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 Horniblow that chronicled all 95 of Morton’s known compositions.
While no Morton compositions are included here his style is embodied without being parodied. The titles include many lesser known ragtime composers, with Scott Joplin only appearing for “Wall Street Rag,” and “The Ragtime Dance.” Joseph Lamb also gets two, with “American Beauty Rag” and “Sensation Rag.” Also included are James’ Scott’s “Sunburst Rag,” Larry Buck’s “Freckles Rag,” Artie Mathews’ “Pastime Rag #5,” Irwin Leclare’s “Triangle Jazz Blues” (the latest date for a composition on the disc at 1917), Henry Lodge’s “Temptation Rag,” Tom Turpin’s “Harlem Rag,” George L. Cobb’s “Bunny Hug Rag,” and finally Shelton Brooks’ “That Cosey Rag.” The Red Back Book this isn’t.
I am not the man to give you a bar by bar assessment of how Oliver’s renditions differ from the source material, if you would find a review by that person helpful you should go ahead and buy this album! There are not many solo ragtime albums made of this caliber and it deserves a place in the collection of every ragtime fan. It’s filled with very hot and exciting playing in a Mortonian style, and littered with references to Morton’s own compositions. The album embodies a New Orleans street feel that could be 1915, or at least Morton remembering 1915 from 1937. It would have been wonderful if Morton had recorded these records, but this crisply recorded CD is the next best thing.
You can find also Oliver with a full group on the latest release from Rivermont; he is part of the Bridgetown Sextet, a hot band out of Portland. While living in London for most of the 2010s he was part of very impressive groups known as The Dime Notes, and Vitality Five, among a number of other projects. Solo here, in a duo on The Morton Project, or in uniquely impressive hot jazz groups, his discography is well worth exploring.
