Phonograph Monthly Review, Vol. 5, No. 6 (1931-03)

March, 1931, Vol. V. No. 6 195 Novelty The choo-choo vogue mentioned above (Ted Lewis’ Head- in’ for Better Times) is subscribed to also by Ben Bernie who plays a “kiddies’ hour” offering, Sleepy Town Express, on Brunswick 6024. The coupling, The King’s Horses, is more amusing, and makes quite a catchy dance performance. An- other piece well off the beaten track is The Wind in the Willows, played with Everything But Love by Ben Bernie (again) on Brunswick 6025. Best Ballroom Dance Discs Brunswick: I like best Isham Jones 1 catchy version of My Ideal coupled with a good arrangement of a good tune, I’m So Afraid of You (6041). Loring Red Nichols does well with a brisk and peppery performance of Blue Again and a graceful Kentucky Bids the World Good-Morning (6014); Isham Jones is heard again in lively, danceable versions of Lonesome Lover and Just a Dream Come True (6015); Oz- zie Nelson plays Fall in Love with Me and Truly in quietly restrained style (6018); and Jacques Renard is suave in I Hate Myself and Tie a Little String (6032). Columbia: Guy Lombardo’s Royal Canadians are in top form in a deftly turned You Didn’t Have to Tell Me (2379- D), and a dapper It Must be True (2390-D). The coupling in the former disc, Blue Pacific Moonlight, is a highly sen- timentalized Hawaiian waltz, and the coupling on the latter, Heartaches, is not distinctive of Lombardo's best work. Fred Rich is routine in Tie a Little String, but his When You Were the Blossom of Buttercup Lane is nicely animated (2387-D). Smith Ballew and Eddie Wittenstein provide routine fare on 2373-D and 2375-D respectively, with the latter’s neat Will You Wait a Year or Two the best. Victor: Ohman and Arden provide brisk piano interludes in I Hate Myself and What a Fool I’ve Been (22610); Leo Reisman is smooth, but scarcely well varied in Hurt and He’s Not Worth Your Tears (22605); Red and His Big Ten turn in a fast, peppy At Last I’m Happy, but If You Haven’t Got a Girl is less colorful (23033); Bert Loum’s discs are al- ways noteworthy for their excellent tonal qualities: Say Hel- lo and Heartaches on 22612 evidence these qualities, as does To Whom It May Concern on 22603. Duke Ellington’s ver- sion of Blue Again on the reverse of the latter disc has a good swing, but is not as well recorded or as characteristic as his previous notable releases. Mickie Alpert Mickie Alpert and his Cocoanut Grove Orches- tra, whose first two releases from Columbia (Hurt and We're Friends Again, 2344-D, You're the One I Care For and Tears, 2361-D) are attracting wide attention, will be the subject of an interview by “Rufus", illustrated with sketches by Emma Bourne, in the next issue of the P. M. R. HOT JAZZ A LL three of Red Nichols discs make Class A, and one /jL comes close to topping it: that is the two-part version of On Revival Day (Brunswick 6026), a marvellous rhythmic spiritual with Jack Teagarden’s rhythmic exhorta- tions and the fine chorussing predominating—a notable re- cording. Red also shows to good effect in a brisk You Said It and a very deft, ingeniously varied, Sweet and Hot (6029); Rockin’ Chair and My Honey’s Loving Arms are good, but not as markedly so, except possibly for the piano solo in the latter piece (6012). Columbia turns in a winner in the work of a newcomer, Clyde McCoy of Chicago, who does a grand piece of work in Clarence Williams’ Sugar Blues, featuring ecstatically rhapsodic trumpeting, and a fine ar- rangement; the coupling, Readin’ Ritin’, Rhythm, done in peppy, graceful, and not too extreme style, is also a top- notcher (Columbia 2389-D). The other two entrants are Mc- Kinney’s Cotton Pickers with fast and highly colorful ver- sion of You’re Driving Me Crazy, featuring a rich tonal ground-sw’ell below, florid solo work, and some furious wa- wa work), coupled with a less distinctive Hello (Victor 23031 , and Cab Calloway’s delightful treatment of a fine rhythmic spiritual, Is That Religion? (Brunswick 6020). Calioway’s coupling is a fleet, fire-cracking performance of Some of These Days, the work of an orchestra that should be heard from again and offen. Best in the remaining Victors are Boyd Senter’s welcome revival of Smiles and a exciting version of Give It To Me Right Away, both featuring his own virtuoso clarinetting 23032), and Bennie Moten’s fleet, interestingly developed Somebody Stole My Gal, coupled with a mild Won’t You Be My Baby (23038). McKinney sounds quite uncharacteristic in bland performances of Come a Little Closer and To Whom It May Concern (23035), and Moten’s energetic Bouncin’ Around and New Moten Stomp are only fair examples of his playing (23030). The two remaining Brunswicks are Andy Kirk's noisy and gay Sophomore coupled with an easy- going, . hot Saturday on 6027, and Phillips’ Louisville Jug Band in a mediocre That’s Your Last, and a decidedly inter- esting Smackin’ the Sax displaying some astounding sax and jug virtuosity. Rufus