’ distinctive tune “Cushion Foot Stomp” was recorded a number of times in March and April of 1927 by various incarnations of Williams groups – but this appears to be the first recording – and features an unidentified performer who has kept discographers guessing for many years.

    The lyrics are quick witty observations and rejoinders in reference to a dance called the “Cushion Foot Stomp”.

    “Blue note to note, Weird chords: Lord, Lord!”

    The ensemble playing here is excellent – following a 12-bar blues extended to 24 bars. The cornet, clarinet, and alto saxophone effortlessly exchange roles within the harmony, melodic lines, and fills to develop an exuberantly lively dance tune that certainly is worthy of the name.

    “Hot Stuff! No Bluff! Red Hot! Sure, Pop!”

    This take is one of two recorded on March 8 as matrix E-21786. The second take, matrix E-21787, was released as Brunswick 7000 and on the dubbed U.K. Vocalion reissue V.1034.

    Tom Lord makes the case that the vocalist here is the same vocalist known as Shufflin’ Sam who recorded “Cushion Foot Stomp” with Williams and his “Dixie Washboard Band” on a Columbia session on March 10. As viewer @MikeThomas78 noted in the comments, Brian Rust identified Clarence Lee as the vocalist on this session and as the true identity of Shufflin’ Sam.

    The clarinetist and alto saxophonist has been identified as Bennie Moten, Ben Waters, and Carmelo Jari.

    Recorded in New York City on March 8, 1927.
    Released as Vocalion 1088 in the U.S. and Oriole 1012 in the U.K.

    Credits:
    Clarence Williams – piano
    Ed Allen – cornet
    Floyd Casey – washboard
    Unknown Artist – clarinet, alto saxophone
    Unknown Artist – vocals

  • “Florida Blues” – Handy’s Orchestra (1923)

    “Florida Blues” – Handy’s Orchestra (1923)

    A tune performed by W. C. Handy’s Orchestra and written by saxophonist William King Phillips.

    Recorded in New York City on June 4, 1923.
    Released as Okeh 4886.

    W. C. Handy – director
    Thomas Gray – trumpet
    John Mitchell – banjo
    Unknown Artists – cornet, trombone, clarinet, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, piano, tuba, drums

  • “Unfortunate Blues” – Lanin’s Jazz Band (1924)

    “Unfortunate Blues” – Lanin’s Jazz Band (1924)

    A rousing tune by Sam and the boys with a fine arrangement, ornate breaks, and crowd-pleasing solo and ensemble work all around.

    Recorded in New York City circa March 11, 1924.
    Released as Pathé Actuelle 036075

    Credits
    Sam Lanin – director
    Mike Mosiello – trumpet
    Miff Mole – trombone
    Larry Abbott – clarinet
    Harry Perrella – piano
    Tony Colucci – banjo
    Sam Wishnuff – drums

  • “Black Maria” – Arnold Frank and his Roger’s Cafe Orchestra (1927)

    “Black Maria” – Arnold Frank and his Roger’s Cafe Orchestra (1927)

    We often hear about the epicenters of early jazz: New Orleans, Chicago, Kansas City, and New York City. Here we find a delightful example of a peppy hot dance tune from the Twin Cities in Minnesota.

    Arnold Frank led a dance orchestra at Roger’s Cafe which was located on Nicollet Avenue in St. Paul, Minnesota. This excellent record was advertised by Okeh in an ad alongside three blues releases as “Dance music refreshed with beguiling syncopation” in the November 1927 issue of Talking Machine World.

    Brian Rust’s “Jazz and Ragtime Records” noted that this song was recorded at the lavish Radisson Hotel in downtown Minneapolis, but this has been disputed and it is believed that the correct recording location is the Lowry Hotel in St. Paul, Minnesota.

    A “black maria” was slang for the paddy wagon that transported prisoners – either from where they were arrested to jail, or from jail to court. This tune by Fred Rose (who later became a notable songwriter in Nashville with Roy Acuff, penning songs for Hank Williams and Wanda Jackson, among others) was written in his Tin Pan Alley days in 1927. The lyrics (unheard in this instrumental version) find the narrator bemoaning his imminent arrest and relating anxious thoughts about the jail time he is facing.

    Recorded at the Lowry Hotel in St. Paul, Minnesota on September 9, 1927.
    Released as Okeh 40896 in October 1927.

    Credits:
    Arnold Frank – piano, director
    Swanny Swenumsen – cornet
    Stan Thompson – banjo
    Russ Reed – drums
    Unknown – trombone, clarinet, saxophones, tuba