The record changer (Mar-Dec 1947)

RECORDS NOTED: (Continued from Page 8) I OOGIE WOOGIE K. K. Boogie (Ken Kersey) I A-Flat Dream (James P. Johnson) I Little Joe From Chicago (Mary Lou Williams) Boogie Woogie (Pete Johnson) Bear Trap Blues (Jimmy Yancey) Dupree Shake Dance (Champion Jack Dupree) Honky Tonk Train Blues (Meade Lux Lewis) Hastings Street (Charlie Spand, Blind Blake) o umbia Album C-130 Having read in Mike Levin's column in hum Beat that George Avakian must hew ) the Columbia commercial line, I under;and completely why K. K. Boogie played litteringly by Ken Kersey and the Henry dlen band should be included in an album lat also presents the remarkable "Hastings treet." That record, together with Bear 'rap Blues and Dupree Shake Dance, gives le album standing in the phrase chosen by 'olumbia to describe such releases : "Hot azz Classics." A little less hot is A-Flat ''ream wherein James P. develops a pretty 5-bar theme with more right hand decoraon than is prescribed by Boogie Woogie — laved with drive and enthusiasm faithfully y Pete Johnson. I can't say the same for lis version of Meade's Honky Tonk, though may be the unutterably poor Columbia jr faces which rob him of the sonorities lat are as much a part of this composition s the bare notes. I was for some reason repared to dismiss Mary Lou Williams' .ittle Joe, which I remembered as a jive iece performed by the Andy Kirk band. !ut here it turns out to be a quiet, tasteful iree minutes of music with wistful overDnes, played modestly by Mary Lou. ILLIE HOLIDAY I Until the Real Thing Comes Along I Cover the Water Front I Can't Get Started When a Woman Loves a Man He's Funny That Way A Sailboat In the Moonlight Summertime Billie's Blues Lolumbia Album C-135 If you admire these tunes and want them iins; in "entertaining" style by a superior hanteuse then this album is for you. Billie, Irith all the increase in her trick drop on eld tones, her clipped phrasing, her melanIholy intonation, can present a popular song I lore agreeably than any white dance band linger. Summertime and Billie's Blues, reor-led in 1936, are the best sides, but I find o evidence in Billie's then raw and urgent oice that it could have become anything except what you can hear on / Cover the Water Front, recorded in 1941. Summertime . . '. when the livin' is easy . . . Billie sings easily. The sadness is not in what happened to Billie's voice but what happened to her, caught up as she was in the frustration that made her try hard with Strange fruit in the cartoon reality of the 52nd Street dens. I don.'t seem to get through a paragraph without referring to Mike Levin so I better say here that his Dozvh Beat interview with Billie after her arrest was fine journalism, a lesson f or the "free press." IKE RODGERS HENRY BROWN Blind Boy Blues Blues Stomp COW COW DAVENPORT Chimes Blues Slow Drag Jim Crow Blues EDITH JOHNSON Good Chib Blues Honey Dripper Blues Nickel's Worth of Liver Century 3018 Through 3021 Four more splendid re-issues by Century from the old Paramount label. Has the Columbia catalogue got stuff like this lying around in the files? What about Willie Johnson? Anyway, the difference between the masters which Avakian is compelled to fish up for Columbia packaging and these magnificent items is sharp enough to prove that times haven't changed much since the first HRS and Commodore re-pressings began to appear. The large companies have done some shrewd and satisfactory marketing of Bessie, Armstrong, King Oliver, Johnny Dodds, Jelly Roll, and others. But you can't depend on them, even with Avakian in there pitching. It's still the shoe-string independents who have the courage to pay attention to music, and of them all the highest courage and doggedness has been displayed by Century. IN SHORT One thing Columbia didn't demand was Avakian notes to the album of Raymond Scott re-issues, released, undoubtedly, to bite off a chunk of the rebop market. At least when Scott steals from Carmen and Rigoletto he uses the names so ,ihat his reformation of the material can be termed "improvement" even without playing the records. That's a good idea, by the way, not playing the records. But if we don't how are we to keep up with progress? I would very much like to see a Doivn Beat critique of Mr. Scott. . . . Single blues records, excellent to fair in descending order : Old Man Blues by Big Bill (Columbia) ; Blue Book Boogie by Jesse Price (Capitol) ; There's All Kinds of Women by Little David Wheaton (Capitol) ; Box Car Blues by Wingy Manone (Capitol). Also on Capitol: I'm So Glad Jesus Lifted Me, sung by the polished St. Paul Church Choir of Los Angeles. DJANGO RHINEHART— MUGGSY SPANIER BING CROSBY— B. GOODMAN— GLENN MILLER And Hundreds of Others ALL AT SET PRICES Send Your Itemized Wants MARTHA & JACK (M & J) VAN IDERSTINE Box 191, Wortendyke, N. J. A Quick Look at U. S. Jazz (Continued from Page 9) hear some really great music with a dixieland beat. Marvin Ash, who plays piano here nightly, organizes these sessions, and during the couple of weeks that I was there, I heard such musicians as Pete Daily, Chuck Mackey, Joe Rushton, Rosey McHargue, Matty Matlock, Bud Wilson, Stew Pletcher and — well — several others whose names I don't recall for the moment. Oh yes, there's a very interesting new trumpet player who sits in quite often there ; his name is Tommy Tustice, and he plays like a mixture of Berigan, Hackett and Wild Bill Davison, and the result is a style all his own. Remember t hat name, as I'm pretty sure that you'll be hearing it again. I was impressed, too, with Benny Carter's little band at Bill}' Berg's. Benny is, of course, a first class musician, and anything he does is certain to be good. His arrangements for this group are most interesting and his alto playing is as impeccable as ever. Dodo Marmarosa is on piano and Lucky Thompson on tenor and both are playing much more jazz than I can ever recall having heard on records featuring either of them. Now, I am writing this back in New York and in a few days' time I shall be, most regretfully, on my way back' to England, I shall be taking back with me a lot of memories, mostly pleasant ones to comfort me that jazz is still being played ; that there are many individual musicians, many of them still obscure, carrying on in the real jazz tradition. Groups like the Scarsdale High School Gang here in New York' and the Lu Watters band in San Francisco ; enterprising people like Bill Reinhardt, Rudi Blesh and the owners of some of the more enlightened small recording companies, such as Jump, Crescent and others ; all these people, and many more besides, are insuring that jazz will live on, that the work of the oldtimers is preserved and that of the new generation given the chance it deserves. Magazines such as the Record Changer, Art Hode's Jazz Record and one or two others are also doing a fine job, and I am hoping that all these forces will combine to bring about a real jazz renaissance. ARE YOU ON MY MAILING LIST? If not. you're missing the greatest bargains in record collecting history. Just check these services: ALL CURRENT RECORDS FROM ONE SOURCE; HUNDREDS OF COLLECTOR'S ITEMS LISTED EACH MONTH at the lowest prices ever; THAT'S NOT ALL EITHER. ENGLISH PARLOPHONES at $1.05 to $1.57. HMV'S at $1.62. also English DECCAS. BRUNSWICKS. V0CALI0NS. and REGALS. FRENCH RECORDS BY DJANGO, all SWINGS, JAZZ CLUBS and BLUE STARS. RARE ARGENTINE 0DE0NS. AUSTRALIAN ISSUES which include MARES', NAJASAKI. WILLIAMS' Mandy with Louie and Bechet, MORTON'S Blue Blood Blues, and DOC JAZZ. PECORA'S Magnolia Blues and hundreds of other rarities. If that isn't enough here's more: All RE-ISSUES on Columbia, Victor and Decca. All you have to do to get this 25 page catalogue is send me a post card with your name and address. Mention list number wanted. LIST NUMBER 20— New Orleans, Blues, Chicago, Spirituals. LIST NUMBER 21— Big Band Swing and Modern Small Combinations. NEW LISTS EVERY MONTH SENT FREE TO ALL. ROBERT S. WEINSTOCK 324 West 83rd Street, New York City SEPTEMBER, 1947 15