Finger Buster

More great music from, this one covers the very few recordings that Willie "The Lion" Smith made with his own band. Along with Fats Waller and James P. Johnson, he was one of the great stride piano artists of the early jazz era. From Allmusic.com, "his mother was an organist and pianist, and Smith started playing piano when he was six. He earned a living playing piano as a teenager, gained his nickname "the Lion" for his heroism in World War I, and after his discharge he became one of the star attractions at Harlem's nightly rent parties. Although he toured with Mamie Smith (and played piano on her pioneering 1920 blues record "Crazy Blues"), Smith mostly freelanced throughout his life. He was an influence on the young Duke Ellington (who would later write "Portrait of the Lion") and most younger New York-based pianists of the 1920s and '30s. Although he was a braggart and (with his cigar and trademark derby hat) appeared to be a rough character, Smith was actually more colorful than menacing and a very sophisticated pianist with a light touch. His recordings with his Cubs (starting in 1935) and particularly his 1939 piano solos for Commodore (highlighted by "Echoes of Spring") cemented his place in history. Because he remained very active into the early '70s (writing his memoirs Music on My Mind in 1965), for quite a few decades Willie "the Lion" Smith was considered a living link to the glory days of early jazz." Enjoy. +

Tracks

The Gulf Coast Seven
01. Santa Claus Blues
02. Keep Your Temper



03. Rock Jenny Rock
04. It's Right Here For You



05. Finger Buster06. There's Gonna Be The Devil To Pay
07. Streamline Gal
08. What Can I Do With A Foolish Little Girl Like You?
09. Harlem Joys
10. Echo Of Spring
11. Breeze (Blow My Baby Back To Me)
12. Swing Brother Swing
13. Sittin' At The Table (Opposite You)
14. The Swampland Is Calling Me
15. More Than That
16. I'm All Out Of Breath
17. I Can See You All Over The Place
18. Get Acquainted With Yourself
19. Knock Wood
20. Peace Brother Peace
21. The Old Stomping-Ground
22. Blues Why Don't You Let Me Alone
23. I've Got To Think It Over

Personnel: Tracks 1-2, November 5, 1925, The Gulf Coast Seven. June Clark (c), Jimmy Harrison (tb), Buster Bailey (cl, ss, as), Prince Robinson (ts), Willie "The Lion" Smith (p), Buddy Christian (bj) Bill Benford (bb), "Jazz" Carson (d).
Tracks 3-4, May 23, 1937, The Georgia Strutters. Perry Bradford (v, dir), Jabbo Smith (c), Jimmy Harrison (tb), Herschel Brassfield (cl), Edgar Sampson (as, vn), Willie "The Lion" Smith (p), Gus Horsley (bj), Harry Hull (bb,d).
Track 5, May 14, 1934. Willie "The Lion" Smith (p). Rejected.
Tracks 6-9, April 23, 1935, Willie "The Lion" Smith and His Cubs. Ed Allen (c), Cecil Scott (cl), Willie "The Lion" Smith (p), Willie Williams (wb).
Tracks 10-13, May 22, 1935, Willie "The Lion" Smith and His Cubs. Same.
Tracks 14-17, April 13, 1937, Willie "The Lion" Smith and His Cubs. Dave Nelson (t), Buster Bailey (cl), Robert Carroll (ts), Willie "The Lion" Smith (p), Jimmy McLin (g), Ellsworth Reynolds (sb), Eric Henry (d).
Tracks 18-21, July 14, 1937, Willie "The Lion" Smith and His Cubs. Frank Newton (t), Buster Bailey (cl), Pete Brown (as), Willie "The Lion" Smith (p), Jimmy McLin (g), John Kirby (sb), O'Neil Spencer (d,v).
Tracks 22-23, September 15, 1937, Willie "The Lion" Smith and His Cubs. Same.

Shine On Harvest Moon

Finally, I'm getting around to posting this! Ethel Waters' version of Shine On Harvest Moon is my absolute favorite (Laurel & Hardy's is a close second), and there's not a track here that I don't like. Compare her playful version (some say 'campy') of A Hundred Years From Today.to that of Jack Teagarden. On Dinah she brings it down from the jumpy Mills Brothers cut to something you could slow dance to, a sort of lazy, hot afternoon stay-in-the-shade type of song. Meanwhile, Miss Otis Regrets is now a mournful ballad in comparison to Cab Calloway's version, for example. Stormy Weather is simply one of the best. Musicians present include Manny Klein, Joe Venuti, Duke Ellington & His Orchestra, the Dorseys, Bunny Berigan, Dick McDonough, Benny Goodman, Jack & Charlie Teagarden, Art Karle, Taft Jordan & John Kirby. A virtual who's who of the day. Full scans included. Enjoy. +

Tracks

1. River, Stay 'Way from My Door
2. Shine on Harvest Moon
3. I Can't Give You Anything But Love
4. Porgy
5. St. Louis Blues
6. Stormy Weather
7. Love Is the Thing
8. Don't Blame Me
9. Shadows on the Swanee
10. Heat Wave
11. Harlem on My Mind
12. I Just Couldn't Take It, Baby
13. A Hundred Years from Today
14. Come up and See Me Sometime
15. You've Seen Harlem at Its Best
16. Miss Otis Regrets
17. Dinah
18. When It's Sleepy Time Down South
19. Moonglow
20. Give Me a Heart to Sing To
21. I Ain't Gonna Sin No More
22. Trade Mark
23. You're Going to Leave the Old Home, Jim

Rehearsin' For A Nervous Breakdown

Here's one that I haven't listened to in a while, which upon listening to it this week, I believe deserves more attention. It turns out that I had scanned the images at some point, so they're included in the file. I'm far from an expert, so here's what Wiki has to say: Kirby was born in Winchester, Virginia. In 1926, he moved to Baltimore, Maryland, a town he is still linked to by some. He played with Chick Webb and Fletcher Henderson. In the early 1930s, he performed some amazingly complicated tuba work on a number of Henderson's recordings. In an unusual move, Kirby picked up on the double-bass at the time when tuba was falling out a favor as the orchestra's primary bass instrument (few tuba players continued their role in the orchestra by switching to double-bass).

Kirby started his own band in 1937. The John Kirby Sextet, known as "The Onyx Club Boys" (usually including Kirby on bass, Charlie Shavers on trumpet, Buster Bailey on clarinet, Russell Procope on alto saxophone, Billy Kyle on piano and O'Neill Spencer on drums) would become one of the more significant "small groups" in a Big band era and had the first recording of Shavers' song "Undecided". Vocals were often performed by Maxine Sullivan, who also became Kirby's wife.

Kirby tended toward a lighter, classically-influenced style of jazz, which has both strong defenders and ardent critics. He was very prolific and popular from 1938-1941. After World War II his career declined and he died in Hollywood, California, just before a planned comeback. In 1993 he was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame.

Unlike other then-popular "novelty" jazz groups (like Raymond Scott), the Kirby Sextet is not particularly well remembered today, although in New York, the Wayne Roberts Sextet (formerly the 'Onyx Club Sextet') pays tribute, and in France it is commemorated by the band 'Kirby Memory', with vocals by Flora Sicot. His small group light jazz style is a great example of how swing can also be elegant. Enjoy. +

Tracks

1. Rehearsin' For A Nervous Breakdown
2. From A Flat To C
3. Pastel Blue
4. Undecided
5. By The Waters Of Minnetonka
6. It Feels So Good
7. Effervescent Blues
8. The Turf
9. Dawn On The Desert
10. Anitra's Dance
11. Sweet Georgia Brown
12. Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes
13. Minute Waltz
14. Front And Center
15. Royal Garden Blues
16. Opus 5
17. Fantasy Impromptu
18. Blue Skies
19. Rose Room (In Sunny Roseland)
20. I May Be Wrong (But I Think You're Wonderful)
21. Little Brown Jug
22. Nocturne

Man With A Horn Goes Beserk

If you listen to much old jazz, you've probably heard Buster Bailey but don't know much about him. I picked up this collection on a lark merely because of the date range and it remains one of my favorites. Except for four titles from 1959 and an obscure 1958 LP, everything Bailey recorded as a band leader is here. The first two cuts are scratchy, but hey - when you're dealing with 78s you take what you can find, and thankfully some dedicated engineers and fans work so hard to keep the music alive for the rest of us. This collection includes a virtual who's who of talent: Benny Carter, Fletcher Henderson, Charlie Shavers, Frankie Newton, Henry "Red" Allen, J.C. Higginbotham, John Kirby, Zutty Singleton and more. Enjoy. +

Tracks

1. Papa De-Da-Da
2. Squeeze Me
3. Call of the Delta
4. Shanghai Shuffle
5. The Bed Song
6. So You Won't Sing
7. Afternoon in Africa
8. Dizzy Debutante
9. Planter's Punch
10. Slow Jam Fizz
11. Chained to a Dream
12. Light Up
13. Man With a Horn Goes Berserk
14. Should I?
15. The Blue Room
16. April in Paris
17. Am I Blue
18. Seems Like a Month of Sundays (Since I Saw You Saturday Night)
19. The Fable of the Rose
20. Pinetop's Boogie Woogie
21. Eccentric Rag