Search - World's Greatest Jazz Band :: Manchester's Free Trade Hall England 1971

A Warmly Recommended Concert Recording By the WGJB

John Tapscott | Canada | 10/13/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This double CD by the World's Greatest Jazz Band on Arbors Records brings back many memories for me. Not that I was at Manchester's (England) Free Trade Hall on December 15, 1971 when this music was recorded. Far from it. However, the WJGB was one of the bands which helped pique my teenage interest in jazz. This was due to several factors - the heavy play which the late jazz DJ Phil MacKellar gave the WGJB on his Toronto radio show; the surprising availability of their records in a record store close to my home; and the presence in the group of two trombones (the instrument I was trying to play at the time). Eventually I saw the band live in 1974 with several changes in the personnel from the band on this CD. My tastes in jazz have broadened considerably since those early days, but I will always have a place in my heart (and my record collection) for the WGJB co-led by trumpeter Yank Lawson and bassist Bob Haggart.



The great appeal of the World's Greatest Jazz Band was its ability to constantly infuse the Dixieland/NewOrleans/swing/blues repertoire with lots of spirit and thereby uplift the listener's spirts. There was joy on the bandstand which spread to the audience whenever this band played. And their appeal cut across all generations.



The personnel on this CD is the classic WGJB lineup, consisting of Yank Lawson and Billy Butterfield on trumpets, Bud Freeman and Bob Wilber on reeds, trombonists Ed Hubble and Vic Dickenson, and the rhythm section of pianist Ralph Sutton, bassist Bob Haggart and drummer Gus Johnson Jr.

Tunes by Fats Waller, Cole Porter, Duke Ellington and Jelly Roll Morton, among others, are featured. Bob Haggart contributes six tunes to the program, including some newer tunes such as "The Girl on the Beach", but also "What's New?" and the inevitable bass/drums duo "Big Noise From Winnetka".



The whole band jams together on some of the tracks, with solos from all the front-liners, but the larger group is often broken down into smaller units featuring one or two horns with the rhythm section. On a few tracks the rhythm section alone is featured. Billy Butterfield is outstanding on his "Summertime" feature. Bud Freeman swings in his distinctive tenor style on "I Got Rhythm" and is adventurous in his phrasing on "Muskrat Ramble." Ralph Sutton swings hard on his stride specialities - "Viper's Drag" and "Alligator Crawl". "One of those Things" features Freeman and Wilber, while "Black and Blue" has a lovely duet by Lawson and Butterfield. Both trombonists wail in their contrasting but compatible styles on "Limehouse Blues", and Dickenson has one of the concert's finest moments on "In a Sentimental Mood."



These are but a few of the highlights of a nicely balanced program which pleased an appreciative audience. It will please CD listeners too, though it must be said that the recording quality is adequate rather than of the highest quality. There is occasional evidence of tape deterioration. Still, CD releases by the WGJB have been quite rare, so this double CD set is a warmly recommended snapshot of the band at the peak of its powers. The music is also accompanied by comprehensive and often hilarious notes by writer Steve Voce."

A great find for fans of Lawson, Haggart et al!

Steve Emerine | Tucson, AZ United States | 08/04/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In 1971, it would have been tough to dispute any claim that a nonet of Yank Lawson and Billy Butterfield on trumpet, Vic Dickenson and Ed Hubble on trombone, Bob Wilber on clarinet, Bud Freeman on tenor, Ralph Sutton at the piano, Bob Haggart on bass and Gus Johnson Jr. on drums WASN'T the "World's Greatest Jazz Band." Co-leaders Lawson and Haggart put the group together for this live concert in Manchester, England, and 35 or so years later, Rachel and Mat Domber of Arbors Records tracked down the recordings and turned out this historic two-CD set at a modest price. Lawson, Haggart, Butterfield, Wilber and Sutton are outstanding on these discs. Over the years, WGJB issued some fine studio recordings for Atlantic, Decca, World's and other labels, and Jazzology has recently reissued some of the World's recordings. Lawson and Haggart, veterans of the Bob Crosby orchestra, continued to perform at jazz festivals in Los Angeles and elsewhere until they died in their 80s. Finding this previously unheard concert is a pleasant surprise."