Can’t recall where but I recently overheard two jazz collectors discuss this as being their favorite Cab Calloway record. After posting “Some of these Days” by the Fletcher Henderson band yesterday, I decided to dig this one out to give it a fresh listen.
And wow! This one is a rompin’ stompin’ good time! The hot insistent playing, driving beat, and feverish vocal performance by Calloway all make for a very hot side! Excellent solos, ensemble playing, and inspired vocal by Mr. Calloway.
This disc actually looked pretty beat – almost as though someone had put it through a cement mixer with a bag of sand. I was expecting the surface to sound grainy and noisy and wasn’t planning on trying to make a transfer from it. But somehow the grooves were still pretty solid and the transfer came out WAY better than I thought it might. Good ol’ Brunswick shellac for the win!
Recorded in New York City on December 23, 1930.
Released as Brunswick 6020.
Credits:
Cab Calloway – director, vocals
R. Q. Dickerson, Lammar Wright, Reuben Reeves – trumpet
De Priest Wheeler (and Harry White?) – trombone
William Thornton Blue – clarinet, alto sax
Andrew Brown – bass clarinet, tenor sax
Walter Thomas – alto sax, tenor sax, baritone sax, flute
Earres Prince – piano
Morris White – banjo
Jimmy Smith – tuba
Leroy Maxey – drums
Image of Cab Calloway circa 1931
Courtesy of the National Museum of American History – Duncan P. Schiedt Photograph Collection.
https://edan.si.edu/slideshow/viewer/?eadrefid=NMAH.AC.1323_ref1976
Leave a Reply