Because a full drum set could overwhelm the other instruments in the early days of jazz recording, drummers of the time were restricted to utilizing only parts of their set, usually cowbells, a cymbal, woodblocks, and sometimes a washboard. One can only speculate how drummers really sounded when playing live before 1926. But after that, the improved recording quality allows today’s listeners to experience and appreciate the masterful New Orleans drummers who were documented.
Upbeat’s latest collection, Great Jazz Great Drummers (subtitled Masters Of New Orleans Drumming), collects together 24 recordings from 1926-54, all of which have significant contributions from the drummers. Since the emphasis is on drummers playing in the New Orleans style, such swing greats as Gene Krupa, Chick Webb, Big Sid Catlett and Buddy Rich are purposely absent.
Instead, one gets excellent examples of the playing of Tony Sbarbaro (including a 1936 version of “Tiger Rag” with the reunited Original Dixieland Jazz Band), Baby Dodds, Tubby Hall, Zutty Singleton, Paul Barbarin, Christopher “Black Happy” Goldston (with Oscar Celestin in 1950), Ray Bauduc, Andrew Hillaire, Edgar Mosely, Alton Redd, and Minor “Ram” Hall.
Among the other musicians heard from are such greats as Jelly Roll Morton (“Billy Goat Stomp”), Sidney Bechet, James P. Johnson, Cleo Brown, Jimmie Noone, King Oliver (1926’s “Sugar Foot Stomp”), Pee Wee Russell, Wingy Manone, Eddie Miller, George Lewis, Kid Ory, and, on three different occasions with either Tubby Hall, Paul Barbarin, or Minor “Ram” Hall on drums, Louis Armstrong. Such numbers as “Shake It And Break It,” China Boy,” “Bourbon Street Parade,” Líl Liza Jane,” and “Weary Blues” give one an idea what to expect on this joyous set which has no ballads.
An added plus are the informative liner notes of John Petters (who produced and compiled the set) although I wish that the notes and the back cover of the CD (which gives all of the discographical information) did not require a magnifying glass to read! While veteran record collectors will undoubtedly have most of these performances, listening to this collection with the focus on the drummers and their approaches to New Orleans jazz can be enlightening.
Great Jazz Great Drummers
Upbeat URCD 341
www.upbeatmailorder.co.uk
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.
