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Essential for jazz drummers

B. D. Tutt | London, UK. | 04/01/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Baby Dodds was, with Zutty Singleton, the greatest of the New Orleans drummers, and exercised great influence over the next generation of jazz drummers. He played with Oliver, Morton, Armstrong and his brother Johnny in the 1920s, but his drumming was normally severely restricted by the recording technology of the times. It was only in the 1940s, with the American Music Bunk Johnson sides and some of the recordings Dodds made for Rudi Blesh's Circle label that Dodds' genius was adequately captured.This CD contains extracts from a lengthy series of interviews which Dodds recorded for William Russell in the early 1950s. Dodds was in poor health at the time, but, he reminisces about New Orleans jazz, demonstrates his drum equipment, and most importantly, discusses his conception of jazz drumming. This material is fascinating, and is illustrated by a range of tracks taken largely from the Bunk Johnson American Music sides. These are not always amongst the best of these recordings, but they establish the points being made.While not on a par with Jelly Roll Morton's Library of Congress reminiscences, these are important documentary recordings which all those seriously interested in New Orleans jazz should consider a compulsory purchase."