The record changer (Feb-Dec 1948)

vm \ PETE DAILY'S BAND consistent improvement. That's an important point, because too often jazz bands of this general type have gotten off to a good start, and then have been content to coast, with the result that within a fairly short time their music (and records, if any) becomes routine, stereotyped, and increasingly lethargic. The distressing examples, of course, are the New York crowd who, ten years ago, were playing pretty damn well, but today are exhausted by their own efforts. I think it has been pretty well established by now that the music has slid downhill, and not the listeners' ears. It's not pleasant to mention names when the men involved are personal friends, but just check over the boys who are still playing at the same haunts and pit their records of the middle thirties (or even before) against those of the last five years. A lot of the steady improvement can be attributed to Pete Daily's right-hand man, Rosy McHargue, a fine arranger who has a great love for the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, its later offshoots, and the obscure tunes of their time. He and Pete believe in ensemble work over everything else, and nothing seems to please them more than having a new melody to work over with the ODjB instrumentation. And what's also very important, they both have a clear idea of what dixieland jazz is as opposed to the conventional definition which is loose enough to cover any small jam band playing a three-strain standard with an ensemble beginning, strings of solos (too often including bass and even drums!), and .ensemble again for the finish. That's no more dixieland than Duke Ellington's Perfume Suite. If you want to know what dixieland is, these records are in themselves a definition, and a fine one. Perhaps one should even say "modern dixieland," because there neve has been a dixieland band quite like this one, even to the way it's recorded. While the recording is not sensational (I would have preferred more highs, but I know from past experience that that type of independent studio recording always sacrifices depth), it contributes greatly to the way the band sounds on these particular records. The horns are not overcut, and Pianist Skippj Anderson is heard clearly at all times. Although he is no great shakes on his own (his solo on Yelping Hound Blues even shows a surprising unsteadiness in tempo), Skippy plays a hell of an ensemble piano, with a left hand that unerringly stresses the right bass note with which to give fullness to the passing harmony. Particularly in Sobbin' Blues, Anderson's piano is given extra emphasis to fine advantage. Parts of the last ensemble on Sobbin' Blues enjo}' a feeling of looseness and informality which is all too rare on records, purely because the horns — which are not following a rigid pattern — are actually subordinated to the supporting piano. It's probable that this is a rare combination of improper balance offset by good luck, but so what? Sobbin' Blues, as you might have gathered by now, is a fine side, and rocks all the way in an easy, just-right tempo. Jazz Man Strut is an excellent McHargue original, and once again the band swings from start to finish in its sprightly, one-steppy way. (Drummer George Defebaugh has a tendency to build a house, but that's not out of keeping with the style. Incidentally, the term two-beat has not appeared in this review, although Defebaugh pumps onethree-one-three on the bass drum, purely because it has been so badly misinterpreted. Jimmie Lunceford's band, for example, was one of the most pronounced two-beat bands of all time.) Yelping Hound Blues is a Lada-Nunez original which McHargue dug up from an old Louisiana Five record. It's a first-class vehicle for the band, with hound breaks reminiscent of the neighs and cackles of. Livery Stable Blues, but the main thing is the melodic content of the number, and it doesn't let you down. Clarinet Marmalade is anticlimactic and lacks the melodic interest of the other numbers, but only because it's so familiar. It is, of course, one of the best ODJB contributions to jazz literature. That front line is really a nice, looseworking combination. Warren Smith's trombone slips into orthodox parts and out into free improvisation which never intrudes on the main line as punched out by Pete Daily's cornet, and McHargue is practically in a class by himself these days as a dixieland clarinetist. Perhaps the best part of the whole business is seeing Daily finally reach the recognition he has long deserved. Whatever you do, don't miss these records, especially the first one. (fazz Man 29, 30.) (G.A.) Benny Goodman Sextet Shirley Steps Out The World is Waiting for the Sunrise First side is a medium tempo original b; Mel Powell with typical "modern" develop ment and treatment. The tune is rather lik a lot of current jump favorites, on th< order of How High the Moon, which i would not have been written if it hadn' been for, as the saying goes. A distinct ai of slickness pervades the number, and thi bebop insertions are rather in the nature o intrusions. They are also an interesting re minder that Goodman once blasted the day lights out of the beboppers — but where di( the Gillespies & Co. get their start? Listei to the early Goodman Sextet records 01 ; Columbia. World Is Waiting is Goodman's thin crack at this number (it always seems tc be with Mel Powell on piano). As i; usually the case, the latest is the weakest tr\ yet. It's taken at so fast a clip that Bass Player Red Callender plays two-to-the-bai all the way, making this a strictly two-beat record. Everybody plays very swiftly, and there are some extraordinarily uninteresting but rapid pre-arranged slicknesses. But everything works out beautifully in the end. Goodman starts climbing the scale, and goes up, up, up, and up, and finally hits his top note. Or no, not quite. No, not quite by at full half tone. Eeyah and hallelujah, a half a tone flat ! There is, after all, justice in this world, and Benny gets his come-uppance for being a dull tool of a no-good, which is the mildest thing I can call a guy who goes through barren exercises climaxed by the oldest and most boring stunt in the music business — going up the scale one note at a time. Oh, it's so lovely to hear such a character come a cropper so decisively, foolishly, and gratifyingly ! It is a bit of a shock that Benny the Great should fluff one so badly, and even more so that the master should be released, but it makes this listener very, very ' happy. (Capitol 15069.) (G.A.) Dial Bebop Albums, 1947 and 1948 In the 47 album are most of the names familiar to everyone now : Dizzy, Parker, McGhee, Marmarosa, etc. The records themselves are quite familiar, too, but I'm assuming that both albums are units and anyway rehashing is sometimes profitable. Unevenness is liable to be one of the faults in a group of records by such varied i personnels as this; the music wavers from somewhat interesting to remarkable. I'd say that the best moment in the lot, by far, is ! Dizzy's solo on "CONFIRMATION," but JIMMY CRAWFORD, BENNY, AND TEDDY 20 THE RECORD CHANGER