On this recording we hear Humphrey Lyttelton (1921-2008) being just a little retrospective in that he returns to the style of jazz of his early days. Back in the forties and fifties, the revival saw Lyttelton cast his lot with the burgeoning Dixieland scene as he joined the George Webb band. After he formed his own band, he found, with the passing of time, that he wanted to go farther afield, so he took part in forming the Grant-Lyttelton Paseo Jazz Band, and later went even more “modern,” as he terms it in his liner notes to the original LP issue, to embrace bigger bands and more pronounced “swing” music.
However, Lyttelton always retained a soft spot for the jazz style he began with, and did enjoy returning to it, as he does here. He maintained that he was not indulging in nostalgia, nor was he trying to recreate the “original band,” although he did have two of his former early cohorts—Wally Fawkes and Keith Christie—along for the ride. They were all simply indulging a fondness for a style of jazz in which they had all engaged earlier.
Other than a few tracks—“Mezz’s Tune,” “Gone with the Wind,” “Out of the Gallion,” and “I’ll Close My Eyes”—the tune list comprises classics. But it is a joy to hear this group’s interpretation of them. Louis Armstrong’s All-Stars also tended not to stray far from such type of tune and even would repeat a
