Essential Recordings
B. D. Tutt | London, UK. | 03/31/2001
(4 out of 5 stars)
"The first half of this CD is made up of indispensible recordings originally made by Rudi Blesh's Circle label, from the New Orleans revival of the 1940s. Five tracks are from a trio session from 1946 featuring the wonderfully fluid New Orleans clarinet of Albert Nicholas with the great Don Ewell at the height of his Jelly Roll Morton phase and the superb New Orleans drummer Baby Dodds. These tracks are classics that stand on a par with Morton's 1927 - 1929 trio sides: the first take of "Wolverine Blues" in particular is tremendous. Also from this session is a piano / drums performance of Ewell's Morton - based "Manhattan Stomp", and two irresistable drum solos by Dodds: if they don't get your feet tapping then you are already dead!The rest of the album can't match these performances. Six sides of creole songs by Albert Nicholas, Danny Barker, Pops Foster & an uncomfortable James P. Johnson (or Charlie Queener on one track) are an interesting example of one facet of New Orleans music, while the remaining numbers by a Danny Barker led group are best forgotten, and cost the disc a star.The first eight tracks make this CD an obligatory purchase for any lover of New Orleans style jazz & of Don Ewell's under-rated piano."
An important piece of history.
M. D. Mason | St. Louis | 02/16/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is a strange, yet important collection. It's essentially three separate little records, with some minor overlap in personnel. The other guy covered the first part fine. I'm here to defend the other two. I'm no expert, but...
Anyone with interest in New Orleans' musical heritage probably ought to own this.
The middle section, led by Albert Nicholas, is the first, as far as I know, recorded example of the old Caribbean party songs that evolved in the oral tradition in New Orleans going back a couple hundred years or so. These are the recordings that inspired the likes of Don Vappie and others to resurrect the Creole/"Latin Tinge" aspect of Traditional Jazz in recent years.
The third section, led by Danny Barker, consists of probably the first recorded example of the Mardi Gras Indian tunes, another up-'til-then strictly oral tradition mostly hidden from society at large. The Indian chants are now an integral part of what became, and still is, New Orleans R&B."
Track Listings (15) - Disc #1