Iconic performances from the best of the best
The best of New Orleans jazz, brought together in a single album which celebrates those early years: the good tunes, foot-stomping rhythms and rich harmonies which marked out jazz as a unique and new art form created to charm and delight the ear.
1 High Society Kid Ory & His Band
2 Mahogany Hall Stomp Louis Armstrong & His Dixieland Seven
3 At the Jazz Band Ball Bix Beiderbecke
4 Who's Sorry Now? Bob Crosby's Bob Cats
5 It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) Duke Ellington
6 Bugle Call Rag Benny Goodman
7 South Rampart Street Parade Bob Crosby
8 Dippermouth Blues Muggsy Spanier
9 Hindustan Sidney Bechet & His New Orleans Feetwarmers
10 When the Saints Go Marchin' In Bunk Johnson
11 Riverboat Shuffle Red Nichols & His Five Pennies
12 Twelfth Street Rag Louis Armstrong & His Hot Seven
13 Clarinet Marmalade Frankie Trambauer
14 Stompin' at the Savoy Benny Goodman
15 Kansas City Stomp Jelly Roll Morton's Red Hot Peppers
16 Royal Garden Blues Bix Beiderbecke
17 Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Kid Ory & His Creole Jazz Band
18 Sweet Sue, Just You Muggsy Spanier
19 St. Louis Blues Sidney Bechet & His Orch.
20 Darktown Strutters Ball Bunk Johnson & His New Orleans Band
21 Jersey Bounce Benny Goodman
22 One O'Clock Jump Count Basie
23 Basin Street Blues Eddie Condon & His Band
CCL CDG1131
P & C 2005 Classical Communications Ltd
Image: Journey, 1998 by Francks Deceus Private Collection/www.bridgeman.co.uk
Programme notes by Martin Moritz
Made in Great Britain
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inside book:
Essential Jazz Classics
Iconic performances from the best of the best
Jazz is the first home-grown American culture that has affected music across the world. From the syncopated beat of ragtime and the joyous brass bands to the soul-stirring gospel choirs imbued with blues, jazz is now a vital part of popular music.
New Orleans was its birth-place as well as its spiritual home. A port ,with which its large black community having become susceptible to the exotic sounds of the Caribbean and Mexico, it was ready to embrace the development of new music at the beginning of the last century. Brass bands proliferated and many talented and skilled groups were on hand to play at society dances. Names who would be so influential and important in the growth of jazz hailed from New Orleans, among them the clarinetist, Sidney Bechet, the pianist Jelly Roll Morton and someone whose name was to reoccur repeatedly in the annals of early jazz, Louis Armstrong.
The clubs tended to occupy the Storyville district of New Orleans and when these began to close in the early 1920s, musicians moved north to Chicago. It was there that jazz really began to establish itself , becoming the focal point for musicians in the Mid-West. It boasted names who were to become legendary: King Oliver, Earl Hines and Louis Armstrong.
The other city that was vital to jazz in those pioneering days was New York. 'Stride', an extension of Ragtime that would develop to become the first recognized jazz piano form, was very popular there. New York could also claim to have two orchestras in the 20s whose contribution to jazz should not be underestimated. Fletcher Henderson's, with the addition of Louis Armstrong, would anticipate the Swing era.
The other orchestra was the creation of Duke Ellington. By any standards, he was one of the most potent influences on music in the twentieth century. His elegant and radical composition form would move jazz to even greater heights.
With the progression of jazz in the 1930s, white musicians entered the field. One of the most notable was Benny Goodman and his arrival, along with bands that included Glenn Miller and Bob Crosby, heralded the Swing and Big Band period of the forties.
The Swing years encompass the mid-thirties to the mid-forties and although Swing, in reality, owes more to popular music than jazz, its exponents were many of the key names in jazz who bowed to its popularity. If it was not for Tommy Dorsey, it is arguable that Frank Sinatra may never have become one of the greatest and most popular voices of the twentieth century.
Hand in hand with instrumental and orchestral jazz were the singers. One vocalist who has become synonymous with jazz is Ella Fitzgerald, whose elastic voice, innate feel and timing became something to marvel at. Billie Holiday's more blues based singing mirrored her troubled life whilst Fats Waller was the epitome of good humour and fun. In their wake, with the more adventurous avenues that modern jazz would explore, song stylists such as Sarah Vaughan and Mel Torme would make their mark.
Our programme salutes the giants and pioneers of the halcyon days of jazz. Joyful, exuberant,uncomplicated music that wears its heart on its sleeve. We invite you all to enjoy their artistry and infectiousness.