Louisiana-born cornetist Oscar Phillip Celestin moved to New Orleans in 1904 and by 1910 was leading a band at the Tuxedo Dance Hall in Storyville. Their first recording session did not take place for a full 15 years – until an Okeh session in 1925. Can you imagine if they had been recorded earlier? When I think of all the lost jazz of the “unrecorded period” before 1917, it is quite depressing indeed.
This record is from their second recording session for Columbia in 1926 – and it almost didn’t make it to its upcoming 100th birthday. As you can see, it suffered the same fate as the Grey Gull I posted earlier this week – a near-fatal crack across the entire record due to recklessly inadequate packing job by a seller. Luckily it did not break completely and with some stabilization (and the help of de-clicking software to remove the tics) I was able to coax a decent transfer from it.
Whenever you buy from a seller new to shipping 78s, you take a gamble. Though there is a tried-and-true method to ship these fragile discs with near 100% success, some new sellers decide it is best to ignore entreaties to ship safely and throw caution to the wind with a thin pizza box and a few sheets of bubble wrap. Let us not dwell on this – suffice to say it was injured and has convalesced to a point where it can still have a useful life.
This tune, composed by banjo player John Marrero, has a languorous spirit throughout that is simultaneously calming and invigorating. A lengthy mid-section features a duet between Marrero and the talented female pianist Jeanette Salvant (who became Jeanette Kimball after marrying banjoist Narvin Kimball in 1929). She played on all of Celestin’s subsequent recordings in the 1920s and again with him in the 1950s when his career was revived.
Celestin’s cornet brings us back to the ensemble – and he takes an extended solo that brings us home – the piercing tone of his muted trumpet offers a sharp contrast with the relaxed mood established.
Recorded in New Orleans, Louisiana on April 13, 1926.
Released as Columbia 636-D.
Credits
Oscar Celestin – cornet, director
August Rousseau – trombone
Paul Barnes – clarinet, alto sax
Earl Pierson – tenor sax
Jeanette Salvant – piano
John Marrero – banjo
Abby Foster – drums