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***** Jimmie Lunceford Corner *****


king ubu

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Thanks! Now that's something I need to find!

I'm not sure about all those 'merican army music programmes, but I think Armed Forces Radio Service (that's at least what I think it was called) was different from V-Discs (V for Victory?)

As far as I know, V discs were method for distribution of studio recorded music, and AFRS were live shows on various stages - I think no wide distribution of those. Even the format was different, V discs were 78 rpm, and AFRS were recorded on acetates, 33 rpm (simillar as radio transcriptions) - and that means much better sound...

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And now, a bit of trivia:

somewhere I've read (kill me, but I can not recall from what source) that Glen Miller's band "borrowed" a lot from Lunceford band as far as appearance and stage manerisms are about. And that is easily comparable: there are a few film clips/footages survived from both bands. But, it is important to mention that Lunceford did it back in 1935-6 (I saw "Rhythm Is Our Busyness") and Miller... well... five years after...

Edited by mmilovan
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Since there are a fair number of Willie Smith fans, if you don't have 'em yet, look out for two out of print cds, Snooty Fruity, an 18 track cd from Columbia(Scan below) and A Viper's Nest cd called Willie Smith and the Harry James all Stars (without Harry!) 2 Lamplighter's Jazz sessions from 1945(Don't know anything about Lamplighter broadcasts, are there many other releases out there???)

The audio is quite nice for live recordings (Doug Pomeroy had a hand in it, so no wonder!) Just playing it now, makes me wonder why I haven't played it in a long time, sweet!!! Emmett Berry, who I am not familiar with,(Liner notes say he played with Fletcher Henderson) plays trumpet.

EDIT...well, I used to be able to post attachments, but can't seem to make photo small enough....sorry!

Edited by BERIGAN
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TCM showed a Luncefors short the other night around 4 AM.

Wow.

As tight as the band was aurally, to see them in action visually was jaw-dropping.

Again - wow.

missed that! :(

I could watch TCM, but they don't really show up in the printed tv guides or in newspapers, so...

Check out www.turnerclassicmovies.com (Or for the monthly schedule, go to

http://www.turnerclassicmovies.com/Schedul...2005|0|,00.html...no, they don't mention what shorts will be on, but if you look for 95 minute movies in 2 hour blocks, you know some sort of shorts will be dug up, and like Jim mentioned, late at night is a good time to find them...thru the years, I have seen Bunny Berigan and Jimmy Dorsey in the same short with the Fred Rich band (About the happiest moment of my life was when I was able to record it from the begining! :excited: ) Artie Shaw in an early 30's short playing Alto, Claude Hopkins, Lunceford, and others I can't recall right now...just a bitch you don't know when they will be on, and weeks will go by it seems without any music related shorts.....

Edited by BERIGAN
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I have an old lp of Billy May playing the Lunceford band arrangements. May pretty much copied the disc note for note, except the irrepresable Trummy Young and Willie Smith added a few of their own thoughts.

Another tribute disc is John Lewis and the American Jazz Orchestra. Lewis expanded the original charts but still caught the feeling of that great band. A hoghlight for me is Doc Cheatham sweetly singing "My Blue Heaven."

A few years ago we were sitting with Geral WIlson and his wife at a West Coast Jazz Party. In between numbers bu Juggernaut we chatted and Gerald reminised about the Lunceford band. That's where I learned that Gerald has never forgiven Kenton for not crediting him with that riff.

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Emmett Berry, who I am not familiar with,(Liner notes say he played with Fletcher Henderson) plays trumpet.

Berry played in Basie band as well, so...

Yup, and if you start looking closer you'll find him on quite a lot of enjoyable mainstream dates, such as the Candid album by Pee Wee Russell with Hawk. Also he's on two lenghty dates in the Illinois Jacquet Mosaic (one of which was released under his name, the other under Jacquet's).

A nice trumpet player!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I came across a Columbia Legacy cutout CD today of the Lunceford band--Lunceford Special, 1939-1940--and snapped it right up, thanks to this thread--definitely some swinging music on this one.

Don't have this release, but I have the French LP package of the Columbia recordings, as well as the respective Masters of Jazz discs... Columbia just doesn't get it right, of late... not even with Duke.

This disc - while certainly a good collection, and probably a *great* listen, if they managed to pick out those tracks from the Columbia years that are terrific (I assume the really good ones should all fit onto one CD, but then you'd have to leave out many good ones...). However, this release should just be the teaser, and then ther should be a 3CD set collecting all of it... (dream on)

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It's important to emphasize that Columbia period covers Lunceford transfer from Decca to... er... Brunswick... whatever the label was... and from early to mature period with so many brilliant, yet undocumented (on CD) sides.

On the other hand, Decca sides are almost complete (big THANKS Decca/MCA/GRP for doing all this, and not only for Lunceford, but Basie (yeah, they did it in complete), McShann, Armstrong, Goodman etc.), and it is the best sound on 78s ever.

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  • 6 years later...

... I have the French LP package of the Columbia recordings, as well as the respective Masters of Jazz discs... Columbia just doesn't get it right, of late... not even with Duke.

Columbia leaves it all to Mosaic, methinks ... I had that French box, but my favourite track (It Ain't What You Do) was defective, which bugged me so much I sold it. Although the Columbia material may be not quite on the level of the Decca sides, there might be a chance Mosaic will cover the Columbia sides, too, some day.

After the Decca set is sold out, maybe?

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The second chorus...I think you are talking about where it gets choppy (syncopated) then fast with some chromatics.

For me, that's still in the swing idiom.

The harmony is still consonant without any altered 5ths or 9ths. No tritone substitutes or other altered changes that I hear. I've listened twice now.

No chromatically displaced melody or other altered melodic movement.

It's complicated and fast moving as Ellington and B. Goodman used in their bands at the time but I think it's still completely in the swing idiom...and very enjoyable.

Thanks for posting it.

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 7 years later...
2 hours ago, Chuck Nessa said:

Columbia has 65 titles plus 10 recorded for Victor. There is also a dandy disc of transcriptions on Circle.

I think most, if not all, of the Columbia sides are spread across 4 Classics cds. Don't know about the Victors. Those were recorded early, weren't they?

 

 

 

gregmo

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  • 4 weeks later...

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