Search - Wingy Manone :: Wingy Manone 1937-1938

"Trumpet On The Wing" Still Soars

Michael Plaskett | WDUQ Radio, Pittsburgh, PA | 06/24/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Before there was Louis Prima, there was that OTHER clown prince of jazz, Joseph "Wingy" Manone.Neither is remembered as a great trumpet technician, but both Manone and Prima, New Orleans natives of Italian heritage, played the horn well enough; both had monumentally ebullient personalities, and both had learned much from Louis Armstrong.But Manone, compared with Prima, was more of a jazzman, as the selections on this CD indicate, and his sidemen, such as Leon "Chu" Berry, were more notable jazz performers than the ones who were working with Prima at about this same time.This CD is full of fine but lesser-known Manone recordings. "Manone Blues" is a delightful uptemo driving blues with the band responding in a most traditional way to Wingy's vocal calls.Manone shows a high degree of showmanship and Classics has done a decent job of compling the 78's, most of which have not been reissued in the US."