“St. Louis Blues” – Nashville Jazzers (1927)

Madison 5001
“St. Louis Blues” – Nashville Jazzers
Recorded in New York, c. 1927.

Bob Fuller was very active in the NYC jazz scene in the 1920s. He played as a sideman for many blues singers such as Mamie Smith, Bessie Smith, Clara Smith, Rosa Henderson, Josie Miles, Maggie Jones, and Viola McCoy.

He also played in small combos such as George McClennan’s Jazz Devils, Three Monkey Chasers, The Three Hot Eskimos, Five Musical Blackbirds, Rocky Mountain Trio, Kansas City Five (with Bubber Miley), and (perhaps most famously) Three Jolly Miners.

This recording date is not precisely known – but it would have come well after his early work as a sideman (1924-26) and the last Three Jolly Miners record (early 1926).

Here we hear the W. C. Handy standard “St. Louis Blues” arranged for a small combo. Mike Jackson’s banjo emphatically plunks out the first few notes – and is soon joined by fine solos on cornet (by frequent collaborator Tom Morris) and clarinet. After a relaxed banjo solo by Jackson, he switches to piano for the outro.

This copy is fairly clean but, like many releases on the Madison label, suffers from a higher level of grainy surface noise. Still, it’s a fine listen!

Credits
Bob Fuller – clarinet / alto sax
Tom Morris – cornet
Mike Jackson – piano / banjo