Hal Smith, the drummer, author, producer, and current elder statesman of trad jazz is due for a column highlighting his amazing series of albums focused on the style of an individual West Coast Revival band. He is including in these groups many musicians too young to have enjoyed these bands in their heyday, giving them a unique connection to their predecessors and some exposure to our best festivals in the process.
A similar endeavor is the three albums of “New Orleans Ragtime” he helped produce. The first released through Jazzology’s Solo Art imprint in 2016 as Classic Rags - New Orleans Style, featured Kris Tokarski at the piano with Cassidy Holden on bass and Hal on drums. The second, released as Ragtime New Orleans Style, was on Hal Smith’s Big Al label in 2018 and features Hal, and Kris, but with Josh Gouzy on bass.
This third installment, from 2022, is unique in being solo piano by Andrew Oliver. What joins them is a goal perpetuated across those six years and three albums to explore what-if scenarios regarding Jelly Roll Morton and ragtime. This installment is inspired by Jelly Roll Morton’s correspondence with Roy Carew about a potential series of solo ragtime recordings for Commodore, of which only one was made. Oliver is the perfect conduit to explore this topic having been part of the Complete Morton Project. A series of YouTube videos and then album with David
