Crazy-O-Logy

Often a sideman on many of the recordings here, Freeman also recorded several sides under his own name (albeit they were few and far between). "When Bud Freeman first matured, his was the only strong alternative approach on the tenor to the harder-toned style of Coleman Hawkins and he was an inspiration for Lester Young. Freeman, one of the top tenors of the 1930s, was also one of the few saxophonists (along with the slightly later Eddie Miller) to be accepted in the Dixieland world, and his oddly angular but consistently swinging solos were an asset to a countless number of hot sessions.

Freeman, excited (as were the other members of the Austin High School Gang in Chicago) by the music of the New Orleans Rhythm Kings, took up the C-melody sax in 1923, switching to tenor two years later. It took him time to develop his playing, which was still pretty primitive in 1927 when he made his recording debut with the McKenzie-Condon Chicagoans. Freeman moved to New York later that year and worked with Red Nichols' Five Pennies, Roger Wolfe Kahn, Ben Pollack, Joe Venuti, Gene Kardos, and others. He starred on Eddie Condon's memorable 1933 recording "The Eel." After stints with Joe Haymes and Ray Noble, Freeman was a star with Tommy Dorsey's Orchestra and Clambake Seven (1936-1938) before having a short unhappy stint with Benny Goodman (1938). He led his short-lived but legendary Summe Cum Laude Orchestra (1939-1940) which was actually an octet, spent two years in the military, and then from 1945 on, alternated between being a bandleader and working with Eddie Condon's freewheeling Chicago jazz groups. Freeman traveled the world, made scores of fine recordings, and stuck to the same basic style that he had developed by the mid-'30s (untouched by a brief period spent studying with Lennie Tristano)." (Allmusic.com) Enjoy! +

Tracks

01 - Craze-O-Logy
02 - Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man
03 - What Is There To Say 
04 - The Buzzard
05 - Tillie's Downtown Now
06 - Keep Smilin' At Trouble
07 - You Took Advantage Of Me
08 - Three's No Crowd
09 - I Got Rhythm
10 - Keep Smilin' At Trouble
11 - At Sundown
12 - My Honey's Lovin' Arms
13 - I Don't Believe It
14 - Trappin' The Commodore Till
15 - Memories Of You
16 - 'Life' Spears A Jitterbug
17 - What's The Use 
18 - Three Little Words
19 - Swingin' Without Mezz
20 - The Blue Room
21 - Exactly Like You
22 - Private Jives

Moanin' In The Mornin'

Taking a side trip from the hotter music (which we'll get right back to), here's another set of simply one of the best singers ever, in my opinion. This LP put together Lee Wiley's recordings of Rodgers & Hart and Harold Arlen compositions. Tracks 1, 3, 4, and 6 are with Joe Bushkin and His Orchestra. Tracks 2, 5, 7 and 8 are with Max Kaminsky and His Orchestra. Tracks 9-16 are with Eddie Condon, either with his Orchestra, the Quintet or the Sextet. As often happens, when LPs and CDs are rereleased by another distributor they felt compelled to change the cover, so I included both (the white one didn't scan too well apparently). Anyway, Enjoy! +

Tracks

01 - Baby's Awake Now (1940)
02 - Here In My Arms (1940)
03 - You Took Advantage Of Me (1940)
04 - A Little Birdie Told Me So (1940)
05 - A Ship Without A Sail (1940)
06 - I've Got Five Dollars (1940)
07 - Glad To Be Unhappy (1940)
08 - As Though You Were There (1940)
09 - Let's Fall In Love (1943)
10 - Moanin' In The Mornin' (1943)
11 - Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea (1943)
12 - Stormy Weather (1943)
13 - Down With Love (1943)
14 - I've Got The World On A String (1943)
15 - Fun To Be Fooled (1943)
16 - You Said It (1943)

Pagin' The Devil

It's been another hectic month, what with all the holidays here and there, some travel, work, etc., but I hope to be more active here in the next few months. As it's a rather gray and questionable day out there, and I face the prospect of commuting at least an hour or more through an inevitable oncoming storm, I figured something with some bounce is in order. One of the best to bounce was Lester Young. From Allmusic,com, "This is the first leg of the Lester Young story, covering his exciting years as Count Basie's star tenor saxophonist and master of the metal clarinet. Opening with Young's very first appearances on record in 1936, the compilation boasts several vivid selections by the Count Basie Orchestra, examples of the gentle, relaxed intimacy of Billie Holiday and Pres with Teddy Wilson's band, and several outstanding instrumental small-group jams either led by or simply graced with the presence of Lester Young. These include the famous Kansas City Five and Six on the Commodore label, the Benny Goodman Sextet ("without Goodman" but with Charlie Christian), and various masterworks originally issued on both the Savoy and Keynote labels. There's no real adherence to a strict chronology -- the producers of this compilation were obviously aiming for playback textural ambience rather than concise sequential context. After wading into the cream of Young's work from the early '40s, the focus abruptly lurches back to the late '30s with vintage stomps and swing by Basie's orchestra and the Kansas City Six. Here, then, is a good introduction to Lester Young as he sounded in his prime. The only glaring fault occurs in the enclosed discography; the drummer on "Sometimes I'm Happy" and "Afternoon of a Basie-ite," recorded for Harry Lim's Keynote label in December of 1943, was Sidney Cattlet, not Jo Jones." Scan of the discography is at the bottom of the post. Enjoy! +

Tracks

01. Shoe Shine Boy
02. Lady Be Good
03. Roseland Shuffle
04. Swinging The Blues
05. Taxi War Dance
06. This Year's Kisses
07. I'll Never Be The Same
08. I've Found A New Baby
09. Lester Leaps In
10. Ad Lib Blues
11. Sometimes I'm Happy
12. Afternoon Of A Basie-Ite
13. Lester Leaps Again
14. I Got Rhythm
15. Four O'Clock Drag
16. Jo-Jo
17. I Don't Stand The Ghost Of A Chance With You
18. Blue Lester
19. Jump, Lester, Jump
20. Texas Shuffle
21. I Ain't Got Nobody (And There's Nobody Cares For Me)
22. I Want A Little Girl
23. Pagin' The Devil
24. Twelfth Street Rag

We Called It Music

It's been a busy time of late, so apologies for not getting this out sooner. Here we have the fourth and final volume of this Eddie Condon collection. This volume covers January 21, 1942 through August 1949, and includes more of the fantastic lineup: Max Kaminsky, Pee Wee Russell, Joe Bushkin, George Wettling, Zutty Singleton, Benny Morton, Hot Lips Page, Miff Mole (tracks 8 & 13), Billie Holiday, Bobby Hackett, as well as Jack Teagarden, Louis Armstrong and James P. Johnson. If this isn't all-star, then the term is meaningless. On top of that, there is one of the sexiest voices ever, Lee Wiley. Tracks that stand out for me are Cherry, Peg O' My Heart, Ballin' The Jack, and Georgia Cake Walk. But feel free to choose your own. Enjoy. +

Tracks

01. Don't Leave Me Daddy
02. Georgia Cake Walk
03. Liberty Inn Drag
04. Indiana
05. Get Happy
06. Oh, Katharina
07. Uncle Sam's Blues
08. How Come You Do Me Like You Do
09. Clarinet Marmalade
10. Joe's Blues
11. Village Blues
12. Tiger Rag
13. Peg O' My Heart
14. Cherry
15. Ballin' The Jack
16. Jada
17. When Your Lover Has Gone
18. Wherever There's Love
19. Improvisation For March Of Time
20. Just You, Just Me
21. Atlanta Blues
22. Keeps On A-Rainin'
23. We Called It Music

Spring Will Be A Little Late This Year

This is definitely outside the general time span covered in this blog, but it's Lee Wiley and worth hearing in my opinion. The LP was released in 1971 and includes demo sessions Wiley recorded with Joe Bushkin in 1965. Among the musicians on hand are Rusty Dedrick, clarinetist Johnny Mince, trombonist Buddy Morrow, and pianist Dick Hyman. Wiley's voice was obviously not what it once was, however I think it's still a listenable record overall. Even the 1965 demos and outtakes are interesting, as they reveal some of the behind-the-scenes work. As Allmusic.com suggested, this is probably more suited for Wiley completists. Still, given that her recorded output was rather sparse, it's hard to dismiss the album too much. It's Lee Wiley, after all. Enjoy. +

Tracks

01. Moon River
02. When I Fall In Love
03. You're Lucky To Me
04. A Woman's Intuition
05. I'll Be Home
06. A Love Like This
07. A Sleeping Bee
08. Indiana
09. Spring Will Be A Little Late This Year
10. I'm Coming Virginia
11. If I Love Again
12. Any Time, Any Day Anywhere
13. Outtakes --When I Leave The World Behind (Take 6)
14. Why Shouldn't I_ (Take 4)
15. The Lonesome Road (Take 3)
16. Some Day You'll Be Sorry (Take 1)
17. I Left MY Heart IN SAN Francisco (Take 1)
18. Indiana (Flawed Take 3)
19. When I Leave The World Behind (Rehearsal And Take 1)
20. When I Leave The World Behind (Take 5)
21. Why Shouldn't I_ (Takes 1 And 2)
22. Why Shouldn't I_ (Take 3)
23. The Lonesome Road (Rehearsal Take 1)
24. The Lonesome Road (Take 2)
25. The Lonesome Road (Take 4)
26. The Lonesome Road (Take 6a-Take 6 With Overdubbed Trumpet)