The Bessie's Songbook (20 great covers of songs related to Bessie Smith)

       

Por muy odiosas que puedan resultar las comparaciones, siempre es buena idea contrastar lo que pueden llegar a hacer con el mismo material diferentes músicos de categoría, en este caso vocalistas femeninas. Que el repertorio asociado a Bessie Smith ha dado buen juego en este sentido es cosa sabida ¡Por algo estamos ante la más grande entre las llamadas cantantes de blues clásico, caramba! Quedan aún por ahí, sin embargo, unas cuantas versiones y voces que merecerían ser escuchadas más a menudo y, bueno, para eso estamos. Aunque no pretendemos ser exhaustivos ni mucho menos (hemos dejado fuera al menos dos de sus temas más conocidos "Tain't Nobody's Bizness" y "Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out") creo que tenemos aquí un abanico estilístico más que entretenido, desde el down-home sureño más puro de los años 20  (Virginia Childs Betty Gray y Virginia Liston en grabaciones "acústicas" -o sea anteriores a 1925- incluso con acompañamiento de guitarra) hasta el ímpetu soulero de Lavern Baker o Linda Hopkins, pasando, pues bueno, por casi todo: blues clásico genuino contemporáneo de Bessie (la notable Elizabeth Johnson junto a King Oliver, nada menos) swing, blues urbano, jazz tradicional, en fin. Algunas voces no necesitan presentación alguna (Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Dinah Washington) pero otras, como la infortunada Teddy Grace (la única mujer blanca en esta recopilación) merecen igualmente todo nuestro respeto -de hecho, es muy probable que volvamos a referirnos a algunas de ellas en próximas entregas.       

-Jay Bee Rodríguez

01. Elizabeth Johnson - Empty Bed Blues-Part 1
02. Coot Grant and Kid Wilson - Take Me for a Buggy Ride
03. Betty Gray - Mean Old Bed Bug Blues
04. Virginia Childs - The St. Louis Blues
05. Virginia Liston - Jail House Blues
06. Teddy Grace - Gulf Coast Blues
07. Lil Green - Aggravatin' papa
08. Lil Green - You've been a good old wagon
09. Billie Holiday - Do Your Duty
10. Juanita Hall - Baby Won't You Please Come Home
11. Little Brother Montgomery - Oh Daddy
12. Alberta Hunter - Downhearted Blues live
13. Turk Murphy Jazz Band - Cakewalkin' Babies
14. Nina Simone - Gimme a pigfoot
15. Nina Simone - I Want a Little Sugar in my Bowl
16. Lavern Baker - On Revival Day
17. Odetta - Weeping Willow
18. Odetta - Oh, Papa
19. Dinah Washington - You've Been A Good Ole Wagon
20. Linda Hopkins - Preachin' The Blues                                                                                     

hotjazzandcoolblues                                                                                                                                                           
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King Oliver: Great Original Performances Vol. 2 (1927-1930)

Continuando con el "caso Oliver", traemos aquí una colección que debería interesar a quienes aprecien la mejor cocina casera pero, eso sí, servida con absoluta limpieza y pulcritud, esto es, los célebres "Jazz Classics In Digital Stereo" del ingeniero australiano Robert Parker. Hacia 1992, coincidiendo con el paso de LP a CD de buena parte de ese sorprendente catálogo "stereo" (Louis, Duke, Bessie, Johnny Dodds y cía,), aparecieron dos volúmenes dedicados a King Oliver. El primero (1923-1929), básicamente consagrado a las grabaciones de la Creole Jazz Band no fue especialmente bien acogido por la crítica (eso de pasar a estéreo grabaciones "acústicas" de 1923...), pero éste segundo, ya con la ventaja del registro "eléctrico", se defiende mucho mejor que bien junto a las colecciones de Armstrong o Bessie, en lo que respecta al tema auditivo. Posteriormente (1998) ambos discos aparecerían también reunidos en un CD doble (la cubierta roja que incluímos bajo estas líneas).

La música de Oliver posterior a 1923, aunque de calidad no siempre insuperable y sin la presencia ya del brillante discípulo a la segunda corneta (muy ocupado entonces con los Hot Fives y Hot Sevens) es a menudo tan excitante e interesante como era de esperar, teniendo en cuenta que ya son todo "grabaciones eléctricas" y ello permite mucha más variedad tonal y complejidad en los arreglos. Kid Ory, Red Allen, Barney Bigard, Omer Simeon, Louis Russell, Benny Waters, Clarence Williams, Eddie Lang, entre otros, intervienen en buena parte de los temas, y dos formidables blues singers, Texas Alexander y Sara Martin, añaden la guinda al pastel, o la salsa al suculento guiso, si lo prefieren. Disfrutemos de nuevo, pues, a este gigante del Jazz clásico, una vez maestro incomparable de la polifonía de Nueva Orleans (1923) y aquí anticipando el swing de la década de los 30, pero sin perder el sabor "hot" y el calor de los blues más verídicos.

-Jay Bee Rodríguez

The second volume devoted to the New Orleans trumpet-and-cornet king takes up the story of his Dixie Syncopators from 1927, the year in which he allegedly turned down the job at Harlem's Cotton Club that then laid the foundation of Duke Ellington's fame. Sadly, or appropriately, the pace of change in the band world shows Oliver's own playing gradually sounding more dated, especially in the last two 1930 tracks where he's joined by the much younger New Orleanian trumpeter, Red Allen. The fundamental strength of Oliver's work, however, is resistant to the erosion of time, and his blues-drenched simplicity stands out particularly well in the central group of five 1928 tracks put together by pianist Clarence Williams, two of them featuring authentic blues vocals by Sara Martin and Texas Alexander. The originals here were all rather better recorded than those on Volume One (although musically more variable) yet, as far as the representative selection of material is concerned, this is a worthy follow-up.

-Brian Priestley

King Oliver And His Dixie Syncopators
01. Show Boat Shuffle (1927)
02. Every Tub (1927)
03. Willie the Weeper (1927)
04. Black Snake Blues (1927)
05. Farewell Blues (1927)
06. Sobbin' Blues (1927)
07. Tin Roof Blues (1928)
08. West End Blues (1928) 
Clarence Williams And His Orchestra
09. Longshoreman's Blues (1928) 
Sara Martin with Clarence Williams And His Orchestra
10. Death Sting Me Blues (1928) 
Texas Alexander (with King Oliver and Eddie Lang)
11. Tell Me Woman Blues (1928) 
Clarence Williams And His Novelty Four
12. In the Bottle Blues (1928)
13. What Ya Want Me to Do (1928) 
King Oliver And His Orchestra
14. New Orleans Shout (1929)
15. Rhythm Club Stomp (1930)
16. Edna (1930)
17. Mule Face Blues (1930)
18. Don't You Think I Love You (1930)
19. Shake It and Break It (1930)
20. Stingaree Blues (1930)

hotjazzandcoolblues

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King Oliver (1923) - Noise Reduction at 128

Lo que posteamos a continuación no pretende otra cosa que compartir con todos ustedes mi particular solución (provisional quizás, pero para mí, aceptable) a un problema que hemos de padecer los aficionados al mejor jazz y blues tradicional: ¡esa condenada freiduría de fondo en los discos de los años 20! Después de más de diez años rodeado de mp3s (con los LPs y cassettes durmiendo el sueño de los justos hace ya tiempo), algunos seguimos resistiéndonos a sepultar estas joyas musicales en la vitrina del museo, o sea, a decir que muy bien, muy grandes y muy clásicos y tal, pero, en el fondo, no escucharlos casi nunca porque, bueno ¡no hay quien aguante esa ruidera de fondo hasta en los mejores remasterizados! Pues no, señor: se puede disfrutar de estas vetustas gemas aún en pleno siglo XXI. Y se debe, además.

En el blog Blues Express (http://bluesexpress.blogspot.com.es/2011/04/blind-lemon-y-otros-maestros-en-sonido.html) reseñamos, en su día, el trabajo encomiable de los monsieurs de Pristine Audio, ingenieros dedicados a limpiar, fijar y dar esplendor a los maestros jazzeros y blueseros de los años 20 y 30. Como ya dijimos allí, como se dice siempre, el asunto acaba siendo a menudo una solución de compromiso: cuánto ruido le quitamos y cuántos matices pierden (o no) los instrumentos con ello. Animado por los resultados que estos señores obtuvieron con los discos de Blind Lemon o Mississippi John Hurt, y a pesar de que en su día no cursé los estudios de ingeniero de sonido ni nada similar, me decidí a intentarlo con uno de mis favoritos entre los "clásicos insufribles": la banda de King Oliver en 1923.

Después de meses de disfrutar casi a diario numerosas versiones modernas de ese singular sonido (los Creole Jazz Serenaders de Don Vappie, la King Oliver Heritage Jazz Band, la Peruna Jazz Band, la Dutch Swing College Jazz Band, algunos grupos de Jim Cullum o Vince Giordano, la Bourbon Street Jazz Band, los John Gill's Jazz Kings, etc. etc.) me dije que ya iba siendo hora de volver a los originales como Dios manda, simplemente, cogiendo la mejor versión disponible (el indispensable doble "Off The Record", que todo aficionado que se tenga por tal debería poseer) y limpiándola un poquillo "a ver qué tal". Bueno, pues aquí está: una selección de 18 de esos incunables (a 128 kbps) pero sin freiduría de gallinejas, de manera que Mr Oliver, también en la era de la "nube digital", pueda sentarse tranquilamente en su trono, del que nunca debió bajar. A ver qué les parece. A mí me suena a gloria bendita.

-Jay Bee Rodríguez

King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band (1923)
With Noise Reduction at 128kbps

01. Canal Street Blues
02. Chimes Blues
03. Dipper Mouth Blues (a)
04. Weather Bird Rag
05. Sobbin' Blues
06. Tears
07. Mabel's Dream (tk 1)
08. Riverside Blues (a)
09. Just Gone
10. Mandy Lee Blues
11. High Society Rag
12. London Cafe Blues
13. New Orleans Stomp
14. Snake Rag
15. Buddy's Habit
16. Dipper Mouth Blues (b)
17. Mabel's Dream (tk 2)
18. Riverside Blues (b)

hotjazzandcoolblues

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King Oliver and his Orchestra, 1929-1930

Otra recopilación impecable avalada por el buen hacer del ingeniero John RT Davies que -es opinión ya muy extendida- hizo un servicio a los clásicos hot de los años 20 mucho más adecuado que el de las propias compañías oficiales americanas. Se trata de grabaciones de la orquesta de King Oliver fechadas entre enero de 1929 y septiembre de 1930, donde pese al deterioro de su salud (y también de su carrera profesional) el maestro deja aún abundantes pruebas de su dominio de la trompeta ("Sweet Like This", "Nelson Stomp", "What You Want Me To Do", "Too Late"), acompañado por algunos de los más reputados músicos de aquellos años: los trompetistas Louis Metcalf, Punch Miller,Red Allen y Bubber Miley; los trombonistas Jimmy Archey y Clyde Bernhardt; los saxofonistas Teddy Hill, Charlie Holmes y Omer Simeon; los pianistas James P. Johnson y Louis Russell, entre otros.
Algo más de la mitad de estas grabaciones aparecieron hace años en un doble álbum RCA, pero amén de la superioridad sonora, aquí tenemos también la totalidad de las tomas alternas, incluida la rarísima tercera toma de "Nelson Stomp", ordenadas, por cierto, todas en el segundo disco para mayor comodidad. Algunos trabajos orquestales francamente insuperables en composiciones propias ("Too Late", "I Must Have It", "You're Just My Type"), y también alguna que otra magnífica versión de clásicos muy conocidos ("St James Infirmary", "Frankie And Johnny"), en el que resulta probablemente, junto a la recopilación de sus grabaciones de 1923, el testamento sonoro definitivo del maestro de Nueva Orleans.

-Jay Bee Rodríguez

Disco 1:

01. West End Blues 3:32
02. I've Got That Thing 3:23
03. Freakish Light Blues 3:08
04. Call Of The Freaks 3:21
05. The Trumpet's Prayer 3:12
06. Can I Tell You? 3:09
07. My Good Man Sam 2:55
08. What Do You Want Me To Do? 3:11
09. Sweet Like This 3:26
10. Too Late 3:10
11. I'm A Lonesome Sweetheart 2:44
12. Want You Just Myself 2:54
13. I Can't Stop Loving You 2:50
14. Everybody Does It In Hawaii 3:04
15. Frankie And Johnny 3:07
16. New Orleans Shout 2:39
17. St. James Infirmary 3:39
18. When You're Smiling 3:21
19. I Must Have It 2:54
20. Rhythm Club Stomp (Cursihip Glide) 2:54
21. You're Just My Type 2:26


Disco 2:

01. West End Blues (alt.) 3:35
02. I've Got That Thing (alt.) 3:22
03. Freakish Light Blues (alt.) 3:10
04. Call Of The Freaks (alt.) 3:16
05. The Trumpet's Prayer (alt.) 3:11
06. Can I Tell You? (alt.) 3:09
07. My Good Man Sam (alt.) 2:50
08. Everybody Does It In Hawaii (alt.) 2:52
09. Frankie And Johnny (alt.) 3:08
10. Edna 2:41
11. Boogie Woogie 3:08
12. Mule Face Blues 2:56
13. Struggle Buggy 3:00
14. Don' You Think I Love You? 2:48
15. Olga 3:25
16. Shake It And Break It 2:32
17. Stingaree Blues 3:12
18. What's The Use Of Living Without Love? 3:25
19. You Were Only Passing Time With Me 2:56
20. Nelson Stomp 1 3:09
21. Nelson Stomp 2 3:11
22. Nelson Stomp 3 3:10
23. Stealing Love 3:20

part 1 - part 2 - part 3

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King Oliver's "I Must Have It" (1930) on guitar

by Jay Bee Rodríguez
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Robert Parker's Jazz Classics In Digital Stereo: New York

Robert Noel Parker (24 December 1936 – 30 December 2004) was an Australian sound engineer, jazz expert and broadcaster, well known for his radio series Jazz Classics in Digital Stereo.

Born in Sydney, Australia, he worked for the Commonwealth Film Unit then moved to Britain in 1964 to work in the film and television industry. On returning to Australia, he received a commission from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation for a radio series on jazz.

As a collector of records from the age of twelve, he had built up a large collection of vintage music. He developed a system for transferring recordings to digital media, eliminating noise, adding stereo and enhancing acoustics. He first used an analogue machine, the Packman Audio Noise Suppressor, and later digital equipment from CEDAR Audio Ltd to transfer, retouch and enhance recordings.

With these techniques he produced reproductions of jazz records of the 1920's and earlier that are not only free of surface noise but reveal details, subtleties and a sense of presence that were not previously evident on the records, even in LP re-issues.

He used his enhanced 78rpm transfers in a long-running radio programme Jazz Classics in Digital Stereo, first broadcast in May 1982 by ABC Radio and later carried by BBC Radio 2, amongst other stations.

His transfer of "Milenberg Joys" performed by McKinney's Cotton Pickers was adopted by him as the theme tune for his broadcasts.

He settled back in Britain and set up his own studio in Devon, and followed on from his radio show with a series of vintage record transfers under the banners Jazz Classics in Digital Stereo and The Classic Years in Digital Stereo.


This is the third of four CDs in the Robert Parker series that reissues a cross section of early jazz recordings from a regional area. The music ranges from the famous (Jelly Roll Morton, Fletcher Henderson, Bessie Smith and Duke Ellington) to the lesser known (Charlie Johnson's Paradise Ten, Lloyd Scott and Freddy Jenkins). Veteran collectors will prefer to skip this sampler and get the complete sessions elsewhere but listeners just beginning to explore early jazz should find these early recordings (which range from pre-swing to some heated jams) worth investigating. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

Track List

01 Jelly-Roll Morton & His Red Hot Peppers: Burnin' The Iceberg
02 King Oliver & His Orchestra: Strugglebuggy
03 Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra: Sugar Foot Stomp
04 Bessie Smith Accompanied By James P. Johnson: Lock And Key
05 Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra: San
06 Miff Mole & His Little Molers: Imagination
07 Eddie Condon & His Footwarmers: Makin' Friends
08 Fats Waller & His Buddies: The Minor Drag
09 Duke Ellington & His Famous Orchestra: East St. Louis Toodle-Oo
10 Charlie Johnson & His Orchestra: Hot Bones & Rice
11 Luis Russell & His Orchestra: Dr. Blues
12 Fess Williams & His Royal Flush Orchestra: Feelin' Devilish
13 Lloyd Scott's Orchestra: Happy Hour
14 Casa Loma Orchestra, The: Casa Loma Stomp
15 Jungle Band, The: Dog Bottom
16 Cab Calloway & His Orchestra: Minnie The Moocher
17 Jimmie Lunceford & His Orchestra: Stratosphere
18 Clarence Williams' Washboard Five: Cushion Foot Stomp
19 Freddie Jenkins & His Harlem Seven: I Can't Dance
20 Eddie Lang - Joe Venuti & Their All Star Orchestra: Farewell Blues

hotjazzandcoolblues

Robert Parker's radio podcasts (recommended!)

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King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, 1923

Bueno, si alguna vez hubo unos clásicos del jazz tradicional, ¡aquí están! Remasterizados, por cierto, de forma insuperable, y con una presentación y documentación digna del contenido sonoro.
Joe King Oliver, contemporáneo de Ma Rainey, de Charley Patton, y de algunos otros escogidos padres fundadores, tuvo también un final prematuro y dramático (véase biografía a continuación), pero sus momentos de inspiración y gloria aún dejan sentir su huella, que será ya imperecedera. Canal Street Blues, Dipper Mouth Blues, Mable's Dream o Chimes Blues (y algunas de sus grabaciones posteriores también, por cierto) aseguran la definitiva estatura del maestro de Nueva Orleans. Aunque no hubiera existido Louis Armstrong (Weather Bird Rag, West End Blues).

-Jay Bee Rodríguez

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Joe "King" Oliver was one of the most important figures in jazz. As an influential cornet player and leader of one of the classic early New Orleans jazz bands, Oliver is a link between the earliest New Orleans incarnation of jazz and the achievements of a generation of brass players who developed their style in Chicago in the 1920s, including Oliver's protégé, Louis Armstrong. "By almost any measure," wrote critic Ted Gioia , "he stands out as a seminal figure in the history of the music."


Biography

Joseph Oliver was born on May 11, 1885. Some accounts establish his place of birth as a plantation near Donaldsville, Louisiana, where his mother worked as a cook, while others cite a house on Dryades Street in New Orleans. Little is known of his early years, and of his father. His mother, who may have worked as a servant for various white families, moved her children to several new addresses in New Orleans during Oliver's childhood. His older half-sister, Victoria Davis, took charge of him when their mother died in 1900.

Oliver found employment as butler to a white family in New Orleans when he was about seventeen, a job he kept for the next nine years. He was already active as a musician. Around 1899 he joined a children's brass band, formed by a Walter Kenehan, and performed on the trombone, and later the cornet, at funerals and parades. One of his eyes was damaged during a childhood accident, earning him the early nicknames of "Bad Eye" and "Monocles," and he often played with a hat tilted over the eye to disguise it.
Oliver played in a number of marching bands and, around 1910, started appearing in the nightclubs of New Orleans' red-light district, Storyville, the vibrant heart of the city's musical life. These early years of jazz saw intense competition in the raucous neighborhood's numerous clubs, cabarets and gambling den. As a performer at the Abadie Cabaret, Oliver attracted big audiences, and soon took over the job of his rival, Freddie Keppard, at Pete Lala's saloon club, a notorious meeting place for pimps, prostitutes and musicians. Oliver became leader of the Olympia Band around 1916 and also began playing with acclaimed trombonist and band leader Kid Ory, who claimed to have given Oliver the nickname of "King" as a tribute to his musical prowess.
The young Louis Armstrong was one of Oliver's most avid fans, spending time at Oliver's house and enjoying the cooking of Oliver's wife, Stella. Oliver, known for his good nature and generosity, became a father figure to his young disciple, offering musical advice and professional support, and even giving him one of his old cornets. "I prized that horn and guarded it with my life," said Armstrong, quoted in Louis Armstrong: An Extravagant Life. Oliver, he said, "was always willing to come to my rescue when I needed someone to tell me about life."

Oliver arrived in Chicago in early 1918, responding to invitations from two bands, Lawrence Duhe's Band at the prestigious Dreamland Café, and Bill Johnson's at the Royal Gardens. In January of 1920 Oliver formed his own band: the initial line-up included pianist Lil Hardin, Louis Armstrong's future wife. They played at the Dreamland Café every night until one a.m., and then at the Pekin Cabaret, a gangster favorite, until dawn. After a year of engagements in California, Oliver returned to Chicago in 1922 to launch King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band at the Lincoln Gardens. He was eager to add a second cornet to his band, so he sent a telegram to New Orleans, summoning his young protégé, Armstrong. Arriving in Chicago, Armstrong went straight from the train station onto the stage of the Lincoln Gardens.

Oliver's new line-up "made momentous musical sense," according to critic Gary Giddons in his book Visions of Jazz. "The band was a sensation, and its most widely noted effects were double-cornet breaks, seemingly improvised on the spot, yet played in perfect unison." Ted Gioia, in The History of Jazz, suggested that the Creole Jazz Band lacked the finesse of some New Orleans-bred, Chicago-based musical ensembles, but "its hot, dirty, swinging sound comes closest to the essence of the jazz experience." Other musicians crowded into Lincoln Gardens to hear them play.

When he invited Armstrong to join his band, Oliver was almost past his prime as a soloist, although his playing was still so powerful he was reputed to blow his horns to pieces every few months. By this time, Oliver's achievements as an individual musician, Giddon contended in Visions of Jazz, were secondary to his great gift as a band leader. Noted for his self-discipline as a player (he claimed to have spent ten years refining his tone) and his tough style of leadership, Oliver made strict demands of professionalism of his band. Driving "an ensemble that specialized in improvised polyphony," wrote Giddons, Oliver "created a music that is at once the apex of traditional New Orleans style and so far beyond its norm that there is little to compare with it."

But there is no doubt that Oliver left an important legacy as a player. Famous for his expressive, blues-inflected style of playing and skill at tonal improvisation, including an innovative use of mutes to create a 'wa-wa' sound and other theatrical effects, Oliver's bold New Orleans sound influenced a whole generation of jazz musicians. "His throaty, vocal sound inspired many imitators," said Gioia, "and represented, both conceptually and historically, a meeting ground of earlier and later jazz styles."


Oliver was slow to embrace the relatively new industry of recorded music. It offered little financial reward for musicians, and the finished product rarely captured the live energy or improvisational fire of its featured performers, because primitive technology meant each song had to be curtailed. On the bandstand, Oliver was wary of the possibilities of artistic theft, removing titles from music to ward off copycat bands attending his shows, and playing with a handkerchief over the valves so other musicians couldn't watch his fingerings. Recordings simply offered more opportunity for rival ensembles to plagiarize his signature sound.But on April 5, 1923, King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band made its first recordings in the Gennett recording company's studio in Richmond, Indiana. The band--Oliver and Armstrong on cornet, Johnny Dodds on clarinet, Honore Dutrey on trombone, Lil Hardin on piano, Bill Johnson on banjo, and Baby Dodds on drums--spent two days in a hot room with poor acoustics, playing into a giant megaphone. These groundbreaking recordings included a show-stealing Armstrong in his first significant recorded solo (on the Oliver composition, "Chimes Blues"). Oliver's own plunger-muted solo in "Dippermouth Blues," was much imitated; under the title "Sugar Foot Stomp," the song became a jazz standard.

Many of Oliver's own compositions made high technical demands on musicians: Walter Allen and Brian Rust, in King Oliver, suggested that it is significant that, except for "Dipper Mouth Blues," "none of his early numbers were ever recorded by his contemporaries." His biggest hit, "Snag It," was written in the mid-1920s, and he co-wrote a number of popular tunes with his nephew, Dave Nelson, later in the decade, many of which were recorded for Victor. Popular versions of some of his songs were recorded by other artists, like Jelly Roll Morton ("Doctor Jazz"), Fletcher Henderson ("Snag It"), and Armstrong ("West End Blues").The Gennett recording sessions helped build the band's profile, and soon they were recording for rival 'race records' label, OKeh, as well as Paramount and Columbia. But internal dissent over Oliver's paternalistic handling of salaries saw the ensemble splinter. Lil Hardin convinced Armstrong that his mentor was holding him back. In a 1950 interview with Downbeat magazine, excerpted in Louis Armstrong: An Extravagant Life, Hardin remembered Oliver admitting "that Louis could play better than he could. ... He said, 'As long as I keep him with me, he won't be able to get ahead of me, I'll still be the King.'"

At Hardin's urging, Armstrong left Oliver early in 1925, moving to New York at Fletcher Henderson's invitation. When he returned to Chicago, it was to star billing at the Dreamland Café, across the street from Oliver's new theater, the Plantation Café. The two musicians briefly reunited in 1926, after Armstrong separated from Hardin, but they were no longer close friends. Armstrong's fame had eclipsed that of the man he called "Papa Joe."In the early years of the Depression, with clubs closing and many musicians out of work, Oliver realized he needed a new professional strategy. He formed a new band, the Dixie Syncopators, in 1926 and together they made a number of popular dance recordings for the Vocalion 'race' series, as Oliver tried to adapt his performance style to the emerging big band era.

Oliver, already stricken with the severe gum disease that would end his playing life, was forced to delegate many of the cornet solos. In 1927 he moved his band to New York--in Armstrong's opinion, too late in his career. He worked at the Savoy Ballroom and recorded for the Victor Company in 1929 and 1930. But he lost his savings when a Chicago bank failed and made the error of turning down work at the Cotton Club in 1927 (an engagement that made Duke Ellington famous) because he thought the pay too low. In 1931 Victor canceled his recording contract and Oliver made his last known recordings for Brunswick and Vocalion, before forming a new band to take on the road.

Touring in the depressed South was not an easy way to make money, and Oliver suffered a number of setbacks, missing gigs whenever his moribund tour vehicles broke down. By 1935 Oliver had lost all his teeth and found it difficult to perform. He kept touring with a third-rate band, many of whom mutinied over low pay, avoiding the big cities where he had a musical reputation to maintain. Armstrong was shocked to bump into Oliver in Savannah, Georgia, in 1937, stooped and poorly dressed, working as a peddler in the street; Armstrong and his band gave him money to buy new clothes.For the last few years of his life, Oliver lived in a boarding house and worked fifteen hours a day as a janitor at a pool hall in Savannah. He had separated from his wife, Stella, many years earlier. Letters to his sister testify to his demoralization and extreme poverty, as well as his stubborn pride: he refused to appeal for help to the musical community, and kept hoping to save enough money to return to New York.

Discontinuing medical treatment for his high blood pressure because of the cost, Oliver fell into deep decline and died of a cerebral hemorrhage on April 8, 1938. He was just 52 years old. His sister used rent money to pay for his body to be shipped to New York for a funeral attended by many musicians, including Clarence Williams and Louis Armstrong, who always maintained that Oliver died of a broken heart. He was buried without a headstone at Woodlawn cemetery in the Bronx. Despite his neglect by the jazz world during the last years of his life, almost all of Oliver's recordings are available on reissues, testimony to his significant musical legacy.

— Paula J.K. Morris

Track list

01. Just Gone
02. Canal Street Blues
03. Mandy Lee Blues
04. I'm Going Away to Wear You Off My Mind
05. Chimes Blues
06. Weather Bird Rag
07. Dipper Mouth Blues
08. Froggie Moore
09. Snake Rag
10. Snake Rag
11. Sweet Lovin' Man
12. High Society Rag
13. Sobbin' Blues
14. Where Did You Stay Last Night
15. Dipper Mouth Blues
16. Jazzin' Babies Blues
17. Alligator Hop
18. Zulu's Ball
19. Workingman Blues
20. Krooked Blues
21. Chattanooga Stomp
22. London (Cafe) Blues
23. Camp Meeting Blues
24. New Orleans Stomp
25. Buddy's Habit
26. Tears
27. I Ain't Gonna Tell Nobody
28. Room Rent Blues
29. Riverside Blues
30. Sweet Baby Doll
31. Working Man Blues
32. Mabel's Dream
33. Mabel's Dream (take 1)
34. Mabel's Dream (take 2)
35. The Southern Stomps (take 1)
36. The Southern Stomps (take 2)
37. Riverside Blues

Just buy it (you won't regret it)!
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Fingerpicking the 1920's: "Mabel's Dream" (You Tube)

Lonnie Johnson - Playing with the Strings (1925-32)

Lonnie Johnson, prácticamente el inventor de los bendings en la guitarra, una influencia decisiva sobre maestros como T-Bone Walker, Django Reinhart o B.B. King, por citar sólo tres nombres indispensables. En otra ocasión daremos un repaso más detenido a la formidable carrera de este cantante de blues (y violinista, y más cosas) pero sobre todo magistral guitarrista. De momento, y para abrir boca, valga esta antología, remasterizada por John RT Davies, junto a algunos de los más ilustres grupos y músicos de los años 20 y 30.
Verdaderamente, están casi todos: King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Clarence Williams, Eddie Lang, Hoagy Carmichael, Johnny Dodds, Duke Ellington...

-Jay Bee Rodríguez

From the 1920s to the 1960s, guitarist Lonnie Johnson broke new ground for jazz and blues guitar, performing stunning displays of six-string virtuosity on recordings with Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Kid Ory, and on numerous solo efforts. But, perhaps because he was so versatile--jumping between hundreds of Delta blues and hot-jazz studio sessions--he's never received his due accolades for being one of the great guitar pioneers. Playing with the Strings captures Johnson's earliest output, from the 1925 recordings with Charlton Creath's Jazz-O-Maniacs to the stunning 1932 solo 78 he recorded featuring "I'm Nuts About That Gal" and "Racketeers Blues." JSP's compilation shows how, in just seven years, Johnson went from playing in Louis Armstrong's Hot Five to working with Duke Ellington to performing in one of the first interracial studio sessions with Eddie Lang, King Oliver, and Hoagy Carmichael (all performing as Blind Willie Dunn's Gin Bottle Four). Throughout, Johnson is in top form on guitar, picking single-note lines in a fashion that would anticipate future jazz guitar sounds. We can hear Johnson playing other instruments, too--kazoo, violin, and banjo--but his guitar mastery steals the show. JSP's transfers of these old 78s are at times spotty, but it's still a great collection of classic tunes. ~ Jason Verlinde

Digitally remastered by John R.T. Davies.

Recording information: Chicago, IL (01/20/1926-02/07/1941); Memphis, TN (01/20/1926-02/07/1941); New York, NY (01/20/1926-02/07/1941); St. Louis, MO (01/20/1926-02/07/1941).

Personnel includes: Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Eddie Lang, King Oliver, Clarence Williams, Johnny Hodges, Kid Ory.



1. Won't Don't Blues (St.Louis, MO, Nov. 2, 1925) - 3:07
Charlton Creath's Jazz-O-Maniacs
Banjo - Pete Petterson
Clarinet, Saxophone [Alto] - Horace Eubanks
Piano - Cranston Hamilton
Saxophone [Alto] - Sam Long
Saxophone [Tenor] - William Rollins
Trumpet - Leonard Davis
Violin - Lonnie Johnson
02. Mr. Johnson's Blues (St.Louis, MO, November 4, 1925) - 2:42
Piano - John Arnold Vocals - Lonnie Johnson
03. Falling Rain Blues (St.Louis, MO, November 4, 1925) - 3:05
Piano - John Arnold Violin, Vocals - Lonnie Johnson

04. Now Good Blues (New York, January 20, 1926) - 2:37
05. Newport Blues (New York, January 20, 1926) - 2:38
James 'Steady Roll' Johnson
Banjo - Lonnie Johnson
Piano - De Louise Soarcy
Vocals, Violin - James Johnson
06. Nile Of Genago (New York, January 20, 1926) - 2:46
Guitar - James 'Steady Roll' Johnson (older brother of Lonnie Johnson)
07. To Do This You Gotta Know How (New York, Jan 20, 1926) - 3:10
Guitar - Lonnie Johnson
08. Four Hands Are Better Than Two (New York, Jan 20, 1926) - 3:27
Guitar - Lazy Harris
Piano - John Erby


09. I'm Not Rough (Chicago, December 10, 1927) - 3:04
10. Hotter Than That (Chicago, December 13, 1927) - 3:04
11. Savoy Blues (Chicago, December 13, 1927) - 3:31
Louis Armstrong And His Hot Five
Guitar - Lonnie Johnson
Banjo - Johnny St. Cyr
Piano - Lil Armstrong
Trombone - Kid Ory
Vocals, Trumpet - Louis Armstrong
12. Playing With The Strings (Memphis, Tenn, 21.02.1928) - 2:59
13. Stompin' 'Em Along Slow (Memphis, Tenn, 21.02.1928) - 2:55
Guitar - Lonnie Johnson
14. The Moochie (New York, October 1, 1928) - 3:20
15. Move Over (New York, October 1, 1928) - 3:10
16. Hot And Bothered (New York, October 1, 1928) - 3:23
Duke Ellington And His Orchestra
Guitar - Lonnie Johnson
Banjo - Fred Guy
Clarinet, Saxophone [Alto] - Johnny Hodges
Clarinet, Saxophone [Alto], Saxophone [Bariton] - Harry Carney
Clarinet, Saxophone [Tenor] - Barney Bigard
Drums - Sonny Greer
Piano, Leader - Duke Ellington
Saxophone [Bariton] - Wellman Braud
Trombone - Joe Nanton
Trumpet - Arthur Whetsol , Bubber Miley
Violin - Baby Cox , The Palmer Brother
17. Paducah (New York, October 13, 1928) - 3:00
18. Star Dust (New York, October 13, 1928) - 3:01
The Chocolate Dandies
Guitar - Lonnie Johnson
Banjo - Dave Wilborn
Bass - Escudero
Clarinet - Don Redman , George Thomas , Milton Senior , Prince Robinson
Drums - Cuba Austin
Leader - Don Redman
Piano - Todd Rhodes
Saxophone [Alto] - Don Redman , Milton Senior
Saxophone [Tenor] - George Thomas , Prince Robinson
Trombone - Claude Jones
Trumpet - John Nesbit , Langston Curl
Vocals - Dave Wilborn , Don Redman , George Thomas

19. Jet Black Blues (New York 30.04.1929) - 3:05

20. Blue Blood Blues (New York 30.04.1929) - 3:02
The Blind Willi Dunn's Gin Bottle Four
Cornet - Joe "King" Oliver
Drums - Hoagy Carmichael
Guitar - Lonnie Johnson, Eddie Lang
Piano - J.C. Johnson
Vocals [Scat] - Hoagy Carmichael
21. Sitting On The Top Of The World (New York, Sep 9, 1930) - 3:06
22. Kansas City Man Blues (New York, September 9, 1930) - 2:58
Clarence Williams' Jug Band
Guitar - Lonnie Johnson
Clarinet - Charlie
Cornet - Ed Allen
Jug - Clarence Williams
Piano - Charlie
Saxophone [Tenor] - Charlie
Trombone - Charlie
23. I'm Nuts About That Gal (New York, Aug 12, 1932) - 3:14
24. Racketeers Blues (New York, August 12, 1932) - 3:12
Guitar, Vocals - Lonnie Johnson

Hot Jazz and cool Blues

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