Although he was born in Chicago, Abe Lyman (1897-1957) spent much of his professional life working in the Los Angeles area. A solid drummer, he began leading bands around 1919, playing in night clubs and hotels on a regular basis into the mid-1940s. His band toured Europe in 1929, appeared in several films in 1930, and was a fixture on the radio, making a series of recordings during 1922-46.
Abe Lyman & His California Orchestra’s All The Hits And More is a two CD set tracing the group’s evolution. While Lyman’s band could play jazz as they show on rather rapid versions of “Twelfth Street Rag” from 1926 and 1932’s “Milenburg Joys,” they were primarily a dance band. None of Lyman’s sidemen became famous although he tended to have a worthy trumpet and trombone soloist for their occasional hot numbers, and one wishes that they had opportunities to stretch out much more.
The 48 numbers on this twofer, which are in chronological order, essentially trace the history of dance music during the era, from overcrowded-sounding acoustic recordings to jazzy numbers of the late 1920s, Depression era ballads, swing era tunes, and later novelties. Most of the performances have vocals including from the band’s regular singer Charles Kaley, Al Jolson (two guest appearances), frequently anonymous studio vocalists and, after 1939, Lyman’s wife Rose Blane.
The musicianship of Lyman’s sidemen is consistently excellent and, while he did not introduce any major standards or have giant hits, the largely forgotten orchestra was consistently popular for over two decades. Although more of their jazz-oriented performances should have been included on this reissue for variety, All The Hits And More gives one a good sampling of what Abe Lyman’s Californians sounded like.
Abe Lyman & His California Orchestra • All The Hits And More
Acrobat ADDCD3541
www.acrobatmusic.net and www.mvdb2b.com
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.
