Vintage Harlem club jazz
Annie Van Auken | Planet Earth | 12/10/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"The majority of the selections on COTTON CLUB DAYS date back to the pre-big band era of the late 1920s and early '30s. Those were the glory times of that famous Harlem nightspot, when orchestras fronted by Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Don Redman (conspicuously absent from this set), and others performed there regularly for an almost totally white audience.
The tracks on this collection have been dubbed from LPs, rather than the original 78s. This in itself isn't a detriment, however the records have echo added, and a few also have some obvious groove distortion. The album's liner notes give running times and personnel for all songs; recording dates are included for most, as well.
Despite the less than perfect source material, COTTON CLUB DAYS is still an interesting mix of 16 songs that celebrate one of the best-ever venues for fine jazz music."
Historic
Damian P. Gadal | Santa Barbara, CA USA | 09/17/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Spanning a 20 year period, from the end of the roaring 20's to the end of WWII - this is a great collection of music that well represents the period. The quality of the recordings is very good and much appreciated!"