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17 December 2008

Swingin' Down The Lane

I had picked up a Billboard collection of 1920s hits and heard Swingin' Down the Lane, like it, and found this. Session info can be found in a hi-res scan of the back cover (see the link).

(from All Music Guide) At its best, the Isham Jones Orchestra was capable of playing real jazz. The strongest and hottest instrumental tracks woven into this Memphis Archives compilation emanate a substantiality approaching that of early Fletcher Henderson or very early Duke Ellington. "Farewell Blues" and "Memphis Blues," recorded in January 1923, swing a little on the strength of the melodies. Even "I'm Sitting on Top of the World" (not to be confused with the blues tune by Howlin' Wolf) cooks with inspired precision. "It's the Blues" and "Three Thirty Blues" are among the best recordings this band ever made. Most satisfying was the expressive cornet playing of Louis Panico, an element that was missing after September 1924. Panico's contribution to this band was roughly comparable to what Louis Metcalf, Arthur Whetsol, and Bubber Miley accomplished on some of Ellington's earliest recordings. Another aspect of Isham Jones is also documented here: it was essentially that of a pit orchestra accustomed to backing up pop vocalists and vaudeville entertainers. Bearing in mind the fact that this orchestra worked regularly with Al Jolson, the selections featuring singers -- particularly Billy Jones and Ernest Hare, usually billed as the Happiness Boys -- illustrate this important function most effectively. Even quite a number of the instrumental performances are noticeably reined in by shuffle rhythms that hardly manage to break free of the vaudevillian pop mode. This might explain why many jazz historians have concentrated on Isham Jones the composer of great melodies destined to become jazz standards rather than on Isham Jones the leader of an all-purpose popular dance band that periodically incorporated real jazz into its performing itinerary. +

Tracks

1. Farewell Blues
2. Memphis Blues
3. Nobodys Sweetheart
4. Blue Evening Blues
5. It Had To Be You
6. My Best Girl
7. Why Couldn't It Be Poor Little Me
8. I'll See You In My Dreams
9. Danger
10. Headin' For Home
11. Paddelin' Madeline Home
12. That Certain Party
13. I'm Sittin On The Top Of The World
14. I Wonder Where My Baby Is Tonight
15. It's The Blues
16. Three-Thirty Blues
17. What's The Use?
18. Swinging Down The Lane

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great stuff. Do you have more Isham Jones and the like ? Very nice recording.

Ola in Sweden

Chester Proudfoot said...

This is the only Isham Jones I have, though I have a lot more music from this era. If you are looking for something particular let me.

Anonymous said...

Dear Chester

I am looking for all kinds of material, really, but obsolete The Old Masters - album, IAJRC - stuff and so forth. Do you know if Princeton Triangle Jazz Band Biograph LP i sout on CD yet ? But your music is always a welcomer !

best

Ola

Chester Proudfoot said...

Ola, I hadn't heard of IAJRC but it looks like I have two of their releases (Bunny Berigan and Red Nichols). I also have a handful of The Old Masters, such as Frankie Trumbauer, Fred Rich, Charlie Palloy, Mildred Bailey, Ben Selvin, Gene Kardos, and Russ Carlson. I plan to share everything eventually.

I found this link about the Princeton band (http://www.collateralworks.com/tr/princeton0021.html) but I'm not familiar with them. Worlds Records lists the item as available.

Anonymous said...

Chester

Great. The Red Nichols would be of great interest when you share it.An interesting source for old vitaphone recordings and the like is the following link with not only written material and pictures but good downloadable music aswell

http://vitaphone.blogspot.com/

Ola

Chester Proudfoot said...

Look for Red Nichols in the next couple of days.

I've visited the Vitaphone site many times since I discovered it.

Chester Proudfoot said...

Check out also Radiola in my blog links. Many of the shows are archived in a couple of places (one is www.archive.org) and your only need is the time to listen to it all.

Anonymous said...

yes

of course you already know about this site - The Vitaphone Blogg. I should have understood that. It seems your site is the only good one on old recordings from this era. I am working for the Swedish Broadcasting Company doing a lot of features on music. The latest on Abbey Road Studios history - will play some old Elgar recordings there. It is in swedish unfortunately, but if you care to look, my homepage is as follows:

www.ljudminnen.se

and klick on "arkivet" and "radio" for information about my radio programs

best wishes

Ola

Chester Proudfoot said...

It sounds like an interesting project. "Just play it as you have never heard it before !" Det är inte svårt att läsa när du har en översättare. (I hope that translation worked!). Congratulations on the award nomination.

There are also songs for download at this site I found last week: http://2multiples.com/hotdance/. Click on 'recordings.'

Chester Proudfoot said...

Ola, Unfortunately I cannot locate my copy of Red Nichols. I will look again next week when I return.