What 78 are you spinning right now ?

[jeffcrom]

Today's winners from my recent find:

Ida Cox and Her All-Star Band - Four Day Creep/Hard Times Blues (Vocalion, 1939). Really nice sides by the veteran blueswoman, with Hot Lips Page, J. C. Higginbotham, Ed Hall, and Charlie Christian, among others.

Illinois Jacquet and His All Stars - She's Funny That Way/12 Minutes to Go (Apollo, 1946). Great playing by Illinois & Co.

Six Brown Brothers - Chin Chin Medley/H. Benne Henton - Laverne-Waltz Caprice (Victor, 1916). I was really excited to find the Henton recording - he was one of the first saxophone virtuosos to record, and the first to use the altissimo register. This side ends with a beautiful high C, seven notes above the "normal" range of the horn. Nothing to do with jazz, or course.

Gerald Clark and His Original Calypsos Featuring Macbeth the Great - Man Smart-Woman Smarter/My Donkey Want Water (Guild, 1945-ish). I love finding calypso 78s for a buck or two; they go for pretty high prices on Ebay. This one features the great Gregory Felix on clarinet; I'll always be grateful to jazztrain for identifying him for me.

[Clunky]

King Oliver and His Orchestra - Stingaree Blues/Shake It and Break It (Bluebird). This is a reissue, not the original pressing, but it's in stone E condition, and sounds wonderful.

Bluebirds I have are all excellent, quiet surfaces and excellent dynamics. Not sure how they were priced compared to other issues. Were they a "budget" label ?

[jeffcrom]

King Oliver and His Orchestra - Stingaree Blues/Shake It and Break It (Bluebird). This is a reissue, not the original pressing, but it's in stone E condition, and sounds wonderful.

Bluebirds I have are all excellent, quiet surfaces and excellent dynamics. Not sure how they were priced compared to other issues. Were they a "budget" label ?

Yes, Bluebird was RCA Victor's budget line, introduced during the depression. The price of black-label Victor records stabilized at 75 cents in the 1930's, while Bluebirds cost 35 cents. In every respect they were as good as Victors in terms of sound. Bluebird was the label of choice for Victor's blues and country releases, but they also released plenty of mainstream pop on Bluebird. Most of Glenn Miller's records were originally on Bluebird, and they sold in the millions.

[Chuck Nessa]

Been playing Albert Ammons' Boogie Woogie Stomp (Decca 3386 B) for days and days as I recondition my juke box. I have a Wurlitzer 1015 inherited from my father and it needs a bunch of work.

It looks something like this one:

[jeffcrom]

Too cool!

[Clunky]

I was told recently that some 78s issued from the late 30s onwards were in some way different to allow juke boxes to play them. As I understood is there was a extra groove added near the spindle hole to allow the changer mechanism of the Juke box to "grab:" the disc. Not sure if this makes any sense. Any idea how this might have worked .

[Chuck Nessa]

They might have changed the angle of the run-off groove to trigger the arm to retract. That's all I can think of.

[jeffcrom]

Today's highlights from my new stash include two Lil Green Bluebirds - excellent condition, and Big Bill Broonzy is on guitar:

Romance In the Dark/What Have I Done? and Give Your Mama One Smile/My Mellow Man. Both are wonderful.

I had my biggest surprise from the new stack today. Among the records were three Korean discs. One was by Les Paul and Mary Ford(!), one was of Korean pop music (exotic enough to my ears), but the third one took the top of my head off. It features a female vocalist accompanied by a percussion, performing in an obviously traditional style that I had never heard before. A little research revealed that it's a genre called pansori. It's a striking and unusual record.

[Chuck Nessa]

Here is what my box looks like with the room lights on

Now with the room lights off

[paul secor]

Here is what my box looks like with the room lights on

Now with the room lights off

Your father must have been a cool guy to have gone for something like that.

[jeffcrom]

Ellington and Hodges today; I've probably mentioned most of these previously:

Duke Ellington - Solitude/Moonglow (Silvertone) A 1941-42 pressing of 1934 recordings, on Sears' label.

Duke Ellington - Weely/I Never Felt This Way Before (Columbia, 1939)

Duke Ellington with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra - The Minor Goes Muggin'/Tommy Dorsey with the Duke Ellington Orchestra - Tonight I Shall Sleep (Victor, 1945)

Johnny Hodges - It Shouldn't Happen to a Dream/A Little Taste (Mercer, 1947)

Johnny Hodges - Let the Zoomers Drool/Searsy's Blues (Mercer, 1947)

Johnny Hodges - Through for the Night/Latino (Mercury, 1952)

[jeffcrom]

I played several 1920's 78s by Nat Shilkret's dance band this morning. They're not jazz, except for a few hot solos, and those are by guys like Mike Mosiello and Andy Sannella, who were more dance-band players than jazzers. But it was a tight band, playing interesting arrangements of excellent songs like "Can't Help Lovin' That Man" as well as curiosities like "Lucky Lindy" - a real period piece. But by far the best of the records is a 1928 disc by Shilkret's Rhyth-Melodists - a little chamber dance group. "Chlo-e" is played by violin, piano, and pipe organ; "When You're With Somebody Else" has trombone, harp, piano and organ. The organist is no less than Fats Waller. Pretty cool little record.

[jeffcrom]

This afternoon, some middling swing by Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra:

Come and Get It/Mirage (Decca, 1939/40)

No Name Jive, pts. 1 & 2 (Decca, 1940)

Memories of You/If I Love Again (Decca, 1937/46). Decca paired the 1946 "If I Love Again" with a decade-old recording, I assume, because they are both trumpet features: "Memories" is played by the somewhat overwrought Sonny Dunham, while "If I Love" is a gorgeous Bobby Hackett feature.

Then I got my daily Louis Armstrong fix in 78 RPM form:

LA and His Orchestra: It Takes Time/I Wonder, I Wonder, I Wonder (RCA Victor, 1947). The last record date by Armstrong's big band.

LA and His All Stars: A Song Was Born/Before Long (RCA Victor, 1947). Great Teagarden on this one.

LA: Blueberry Hill/C'est si Bon (German Brunswick, 1949/50)

LA and His All Stars w/ Bud Freeman: Basin Street Blues, pts. 1 & 2 (Decca, 1954). From The Glenn Miller Story.

I have all of these on CD or LP (except "C'est si Bon"), but Louis sounds great on 78.

Edited March 28, 2011 by jeffcrom

[Clunky]

Got a Lunceford fix today from my local 78 stockist,

Plenty to chose from but I selected

Four or Five times/Rose Room - UK Decca Red Label

Solitude/Stratosphere- Decca US (299)

Yard dog Mazurka/ Hi Spook - Brunswick UK 03511- two Geral Wilson compostions/arrangements being the particular attraction

Blues in the Groove /I'm in an awful mood- Vocalion US (5395),

Cheatin on Me /'Taint what you do- Vocalion US (4582)

Lunceford Special/White Heat- Columbia UK 1944 Super Rhythm-Style Series No.7&8- mint !

Very pleased to get Stratosphere as this track was on the BBC New York Robert Palmer compilation what drew me into early jazz back in the late 1980's. That track plus the Durham arranged Blues in the Groove are the best so far.

The first sides listed above of the two Vocalions show quite a bit of groove wear compared to the reserve sides. These were obviously previously enjoyed by former owners. Recordings are also pretty loud/hot which leads to premature wear I'm informed

[Clunky]

Ralph Sharon Sextet I've got you under my skin/There's a small hotel - Melodisc UK- 1950-

comes from a small collection of Bop sides I got that previously belonged to the guitarist on this session - Pete Chilver. He doesn't get much room here but sounds thoroughly modern. This was his last date , he left music altogether and eventually died in Scotland in 2008

edit: to add Jimmy Skidmore is on the Tenor sax & Victor Feldman plays piano,

Edited April 2, 2011 by Clunky

[Clunky]

Walter 'Gil' Fuller- Tropicana/Blues to a debutante- Vogue, July 11, 1949- UK issue of Discovery material, strong booting tenor presumably Bill Mitchell (sic)

I was interested to note that Michael Fitzgerald lists the personnel as follows

Walter 'Gil' Fuller (ldr), Jimmy Heath, Sahib Shihab (as), Pritchard Chessman, Billy Mitchell (ts), Cecil Payne (bar), Dave Burns, Mustapha Daleel [aka Oliver Mesheux], Bill Massey, William 'Chiefie' Scott [aka Abdul Salaam] (t), Charley Johnson, Haleen Rasheed, Candy Ross, Rip Tarrant (tb), Milt Jackson (vib, p), Percy Heath (b), Art Blakey (d), Walter 'Gil' Fuller (v, con)

The label however lists

Dave Burns, Bill Massey Richard Cheesman, Abdul Salaam, Mustapha Daleel (tpts), Clarence Johnson, Charles Ross (tmbs) Ed Gregory, Bill Mitchell, Cecil Payne, Jimmy Heath, Jesse Tarrant (saxes) Milton Jackson (vibes) Haleen Rasheed (pno), Percy Heath (bass), Art Blakey (drums)

So it appears that two of the trombonists had their first names switched ie should be Clarence Ross and Charles Johnson, Ripp Tarrant is not listed on the label and should be? And finally did Rasheed play the piano or was it Milton Jackson ?

According to Jimmy Heath autobio its Cheesman not Chessman. All minor points of course but just goes to show contemporary labels can be misleading.

Decent bebop sides by the way

[jeffcrom]

Sounds like you've been spinning some great records lately, Clunky. I've been playing 78s daily, but I haven't posted every day. I've found several nice stashes lately, including a stack today - all types and dates - that looks like it's hardly been played. Today I spun some of those and some other nice recent acquisitions:

Don Redman and His Orchestra - Sweet Sue/Stormy Weather (Vocalion, 1937). Big Sid on drums, and some nice Redman soprano sax.

Red Nichols and His Orchestra - The King Kong/The Hour of Parting (Bluebird, 1939). From one of Red's several comebacks. Not bad, although his trumpet sounds kind of old-fashioned in this swing context.

Johnny Bothwell and His Orchestra - Lonely Serenade/Laura (Signature, 1945). This seems to be Bothwell fronting the Boyd Raeburn big band.

Mary Lou Williams Trio - Humoresque/Waltz Boogie (RCA Victor, 1946). I've had the Waltz on an old LP for years, but MLW's version of Dvorak was new to me, and it's excellent.

Joe Marsala and His Delta Four - Wandering Man Blues/Salty Mama Blues (General, 1940). With Bill Coleman and Pete Brown.

Mel Powell - When Did You Leave Heaven?/Blue Skies and The World is Waiting for the Sunrise/Mood at Twilight (Commodore, 1942). Powell's first session as leader in its entirety - the master takes, anyway. Benny Goodman is listed on the labels as "Shoeless" John Jackson.

But the real surprise was this near-mint record that I had never heard of:

Milt Buckner and His Orchestra - Yesterdays/Buck-a-Boo (MGM, 1949). "Yesterdays" is a feature for Julius Watkins on French horn; the flip is a cooking bop blues, with Buckner on vibes and a tenor chase between Billy Mitchell and Alva McCain. Great record.

[Clunky]

Mary Lou Williams Trio - Humoresque/Waltz Boogie (RCA Victor, 1946). I've had the Waltz on an old LP for years, but MLW's version of Dvorak was new to me, and it's excellent.

I adore Tatum's versions of Humoresque, how does MLW's compare. Her earliest piano solos strike me a quite Tatumesque her latter material (ie 1940 on) less so.

[jeffcrom]

Mary Lou Williams Trio - Humoresque/Waltz Boogie (RCA Victor, 1946). I've had the Waltz on an old LP for years, but MLW's version of Dvorak was new to me, and it's excellent.

I adore Tatum's versions of Humoresque, how does MLW's compare. Her earliest piano solos strike me a quite Tatumesque her latter material (ie 1940 on) less so.

Well, Mary Lou's harmony sounds influenced by Tatum and bebop on her "Humoresque." Her version swings pretty hard throughout - there's none of the out-of-tempo rhapsodizing that Tatum does. There's also more real improvising going on, it sounds to me. I love Tatum, but "Humoresque" has never been one of my favorites by him, and I much prefer MLW's "tougher" version.

[jeffcrom]

One of my local 78 sources had five Victor records of Cuban music, all in beautiful condition, with the original sleeves (always a good sign - owners who kept the records in the original sleeves usually took good care of their records). One even has a sticker from the Havana record store they were sold in. The label styles indicate that the first two are from 1927 or '28; the others are from 1928-30. And to get really esoteric, the catalog numbers indicate that the last one was recorded outside of the U.S. (Havana, presumably), and that the others were recorded in the U.S. (Victor had one series for imported recordings and one for recordings designed for foreign markets.) Anyway, they're wonderful; I like the last one, by Orquesta Felix Gonzalez, the best - the two sides are instrumental danzons, while all the other sides have vocals.

Sexteto Habanero - Pajaro Lindo/El Pobre Adan

Sexteto Habanero - Esas no son Cubanas/Rosa Roja

Sexteto Habanero -Donde estas Corazon?/El Bongo del Habanero

Sonara Matancera - De oreinte a Occidente/Matanzas es la Tierra de Fuego

Orqesta Felix Gonzalez - Frutas del Caney/Aprieata, pero no Pises

[Clunky]

A few quick Don Byas sides to start the morning

These Foolish Things/Blues for Panassie- Blue Star- France

Laura/Dark Eyes- American Record 1001/4- USA

[Clunky]

After a bit of hunting found Jamboree 902 to complement 900, 901, 905 in my collection of Don Byas. 902 is rather worn where as the other Jamborees are pretty much mint. It was free I should note.

Don Byas All Star Quintet, Jamboree 902

NYC, June 27, 1945 Buck Clayton (tp), Don Byas (ts), Johnny Guarnieri (p), Eddie Safranski (b), Denzil Best (d)

Little White Lies / You came along

also got Red Saunders Sextette Savoy, Martial Solal Vogue, Skip Hall -Jamboree, Mezz Mezzrow Bluebird (Hugues Panassie production) and a very lovely mint

Jimmy's Blues- JP Johnson/ Mary's Blues- Mary Lou Williams coupling on a mint 78 from Cupol (Sweden). The MLW is an Asch original I think , not sure about the the JPJ. Nice stuff and good haul I think.

Edited April 9, 2011 by Clunky

[Clunky]

two additions today

Eddie Greene- King Cotton/Flight No 39- Savoy - West coast swing big band from 1944

Johnny Bothwell- Chelsea Bridge/ Dear Max- Signature- solos by Allan Eager, Ray Nance and Harry Carney can heard- not sure of the rest of the band, advanced swing in style. Two very good sides

[jeffcrom]

I'll have to start looking for more Johnny Bothwell.

I picked up an interesting classical record on my recent journeys: a 12" British HMV of the Band of H.M. Coldstream Guards playing a piece by the black English composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. It's "Petite Suite de Concert," a short, four-movement piece that's complete on this 1921 record. It's not a masterpiece, but it is a pretty cool example of an early "serious" work for concert band. Coleridge-Taylor (who was kind of a hero to African-American musicians around the turn of the 20th century) also wrote a version of the piece for orchestra. This record was reviewed in the November, 1924 issue of Gramophone magazine, along with some other Coldstream Gaurds records.

[jeffcrom]

Spun some early country music this morning; all really nice stuff:

Roy Hall and His Blue Ridge Entertainers - Natural Bridge Blues/Polecat Blues (Bluebird, 1941)

Scottdale String Band - Carolina Glide/My Own Iona (Okeh, 1927); I think I've mentioned them before - they were Georgia cotton mill workers. The old mill town of Scottdale is about four miles from my house in Atlanta.

Bill Cox - The Death of Frank Bowen/When We Sing of Home (Gennett, 1929)

Bill Cox - Rollin' Pin Woman/Star Boarder Blues (Banner, 1934)

Bill Cox - Browns Ferry Blues/Long Chain Charlie Blues (Conqueror, 1934); The last two records were made at the same session.

Cap, Andy and Flip - Television in the Sky/McBeth Mine Explosion (Fireside Melodies, 1939); A West Virginia-based trio who released records on their own label - I've got three of them.