This is one of the first Blue Note 10-inch records and is a repackaging of 78s that pianist Art Hodes made in 1944-45 with some veteran jazz artists playing in a traditional mode. The lineup changes from side to side - refer to the Blue Note discography (here) if you want the details. The trumpeter is the omnipresent Chicago-style player Max Kaminsky. The vocalist, who for some reason reminds me of Helen Humes, is drummer Fred Moore.
When these tunes were cut, jazz was transitioning from swing to be-bop. These guys were stuck in the 20s stylistically, but they put that outdated style across with great conviction.
The LP is titled Out of the Back Room; Blue Note has added so much echo that it sounds more like Out of the Bath Room. The atmospheric cover is - at least according to my web-based deduction - by Pennsylvania artist Allen Foster Hermansader.
I heartily applaud the focus for your blog because it is a much-needed one and affirms a cultural diversity that shaped so many of us who grew up in the 1950s. From Hodes to Enesco to Dunning--it just doesn't get any more tasteful and diverse than this. Thanks. By the way, I am immensely grateful for the incredible performance of Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Rivets."
ReplyDeleteThanks very much for your note - much appreciated. I do like to switch around between genres - there's good music everywhere in these old records.
ReplyDeleteParadoxically, back when there were very few channels for music and culture, those channels tended to be more diverse (with some notable exceptions) than individual channels are today. Today, much more is available, but the channels tend to be narrowly focused and the audience is splintered.
Quantity kills quality and breeds uniformity of taste based on lowest common denominators. My son says he loves when I tell him stories about waiting months to see a New Wave film or receive the latest mimeographed broadside by one of my favorite poets. I still remember a Philadelphia deejay playing Charles Ives at midnight because he knew what a rare occasion it was to have a release of his music. Or how about the story of John Lennon walking ten or so miles to knock on the door of a total stranger who, rumor had it, owned an Elvis Presley LP. "Could you please show me the cover?" Lennon asked. There should always be dust on our shoes to remind us of the distances we traveled and the lengths we went to in search of beauty.
ReplyDeleteEloquently stated! Thanks again for writing. Hope you enjoy the items here.
ReplyDeleteArt Hodes is one of the great pianist whose records are now hard to find and is a pleasure to hear him, especially with the groups that include Omer Simeon and Albert Nicholas. By the way - is there a chance that you have "Creole Reeds", a Riverside 10 inch album, that includes Nicholas and Sidney Bechet recordings and that, at least to my knowledge, have never been reissued on CD?
ReplyDeleteFedja,
ReplyDeleteSorry, I am sure that I don't have that LP. Sounds interesting - I am an admirer of Bechet. I have a 10-inch LP of him on RCA that shows him playing the tenor saxophone.
Remastered version:
ReplyDeletehttps://mega.nz/#!7IdDWapA!RxoxyC9748hXCsO1bswdIRY1a6hrRVC3BIl61Qb4EZk
CLASP
ReplyDeleteI dubbed a copy (ILL got one for me!) of the Mosaic set of his complete Blue Notes (on LP)....taking me forever to work on it, but would be happy to share once it's done
ReplyDeleteNeal - That's very generous of you, but I wouldn't be able to share it here. I have to stay away from those type of productions! Thanks, though!
DeleteI should add there's no reverb on their transfers
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