The record changer (Mar 1946-Feb 1947)

•egance and forcefulness. His part lomplements that of Wooden Joe per;ctly ; Burbank adds the necessary eco'rative touches to the beautifully mple melodic line of the trumpet, fe sings the Creole lyrics of Eh, p-Bas! with great charm. Burbank ad Nicholas understand each other ad play together so well that the adt:on of a trombone seems to have ;en superfluous. Jim Robinson again lows that from a purely rhythmic ewpoint he can contribute much to e ensembles. But it is evident once ore that harmonically his performlces are very weak, and that his limed inspiration makes him repeat the '.me phrases too often. The rhythm .tction is unusually good on both !des. Baby Dodds really plays for the .ind for a change and the results are .Tiazing. Up Jumped the Devil is almost as good as Eh, La-Bas! The ber.ning is somewhat hesitant, but the ,usicians get together more and more they go and on the last two icruses achieve a superbly loose and Isy jump. Again the label lists no tmposers and none of the musicians :cept Burbank and Xicholas. VILLIE BRYANT Amateur Night in Harlem It's Over Because We're Through : 369 Speaking of Louis Armstrong imii.tors, listen to Taft Jordan's vocal terpolations on It's Over. He comes iarer to the form and spirit of ouis's singing style than anyone I've ?ard. This coupling has nothing else recommend itself. Willie Bryant is fine master of ceremonies and a ter1ble singer. Amateur Night in Harlem 3 ' a composition by Leonard Feather, • hich you and I have heard for years 3 J any Negro night club where there's } floor show. Feather also plays piano ■ Ji this date. He is of course much too i '■ odest to take a solo. In fact, Feather, « nho al6o supervised the session, de sed such a balance that it is just >X)Ut impossible to hear him. UNK JOHNSON & ( Margie Do Right Baby ' "-nerican Music 51 I I I These sides are. two more examples 4 f the kind of jazz played by Bunk's rangely uneven band. Its music has any wonderful qualities; but at the ' me time careful listening reveals all | e more strongly the serious weak isses that ' exist. The .rhythm section, UGUST, 1946 on this coupling at least, is very satisfactory, although Marrero's banjo is over-recorded and Slow Drag doesn't get a good tone from his bass. The beat, however, is strong and steady, so that the rhythm section cannot be blamed for the imperfections of the band. The trouble lies with the melody instruments. The fundamental difficulty is the discrepancy between Bunk, Robinson and Lewis in their musical temperaments and their technical skill. Bunk is a very accomplished musician with a beautiful sweet tone and delicate phrasings, who has a curious, unorthodox way of constantly pushing as he plays his lead. He thus sets the beat for the whole band, and remains at all times the source and center of the music. Everybody else (including the rhythm section), in one way or another, plays around him. If Bunk assumed less of a responsibility his own part would become richer and more interesting. He must sacrifice much in his attempt to keep the band together ; he plays on the beat too regularly, and would undoubtedly introduce more variations and diminish or increase his volume more frequently if he had more confidence in his musicians. Their selflimitation, in the interest of the band, causes a certain monotony in Bunk's own playing, which would disappear if he had a more homogeneous group. The contrast between Bunk's finished interpretations and Jim Robinson's loud, rowdy and unprecise trombone is too great to permit fully integrated ensembles. Bunk's lead requires a harmonically richer trombone who plays with less volume and a better tone. George Lewis complements Bunk much more fully than Robinson, but he also isn't entirely satisfactory. It's a shame that Lewis, who is one of the most sensitive and gifted musicians in jazz, doesn't have a better command of his instrument. His warm and moving tone and the sincerity, of his feeling for jazz cannot receive their full expression because of this lack. On the blues Lewis is always amazingly good, but when he plays anything else 'he resorts too often to the same runs and keeps repeating the same phrases. This is probably less a failure of