Chicago Mess Around

I believe I picked up this one solely because it was produced by Classics. Ah, the power of packaging and marketing! From Allmusic.com, "One of the first important female bandleaders in jazz, Lovie Austin deserves to be much better known. After studying music in college, she toured on the vaudeville circuit, settling in Chicago in 1923. During 1924-1926, she recorded frequently with her Blues Serenaders, a group that at various times had Tommy Ladnier, Bob Shoffner, Natty Dominique, or Shirley Clay on cornet; Kid Ory or Albert Wynn on trombone; and Jimmy O'Bryant or Johnny Dodds on clarinet, along with banjo and occasional drums. Fortunately, a Classics CD has collected all of those recordings. Austin (as house pianist for Paramount) also backed many blues singers (including Ida Cox, Ma Rainey, and Alberta Hunter). But after 1926, her recording activity largely came to a halt. Austin worked for 20 years as the musical director for the Monogram Theatre and later on as a pianist at a dancing school, only returning to record in 1961 as part of Riverside's Living Legends series. Although mostly an ensemble pianist, Lovie Austin was a skilled arranger." Enjoy. +

Tracks

1. Jelly Roll Blues
2. Skeeg-A-Lee Blues
3. I'm Three Times Seven
4. Steppin' on the Blues
5. Traveling Blues
6. Charleston Mad
7. Charleston (South Carolina)
8. Heebie Jeebies
9. Peepin' Blues
10. Mojo Blues
11. Don't Shake It No More
12. Rampart Street Blues
13. Too Sweet for Words
14. Jackass Blues
15. Frog Tongue Stomp
16. Who's Gonna Do Your Loving (When Your Good Man's Gone Away)?
17. Nobody Else Will Do
18. Sunday Morning Blues
19. You Don't Mean Me No Good
20. Out Bound Train Blues
21. Walk Easy 'Cause My Papa's Here
22. Chicago Mess Around
23. Gallon Stomp
24. In the Alley Blues
25. Merry Maker's Twine