kenny weir

I have - and play regularly - the four Timeless CDs. Hmmm, how to square that admonishment with interest in purchasing your new release? (Hard to buy, BTW, when shipping options dictate a choice between US and Europe.) Yours in fossildom, Kenny

The Charleston Chasers Vol 1 1925-1930 (Timeless) The Charleston Chasers Vol. 2 & New York Studio Groups 1928-1930 (Timeless) I know or have heard very little Red Nichols, so am in no position to think about buying the multi-disc multi sets just released by Jazz Oracle and discussed on the thread devoted to that label. However, I bought the above two CDs and have been enjoying them hugely. Bought on impulse on the basis of Amazon samples that sounded loose ans swinging, and so it proved to be. Nichols is heard extensively on the first; sparingly on the second. The sound on both is incredible. A couple of lame-o vocals aside, the first is more small band swinging, jamming jazz with excellent work from major players such as Pee Wee Russell, pianist Arthur Schutt and trombonist Miff Mole, who is fabulous. The liner notes would have it that "nothing much happens" on Moanin' Low, with Eva Taylor on vocals, but I love the beautiful dirge arrangement anyway. The second volume features the Chasers plus a variety of other bands. More pop vocals with some really cool jazz playing and fine arrangements here. I particularly like the Hot Air Men with Phil Napolean. These two are destined to be esteemed among my fave 20s/30s jazz compilations.

The more I play it, the more Longhair I hear.

Yes, thanks for the tip on this one - very good. Over the year, haven't really warmed to Billie's singing, but like it fine here.

Pops - no question.

I agree - Capitol for me. Simply amazing. Add: Merle Haggard Merle Travis Gene O'Quin Jess Willard

Got this last week - it's a great CD! The various lineups sound a lot more like some of the New Orleans bands of the era, with a funkier, looser thing going than some of their more buttoned-down contemporaries from the north. As well, the bass players have a much more audible, supple and swinging feel than a lot of jazz from this era. Hearing these guys, Blanton doesn't seem like such a stretch, sound-wise anyway. Could be down to the sounds guys who did the CD, I guess, but still ... Of course, putting all the "hot" tracks by these bands on a single CD isn't necessarily an accurate summation of what they were about, but these are all winners. And yes, while it may be a tick of the mind, some of it also put me in mind of western swingers like Roy Newman And His Boys, so much so that I checked lineups to see if there was any overlap. Not that I could see, but it sounds that way!

Fess Manetta - Whorehoue Piano (AMCD-122) This CD is a lot more than just the OK New Orleans curiosity Jeff and I were expecting. On my first few plays, it sounded just that way. But I've played it straight through several time since I got it yesterday - there's not a lot! - and it sounds pretty damn fine and magical. Allen summed it up beaut: I don't hear any musical errors, FWIW (very little!), but that could be, as Allen sez, he makes them musical anyhow. There's a strong Spanish tinge on a few cuts. On Old New Orleans Blues he sounds like he's about to break into Cry To Me, which evokes "forward echoes" of Professor Longhair - no surprise, given the left hand business goin' on! This is one that New Orleans fans will treasure.

When I'm in the mood, which is often, I can listen for hours to this kind of stuff, so the issue of "sameyness" doesn't arise! For you, and the rest of us, too, comps are the way to go. So I reckon you'll love the stuff put out by Old Hat Records. This is a label with high production values, excellent essays/info and tightly-focussed releases. All their albums have a higher than usual percentage of great/brilliant tracks. Good For What Ails You is a double CD of stuff related to the old-time medicine shows. Its has old-timey, but also blues, jug bands and so on. In The Pines, Gastonia Gallop and Music From The Lost Provinces explore various aspects of North Carolina old-timey. http://www.oldhatrecords.com/releases.html I love my fiddle comps on County of Ozarks, Texas and Mississippi fiddle music, but a lot of their releases are hardcore. Rural String Bands Of tennessee, however, is a well-rounded collection. Also good for diversity - the JSP box Mountain Blues. My most recent fave is Clayton McMichen: The Traditional Years, great fiddle stuff on another small label, Spring Fed Records. http://www.artscenterofcc.com/Spring-fed/Catalog.html

Thank you, one and all. Had a very fine present. In my trans-Tasman phone call to my mum, I said I was 56. She said no, no, no - did the sums. Turns out I'm 55! Had lunch with my son and his mother in our fave Turkish joint; am on night shift now for the next 6-8 hours!

Historically, very "important" stuff; musically, somewhat mixed. But with my affection for New Orleans music, I love them. Volume I contains "homemade" acetates from New Orleans, 1937-1940, when jazz wasn't really being recorded commercially in New Orleans. The first four tracks feature Kid Howard - young and strong, and very much in a Louis Armstrong bag. The other New Orleans tracks are by less well-known musicians. All are in a swing vein, and are good, although not well recorded. There are also five tracks by the mighty Punch Miller, recorded in 1941 in Chicago. These are very much worth hearing - there aren't that many recordings of Punch in his prime. I would say that this CD is not essential for most folks, but those particularly interested in New Orleans music, Kid Howard, or Punch Miller have got to have it. The meat of Volume II is the Delta session by the legendary trumpeter Kid Rena, along with some rehearsal acetates made a week earlier. Most critical opinion I've read focuses on what these recordings are not, rather than what they are. From all reports, Kid Rena was a fabulous, innovative trumpeter in his youth - possibly the equal of Punch, Lee Collins, or the unrecorded Buddy Petit. There's no evidence of that kind of greatness on these, his only recordings, so many listeners have been disappointed with them. But I love his playing here for what it is - a strong, straightforward New Orleans lead style - nothing virtuosic or innovative. Louis "Big Eye" Nelson and Alphonse Picou are both on clarinet, and I wish that the producers of this session had let them alternate on different tracks, rather than play together on every track. I guess they were carried away with that picture of the Buddy Bolden band that has two clarinetists. Anyway, I love the Kid Rena sides - although sonically, they have an unpleasant, metallic quality that I assume is the result of the studio they were recorded in. The rehearsal tracks don't have the same sound. There are also a few "homemade" records by Bunk Johnson - his first, recorded at his home in New Iberia. Nothing earth-shattering here, although they are interesting. Even more interesting are the tracks on The John Reid Collection (also on American Music) on which Sidney Bechet overdubbed a soprano part onto some of these discs. Thanks! Under consideration.

Enjoying the hell out of my Wooden Joe and Big Eye discs that arrived yesterday! Jeff, anyone, what say on the two volumes of Prelude To The Revival, featuring Kid Rena, Bunk, Kid Howard, Punch Miller?

Jeff, seems like you may want to revise your expectations of the Manetta disc upwards. From Allen Lowe's That Devilin' Tune:

Reading between what lines I've found, that's pretty much what I figured, too.

Jeff, anyone? What's the biz with this new release on Fess Manetta CD? From what I've found - at Worlds Records - it's mostly from 1957. Worth getting? http://www.jazzology.com/item_detail.php?id=AMCD-122

Many thanks for this thread and its contributors. Made me realise (again) how much I love this music and how much of it I have lying around the place. It's been rattling the windows for the past few weeks! Have ordered the Nelson/Luthjens and Wooden Joe discs. I confess to being blinded by the Penguins' lukewarm appraisal to the significance of these discs, so it's been good to be presented with a different perspective. I've also been digging on the disc that comes with the American Music book. Jeff's right - it's a you-beaut sampler. If I had to choose just one it would probably be Bunk's King Of The Blues, though I also love the others I have by him - 1944/45, Bunk's Brass Band and the Deccas on Document. I have the Kid Thomas First Recordings set and like it a lot; less so The Dancehall Years. Too shambolic even for me! George Lewis Trios & Bands is ace, but don't have much time at all for Jam Session. For some reason I can't remember, I ended up with Volume 4 of the Oxford series - it's fantastic 'cept for a dragging Tin Roof Blues. On GHB, the George Lewis/Kid Thomas Ragtime Stompers - famously crowned by the Penguins - is indeed fabbo, despite short and predictable playlist. Great sound on this one - stereo even! The George Lewis With Red Allen/Circle Recordings disc is a good 'un, too, even if Red only plays on some of the cuts. The rest have Alvin Alcorn on trumpet. Another thumbs up here for the double disc the 6 & 7/8s String Band double CD - different and charming. One of my fave AM albums is AMCD-9 - 1949 by Herb Morand. First 11 cuts feature Albert Burbank, Louis Nelson, St Cyr. Final four tracks are live from a camp at Lake Ponchartrain. Fabulous! Haven't heard the subsequent Morand CD, shared with Paul Barbarin. An odd one: AMCD-14 - The John Reid Collection. Bechet on piano, Peter Bocage, Alphonse Picou, Louis Keppard. And a St Louis Blues from 1942 by Burnell Santiago. AMCD-68 features Punch Miller (trumpet) and Louis Gallaud (piano). I wheel this out every year or so, just to confirm there are limits even for me. Jeff? What say you? A special mention for two non-AM albums: Jazzology 1 - Parenti, Wild Bill, Jimmy Archey, Art Hodes, Pops Foster, Arthur Trappier - is obviously in a different style, but it's a fantastic session anyway. Though this is one of those reissues on which the many extra alt takes seriously are not needed or wanted. Likewise in a different style is Jazzology 82 - The Jazz Record Story, featuring Hodes in a variety of settings with the likes of George Brunies, Foster and Dodds. Recommended! I endorse this statement. Buyer beware.

As one of the more arcane threads sums up: "Coherence is over-rated." Getting lost, waylaid and led astray is integral to the experience.

Lyn Taitt & The Jets - Rainbow Valley. Like Everlasting Love, it's a Mac Gayden song. I feel a rocksteady thread coming on.

Amazon has Black magic for $12.78. That's too expensive? I got that in high school a looooong time ago. I didn't really get it at first. These days I reckon it's some kind of zenith in sharp urban blues. Brilliant!

Ha ha - I thought you was talking about imperial measurements! Am I /1/2 Oz? All Kiwi born and bred and raised, but 25 years in Melbourne ... still on NZ passport.

I consider the Red Allen CDs on County the "KOB of bluegrass" in terms of their distillation of the Bill Monroe Doctrine. I'm no slavish devotee of sunshine pop, but growing up as radiofreak of the '60s and '70s I really do love the best of it. I'd say the only reason I never heard The Free Design was because they weren't released in NZ. Heard them on Pandora a few years back and have since secured their first, second and fifth albums. Not all great - I could do without some of the covers. But when they nail it, with help of the sweetest voices, some jazz/session player hot shots, greats tunes and arrangements, they really are sunshine pop perfection. Also: Petula Clark - I Couldn't Live Without Your Love

Yes, Amazon marketplace - and the first two quite cheaply, under $10. The third, still to be got, is pricier. I had them back in my cajun heyday, and as I say above they're getting a LOT more playing time than had I gone the JSP route. I meant modest in size only! I'll also get in due course the Lomax comp you spoke of above.

who those? just hope not relatives of Slim Dusty (yours truly, a fellow 1/2 oz) What's a "fellow 1/2 oz"? Hackberry Ramblers - venerable and revered cajun string band; helped spearhead the string band cajun sound before the accordian came back into the music in the '40s and '50s. Their Arhoolie CD spans 35-50. There's also later recordings available from Arhoolie done by them that are very good. Roy Newman and His Boys - largely forgotten western swing pioneers from the '30s. The most pronounced jazziness of the early western swingers - lots of clarinet, some Bob Dunn on steel and great vocalists. I have a single sensational CD on the small German label Cattle. There's also a bunch of stuff on the JSP "Western Swing And Country Jazz" box, though not quite as solid.

Three sounds that for me are perfect music of the "floaty" swing variety: Many of the Billie Holiday Columbias. Early Hackberry Ramblers Roy Newman and His Boys

About a year ago, when I made a conscious decision too get a swathe of classic cajun back in my life, I decided to veer away from the JSP sets you list above. I know I could've assembled my modest collection more cheaply going that way, but instead I headed towards single disc various artist comps, single disc/single artist comps and more. I have been richly rewarded by doing so, as the albums I've bought - some are OOP, so I got 'em secondhand through Amazon marketplace - have a much more user friendly aspect, so are getting played a lot. The JSP approach seems to mitigate against repeated playing. When I started getting back to this stuff, a whole disc of Leo Soileau or Denis McGee all sounded the same - now I'm back in the groove with it all, it sounds wonderful! There is some overlap between my purchases, but it doesn't matter. Here's what I got: On Yazoo: Dennis McGee, Leo Soileau, Gaspard/Lachney/Bertrand. On Sony/Columbia: Cajun Dance Party/Fai Do Do, Abbeville Breakdown. Country Music Foundation/Bluebird: Le Gran Mamou, Raise Your Window. Still one to go in this series, but I'm waiting for the price to be right. On Arhoolie: Joe Falcon Live, Cajun Fai Do-Do, early Hackberry Ramblers (already had that one!), Alphonse "Bois Sec" Ardoin, Amede Ardoin, Cajun Honky Tonk, Cajun String Bands, Nathan Abshire/Pinegrove Blues. There have been surprises for me. I don't recall Gaspard/Lachney/Bretrand first time around. Very strange and beautiful music. It doesn't sound French as in cajun, but French as in France ... if ya follow me! Also the Alley Boys from Abbeville. Not a storied band in cajun music lore AFAIK, but wonderful - sort of a rough and tough and bluesy version of the Hackberry Ramblers. Still to go - need me the only (AFAIK) Iry LeJeune CD and also Lawrence Walker. And the Bear Family JD Miller box - when I can afford it!