The Original Dixieland Jass Band

The first side of this EP contains what is usually cited as the first jazz record, made by the Original Dixieland Jass (later Jazz) Band in February 1917. The claim is debatable, not least because this music (in common with all other types of music) is an outgrowth of earlier styles. The Wikipedia article about the ODJB (as the band is often called) notes that the first item on this record is actually a version of a ragtime tune written in 1909.

These records are by no means obscure, and actually I've included them to continues the series derived from the "X" label's Vault Originals series, a jazz/blues reissue program from the mid-50s. As before, the RCA engineers did a fine job on the transfers. These are some of the best acoustic recordings I've heard. (Pre-1925 acoustic recordings were made through a recording horn instead of a microphone.)

Similar to the previous "X" recordings seen here, this has a cover by Paul Bacon, much more to my taste than the previous items. Bacon worked in several different styles, and this scratchboard drawing is a evocative rendering of a 1917 promotional photo that you can see on Wikipedia's ODJB page.

The ODJB was a sensation in its time, and you will find it sensational too if you go for hectic ensembles, barnyard effects and clattering percussion. It's easy to scoff at this stuff 90 years later, but it was the precursor of much great music.

Yeomen of the Guard with Barbara Cook and Alfred Drake

Today we have a very unusual item - a promotional record made for a 1957 televised presentation of Gilbert & Sullivan's Yeomen of the Guard, with a cast that included Alfred Drake and Barbara Cook, fresh from Candide.

I'm no expert on G&S, but I have not seen this record noted elsewhere, including the on-line Gilbert & Sullivan discography. (The Yeomen page has a very good article on the production.)

The record is a 7-inch EP issued by the NBC publicity department. My copy does not have a cover, and I doubt it came in one.

These songs are not excerpts from the televised production itself, which probably was transmitted live. These were pre-recorded with piano accompaniment in place of the Franz Allers-led orchestra that was featured on the Hallmark Hall of Fame program.

The sound is good, and reveals fine performances by Alfred Drake, Barbara Cook and Bill Hayes, and a soggy one from Celeste Holm.

NEW TRANSFER

Tony Martin

Here's another of the ageless pop music veterans who, like Herb Jeffries, is still with us. He is 95-year-old Tony Martin, whose career goes back far enough for him to have appeared in an Astaire-Rogers movie.

Tony's hit records and movie appearances began in the 1930s, and his vocal style, although a little dated sounding even in these late 1940s recordings, was a precursor of the romantic balladeers who were ascendant in the post-war years.

This album also allows us to revisit the work of my cover art "discovery," Fred Steffen, who did a number of odd and outrageous covers for Mercury Records way back when. This one, possibly inspired by Cot's The Storm (I know my kitsch), is tame by Steffen standards. It might even be considered attractive, if not for the obtrusive cartouche.

These are very fine records of their type, and well recorded for the time. They are wildly out of style, but I love 'em anyway.

Rodzinski Conducts Rachmaninoff

Let's feature a few records led by Artur Rodzinski, a talented conductor of the 20th century who is not well remembered these days. I've been listening to some of the symphonies he recorded with the New York Philharmonic and the Cleveland Orchestra (he was music director of each at different times), and they are worth anyone's time.

Here is an early recording of Rachmaninoff's second symphony, in a strong, sympathetic, perceptive, and persuasive performance by the alert New Yorkers. Rodzinski makes the cuts that were usual at the time.

The recording was made in early 1945 in Carnegie Hall. It was originally issued on 78s, and reissued on Columbia's early budget label Entré, encased in the ungainly cover above. The sound is OK for its time.

Rodzinski was apparently quite a character; there are brief bios on the web, but the best account of his life is the biography written by his wife Halina, Our Two Lives. I read it many years ago and recall it as being very lively.

George Greeley

Here's an LP requested by my friend Mel (welcome back!).

This the first time we've encountered George Greeley here as a pianist, but we've already seen him a couple of times as an arranger and conductor.

Greeley, who died only last year, was quite a talent - he also composed, with perhaps his greatest hit being the theme from the TV show My Favorite Martian. (See his obituary here.)

He was an exceptional pianist, as you can hear in these sides, which are from about 1954.

Love the cover, which reminds me of the elegant soirees in my own drawing room. (Of course, I have to move the records out of the way first.)

Shelly Manne and Russ Freeman

The other day I was in the mood to listen to jazz, for once, and flipping through the collection I came across this one - two of the notable West Coast jazz artists of the 50s, pianist Russ Freeman and drummer Shelly Manne.

This is an unusual duo LP - no bass, no other instruments. For the most part, Manne plays an equal role with Freeman. The music is not really to my taste, but this kind of jazz is at least as popular today as it was in September 1954, when this record was made, so who am I to judge.

One of the reasons I chose this item was the fact that it was recorded with a single AKG mike, and my copy of the record is mint. So I was hoping for some good sounds. And they are good - but only just that.

The cover is unsigned, but along with the piano and drums includes a steam jet blower and a fish, which otherwise do not make an appearance on the record, as far as I can tell.

LINK

The Eddie Cantor Story

Younger readers (if there are any at a blog that specializes in the music of 60 years ago) may not know who Eddie Cantor was. Well, son/daughter, he was a very famous entertainer in his day, was on Broadway, on the radio and later television, and made movies. This is his life story as told by the Warner Bros. in 1953.

That's Eddie on the cover, although he wasn't the star of the movie (the dreaded Keefe Brasselle was), but it's his voice on the soundtrack and on this record, doing his most famous numbers.

Forgotten today, Cantor was famous enough to have made records even into the stereo era. His contemporaries included George Jessel, Al Jolson, and Jimmy Durante, and who remembers them today?

It certainly has a colorful cover, done by Karlis or Karlin, who I believe did other covers from that era.