Jazz Crazy Records

An Archive of Early Jazz on 78 RPM

Category: Jazz

  • “Kansas City Breakdown” – Bennie Moten’s Kansas City Orchestra

    “Kansas City Breakdown” – Bennie Moten’s Kansas City Orchestra

    Fantastic performance by Bennie Moten and his KC Orchestra. Solid tuba playing in the rhythm section that is showcased quite a bit and a nice piano solo by Moten. Great ensemble playing all around in this rollicking stomp.

    Recorded in Camden, New Jersey on September 7, 1928.
    Released as Victor 21693

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

  • “When the Saints Come Marching In” – Four Harmony Kings (1924)

    “When the Saints Come Marching In” – Four Harmony Kings (1924)

    The vocal quartet Four Harmony Kings was formed in 1916 by bass William Hann. Other members included William Howard Berry, Charles Exodus Drayton and Ivan Harold Browning.

    They met and recorded with James Reese Europe in 1919 just before his untimely death. In the summer of 1921 they performed in the all-black Broadway musical “Shuffle Along” – where they briefly included in their quartet a young Paul Robeson when Hann briefly fell ill. “Shuffle Along” toured the US in 1923 and 1924 – and this Vocalion session was recorded just after the tour concluded.

    Recorded in mid-November 1924.
    Released as Vocalion 14941 in 1925.

    References:

    “Lost Sounds: Blacks & The Birth of the Recording Industry, 1890 – 1919” – Tim Brooks

    Review of Shuffle Along and the Saga of the Four Harmony Kings: Group Harmony Pioneers:
    http://classicurbanharmony.net/2016/05/10/review-of-shuffle-along-and-the-saga-of-the-four-harmony-kings-group-harmony-pioneers/

  • “Roaming Rambler Blues” – Lonnie Johnson (1927)

    “Roaming Rambler Blues” – Lonnie Johnson (1927)

    Classic early blues by guitarist Lonnie Johnson.

    This record had so many lam cracks that it causes a bit of a swish but still quite an enjoyable listen.

    Recorded August 1927 in New York. Released as Okeh 8497.

    Lyrics
    “I’m a roamin’ rambler – I ramble and roam everywhere.
    I’m a roamin’ rambler – I roam and ramble everywhere.
    I’ve rode on every railroad without a nickel fare.

    My mammy named me Rambler, I’ll tell you why I was told
    My mammy named me Rambler, I’ll tell you why I was told
    Because I started to ramblin’ when I was only two years old.

    I got a gal in Texas. I got gals in Tennessee.
    I’ve got gals in Texas. I’ve got gals in Tennessee.
    There’s a hundred those fastened, waitin’ for this rambler’s key.

    I never had a woman I couldn’t get her back again.
    I never had a woman I couldn’t get her back again.
    Cause they want a ramblin’ man – and not no monkey men.

    The judges all knows me – knows me as a ramblin’ man.
    The judges all knows me – knows me as a ramblin’ man.
    When they put me in jail, I gets out on a ‘stallments plan.”

  • “Pink Elephants” – Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang’s Blue Five (1933)

    “Pink Elephants” – Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang’s Blue Five (1933)

    “Pink Elephants” by Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang’s Blue Five on a UK-only release that was recorded on February 14, 1933 and released as Columbia CB 601.

    This one is pretty special – as California Ramblers frontman Adrian Rollini joins in on four instruments: bass sax, vibes, piano, and the infamous goofus. Jimmy Dorsey, not to be outdone, can be heard on clarinet, alto sax, and trumpet (listen to the last ten seconds of the second clip)!

    Venuti takes a short solo at the end and Lang just rips up the rhythm throughout. Tragically – a little over a month later, Lang would die in the hospital of complications during a tonsillectomy operation.

    My copy is quite clean – but suffers from blasting and noticeable distortion on louder transients.

    Credits:
    Joe Venuti – violin
    Eddie Lang – guitar
    Adrian Rollini – bass sax, vibes, goofus, piano
    Jimmy Dorsey – clarinet, alto sax, trumpet
    Phil Wall – piano

  • “I Can See You All Over The Place” – Clarence Williams (1935)

    “I Can See You All Over The Place” – Clarence Williams (1935)

    A lovely inverted label Vocalion that finds the charming Clarence Williams languidly singing a new tune that biographer Tom Lord notes seems to be based on a reworking of the chord structure of “Squeeze Me”, which he co-wrote with Fats Waller and first recorded nearly ten years before. While it isn’t the “hot dance” number the label claims, I find it quite enjoyable.

    “Oh If I’m dreamin’, please let me dream”

    Recorded in New York on February 9, 1935.
    Released as Vocalion 2958.

    Credits
    Clarence Williams – piano, vocals
    Ed Allen – cornet
    Cecil Scott – clarinet, tenor sax
    Roy Smeck (?) – guitar
    Cyrus St. Clair (or Richard Fullbright) – tuba

  • “Rainbow Dreams” – Eddie Lang (1928)

    “Rainbow Dreams” – Eddie Lang (1928)

    A lovely guitar solo by Eddie Lang, accompanied by Frank Signorelli on piano.

    A UK-only Parlophone release of a track recorded in New York.

    Recorded on March 29, 1928.
    Released as Parlophone R 208.

  • “Hot Mustard” – Fletcher Henderson and his Orchestra (1926)

    “Hot Mustard” – Fletcher Henderson and his Orchestra (1926)

    An original Henderson composition (though some say he may have bought the tune – then “The Thundermug Stomp” – from Fats Waller) here wonderfully arranged by Don Redman.

    Joe Smith’s trumpet leads us into the tune, followed by a bit of Coleman Hawkins’ Tenor Sax. An exhilarating clarinet trio leads a call-and-response with June Cole’s strikingly recorded tuba. Fine trumpet work by Tommy Ladnier leads eventually to a beautiful piano solo by Smack himself – followed by the Hawk restating the lead before the coda.

    Recorded in New York on Wednesday, December 8, 1926.
    Released as Vocalion 15497 and Vocalion 1065.

    Credits
    Fletcher Henderson – piano
    Russell Smith, Joe Smith, Tommy Ladnier – trumpet
    Benny Morton – trombone
    Buster Bailey – clarinet, soprano sax, alto sax
    Don Redman – clarinet, alto sax
    Coleman Hawkins – clarinet, tenor sax
    Charlie Dixon – banjo
    June Cole – tuba
    Kaiser Marshall – drums

  • “Stomp That Thing” – Alabama Rascals (1932)

    “Stomp That Thing” – Alabama Rascals (1932)

    (aka Roy Palmer’s Memphis Nighthawks)

    Recorded in New York on March 31, 1932.
    Released as Melotone 12689.

    Credits
    Unknown artist – cornet
    Roy Palmer – trombone
    Darnell Howard – clarinet, alto sax, violin
    Unknown artist – clarinet, tenor sax
    Bob Hudson and/or W. E. (Buddy) Burton, piano / banjo
    Jimmy Bertrand – drums, washboard
    Unknown artist – vocals

  • “Delirium” Charleston Chasers (1927)

    “Delirium” Charleston Chasers (1927)

    A delightful original composition by pianist Arthur Schutt – first recorded with Carl Fenton and his Orchestra (with most of the players on this record) in April of 1927. Subsequently recorded later that same year by California Ramblers, Jack Hylton, and Willard Robison.

    Recorded in New York on May 18, 1927.
    Released as Columbia 1076-D.

    Credits
    Red Nichols – trumpet
    Miff Mole – trombone
    Jimmy Dorsey – clarinet, alto sax
    Arthur Schutt – piano
    Dick McDonough – banjo, guitar
    Vic Berton – drums

  • “Sittin’ in a Corner” – California Ramblers (1923)

    “Sittin’ in a Corner” – California Ramblers (1923)

    California Ramblers generally played stock arrangements of song sheets – though dazzling improvised solos began to appear on records starting in 1923.

    “Sittin’ On A Corner” from late 1923 is one of those sides: things start off elegantly as the theme is stated – but at the 1:00 mark we hear something quite different: a hot and lively interchange between Adrian Rollini’s bass sax and Frank Cush’s trumpet. The conversation lasts for over 30 seconds, with each instrument effortlessly crisscrossing over the lines of the other. The “saucy” melody and “bouncing” rhythm create new musical ideas that bring this tune to life and make it so much more than a stock “dance orchestra” number.

    Recorded in New York on September 18, 1923.
    Released as Columbia A3994.

    Credits:
    Arthur Hand – director, violin
    Frank Cush, Bill Moore – trumpet
    Lloyd “Ole” Olsen – trombone
    Bobby Davis – clarinet, soprano sax, alto sax
    Arnold Brilhart – clarinet, alto sax
    Freddy Cusick – tenor sax
    Adrian Rollini – bass sax
    Ed Sutton, Joe LaFaro, Sid Harris – violin (when used)
    Irving Brodsky – piano
    Ray Kitchingman – banjo
    Stan King – drums