What are the most exciting and essential classic jazz recordings that have taken place since the end of World War II? I accepted the challenge of that question to put together a list that everyone can argue about. This five-part series briefly discusses 100 great recordings that all Syncopated Times readers should own. (Start with Part 1)
To make this survey manageable, here are the ground rules that I set for myself. The list is restricted to hot jazz whether it is considered Dixieland, New Orleans, Chicago, San Francisco, revival, trad, or classic jazz. To keep the list focused, it does not include swing or ragtime although some recordings straddle the line. The records are listed in roughly chronological order and were released on CDs or LPs; downloads are not included. Neither are giant reissue box sets such as those put out by Mosaic or any releases larger than two CDs.
While this list can easily be quadrupled in size, be sure to explore the 100 gems, including these 20 from the 1954-59 period.
21. Eddie Condon: Jammin’ At Condon’s (Columbia, 1954) The New Orleans revival of the 1940s led to the popularization of Dixieland in the U.S. While some viewed the music as a perfect background for college partyers and drunks of all ages, in the 1950s many of the greats from the 1920s and ‘30s were still very active and quite a bit of timeless music was recorded. In addition to being a fine rhythm guitarist and a witty emcee, Eddie Condon was a master at quickly organizing bands and spontaneously creating frameworks that showed off his musicians at their best on a nightly basis. Consider that this Columbia album features no less than eight horn players in Condon’s expanded 12-piece group including the mighty cornetist Wild Bill Davison, trumpeter Billy Butterfield, tenor-saxophonist Bud Freeman and both Edmond Hall and Peanuts Hucko on clarinets. Plenty of explosive playing resulted during this project.
22. Ralph Sutton/Edmond Hall: Live At Club Hangover (Sounds Of Yester Year, 1954) Club Hangover was a major trad jazz venue in San Francisco in the1950s. Clarinetist Edmond Hall (whose distinctive tone was recognizable within two notes) and the masterful stride pianist Ralph Sutton were featured on four weekly broadcasts during July-August 1954, co-leading a combo that on the last two airchecks also included the explosive trumpeter playing of Clyde Hurley (whose solo on Glenn Miller’s “In The Mood” has been heard by everyone). The interplay between Hall and Hurley with Sutton is consistently stirring.
23. Kid Ory: Kid Ory’s Creole Jazz Band 1954 (Good Time Jazz, 1954) The veteran New Orleans trombonist, whose career had started a half-century earlier, led great bands in the 1950s as best heard on their string of albums for the Good Time Jazz label. The edition of his Creole Jazz Band from 1954 features top soloists (trumpeter Alvin Alcorn, clarinetist George Probert, and pianist Don Ewell) and superior ensembles led by Alcorn that build and build to a passionate level.
24. Paul Barbarin: And His New Orleans Jazz (Atlantic, 1955) The influential drummer Barbarin spent a long period up North, working with King Oliver, Luis Russell, Louis Armstrong and Red Allen before returning to the Crescent City for his final 20 years. He brings out the best in his sidemen (most notably trumpeter John Brunious, clarinetist Willie Humphrey, and banjoist Danny Barker) on this joyous set which includes some New Orleans favorites and the drummer’s most famous composition, “Bourbon Street Parade.”
25. Louis Armstrong: Satch Plays Fats (Columbia, 1955) A year after his famous album of W.C. Handy songs, Armstrong hit pay dirt again with a set of songs associated with Fats Waller. Although they were only documented playing together on record once (a radio broadcast from 1938), they were good friends. With trombonist Trummy Young and clarinetist Barney Bigard, Armstrong’s All-Stars performs a heartfelt version of “Black And Blue,” a few of Waller’s hits, and several numbers that were not in Satch’s regular repertoire including “I’ve Got A Feeling I’m Falling,” I’m Crazy ‘Bout My Baby,” and “Blue Turning Grey Over You.”
26. Don Ewell: Music To Listen To Don Ewell By (Good Time Jazz, 1956) One of the great stride pianists to emerge in the mid-1940s (along with Ralph Sutton and Dick Wellstood), Ewell uplifted sessions by Bunk Johnson, Sidney Bechet, Kid Ory and George Lewis among others. He led occasional albums of his own through the years including this release which has him playing four inventive solo pieces and working with a trio also including clarinetist Darnell Howard and drummer Minor Hall. I love the title of this album!
27. Earl Hines: And His All-Stars (GNP/Crescendo, 1956) While many of the later jazz critics considered pianist Earl Hines’ years living in San Francisco in the 1950s to be his off period since he was not in the national spotlight, the pianist actually spent much of the time leading a particularly hot Dixieland ensemble that often played at Club Hangover. With trumpeter Muggsy Spanier, trombonist Jimmy Archey, and clarinetist Darnell Howard, the emphasis was mostly on torrid tempos and heated playing. Several albums document this band including this one which was recorded at Los Angeles’ Crescendo club.
28. Bud Freeman: Austin High School Jazz In Hi-Fi (RCA Victor, 1957) Tenor-saxophonist Bud Freeman leads three overlapping all-star bands on this memorable album. The four songs recorded by the McKenzie-Condon Chicagoans 30 years earlier are revisited along with a variety of standards and blues. Everything swings hard as one would expect from such musicians as Billy Butterfield, cornetist Jimmy McPartland, trombonists Jack Teagarden and Tyree Glenn, and clarinetists Pee Wee Russell and Peanuts Hucko.
29. Henry “Red” Allen: World On A String (Bluebird, 1957) Many major jazz artists were at the peak of their powers in 1957 including trumpeter Henry “Red” Allen, trombonist J.C. Higginbotham, clarinetist Buster Bailey, and tenor-saxophonist Coleman Hawkins. Those immortals plus a top-notch rhythm section perform memorable versions of “Love Is Just Around The Corner,” “Ride, Red, Ride,” and “Algiers Bounce” with Allen at his most abstract on “I Cover The Waterfront.”
30. Chris Barber: 1957-1958 (Lake, 1957-58) The Dixieland movement was gradually declining in popularity in the U.S. as the 1950s progressed but the opposite was true in England where dozens of classic jazz bands were setting the stage for the trad boom of the early 1960s. With Humphrey Lyttleton switching from 1920s jazz to mainstream, trombonist Chris Barber had the United Kingdom’s leading band, one featuring trumpeter Pat Halcox (who was in Barber’s group for 54 years), clarinetist Monty Sunshine, a pianoless rhythm section, and the great singer Ottilie Patterson. The Lake label has compiled many Chris Barber sets with the double-CD 1957-1958 being an excellent place to start.
31. Jimmy McPartland: The Music Man Goes Dixieland (Epic, 1957-58) The veteran cornetist was also a personable singer and had acting abilities. On this delightful set in which he is often joined by a 14-piece all-star group, McPartland performs 11 songs from the Music Man including “Gary, Indiana,” “Till There Was You,” “Marian The Librarian,” and of course “76 Trombones.” McPartland sings on “The Sadder-But-Wiser Girl For Me” and is superb doing the monologue of “Ya Got Trouble.”
32. Pete Fountain and Al Hirt: At The Jazz Band Ball (Verve, 1957) and reissued on MGM as The Best Of Al Hirt and Pete Fountain. The latter title really fits for these two rising stars are heard at their very best during this sextet session with trombonist Bob Havens. Fountain is fluent and swinging, Hirt is often spectacular, and such songs as “Washington and Lee Swing” (with Fountain playing some Eddie Miller-inspired tenor), “Royal Garden Blues,” “Jazz Me Blues,” and “South Rampart Street Parade” are filled with excitement.
33. Al Hirt: Swingin’ Dixie Vol. 1 (Audio Fidelity, 1958) The trumpeter had such impressive technique that his career would go beyond Dixieland but New Orleans jazz was his main focus in the late 1950s. For the first of four Lps, Hirt and his sextet with Bob Havens and clarinetist Harold Cooper fill the songs with drive and plenty of energy. They tear into such numbers as “Tiger Rag,” “Fidgety Feet,” “Floatin’ Down To Cotton Town,” and “Tailgate Ramble.” An extended version of “When The Saints Go Marching In” has the three horns getting their tradeoffs down to one beat apiece, something that has rarely if ever been heard on records.
34. Luckey Roberts and Willie “The Lion” Smith: Luckey and the Lion (Good Time Jazz, 1958) The early jazz pianist Luckey Roberts only recorded on three occasions including the six originals that he cut for Good Time Jazz. These obscurities (such as “Inner Space” and “Outer Space”) deserve to be revived by today’s pianists. The second half of the album features Willie “The Lion” Smith (who recorded much more regularly) in excellent form on the same day, performing five of his songs including “Rippling Water” and “Morning Air” plus “Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea.”
35. Raymond Burke: The Southland Recordings (GHB, 1958-60) The New Orleans clarinetist is featured on three different sessions that also have excellent contributions by trumpeters Thomas Jefferson (an often overlooked great) and Mike Lala, trombonists Bob Havens and Paul Crawford, and pianist Armand Hug. “Apple Blossom Time” and “It’s A Long Way To Tipperary” are among the highlights.
36. Jack Teagarden: And His All Stars (Jazzology, 1958) The trombonist-singer was very consistent throughout his career, always sounding inspired even when playing his usual warhorses. This sextet album with trumpeter Dick Oakley, clarinetist Jerry Fuller, and pianist Don Ewell, taken from a gig in Cleveland, has Mr. T. finding fresh things to say on “Fidgety Feet,” “St. James Infirmary,” and “After You’ve Gone” in his own appealing style. It is a fine example of Teagarden’s playing and singing in the 1950s.
37. Matty Matlock: And They Called It Dixieland (Warner Bros, 1958) Los Angeles was home to a lot of Dixieland and swing players in the 1950s, many of whom also worked in the studios including Matlock. The clarinetist and arranger (formerly with Bob Crosby) led a series of worthy Dixieland-oriented albums in the 1950s, most of which are long overdue to be reissued. Utilizing six horns in his tentet (including trumpeters Shorty Sherock and John Best, trombonists Moe Schneider and Abe Lincoln, and Eddie Miller on tenor), his arrangements and the lively solos uplift many worthy songs including “I’m Gonna Stomp Mr. Henry Lee,” “You Can Depend On Me,” “Who’s Sorry Now,” and “China Boy.”
38. Papa Bue Jensen: Greatest Hits (Storyville, 1958-70) The Danish trombonist Papa Bue led the Viking Jazz Band for a half-century. The popular Dixieland group performed and recorded prolifically in Scandinavia, often featuring trumpeter Finn Otto Hansen and sometimes accompanying visiting Americans. This Storyville CD (one of many) gives one a fine overview of the Viking Jazz Band in top form over a 12-year period including on “Everybody Loves Saturday Night,” “1919 March” and “The Saints.”
39. Armand Hug & Eddie Miller: Armand Hug & New Orleans Dixielanders/Eddie Miller & The New Orleans Rhythm Pals (Southland, 1958) The excellent pianist Armand Hug leads a four-song session that features a septet with trumpeter Mike Lala, Bob Havens, and clarinetist Harry Shields on such numbers as “Mr. Jelly Lord” and “A Dixie Jam Session.” But Eddie Miller’s four songs with Hug and a rhythm section take honors, highlighted by “Buzzard’s Parade” and “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling.” New Orleans jazz purists who did not care for saxophonists always made an exception for Eddie Miller.
40. Red Nichols: Meet The Five Pennies (Capitol, 1959) While Nichols’ most important contributions to jazz were made in the 1920s as a cornetist and an underrated (and often unacknowledged) arranger, he led an excellent band in the 1950s, one that featured bass saxophonist Joe Rushton. While this album utilizes up to ten horns, it has a freewheeling spirit along with some unexpected moments. Nichols leads the large group through such numbers as “Indiana,” “Eccentric,” Shim-Me-Sha-Wabble,” and “Lullaby In Ragtime.” The latter is from the then-recently released movie The Five Pennies, an entertaining if semi-fictional Nichols biography. The highpoint of this release is Nichols’ definitive version of “Battle Hymn Of The Republic,” a true classic that goes through three different tempos just as it did in the movie.
Next month, part three in this five-part series will discuss 20 essential classic jazz recordings from the 1960s and into the ’70s.
Since 1975 Scott Yanow has been a regular reviewer of albums in many jazz styles. He has written for many jazz and arts magazines, including JazzTimes, Jazziz, Down Beat, Cadence, CODA, and the Los Angeles Jazz Scene, and was the jazz editor for Record Review. He has written an in-depth biography on Dizzy Gillespie for AllMusic.com. He has authored 11 books on jazz, over 900 liner notes for CDs and over 20,000 reviews of jazz recordings.
Yanow was a contributor to and co-editor of the third edition of the All Music Guide to Jazz. He continues to write for Downbeat, Jazziz, the Los Angeles Jazz Scene, the Jazz Rag, the New York City Jazz Record and other publications.
