Ricky Alexander • Ragology

Clarinetist Ricky Alexander’s fourth album as a leader (following Just Found Joy, Strike Up The Band, and I’m In Love Again) straddles the often-artificial boundaries of several overlapping types of early music. One can say that the 11 selections on Ragology are all somewhat influenced by or at least inspired by ragtime including Jelly Roll Morton and Sidney Bechet pieces, novelty ragtime, and some actual rags.

Ragology features Alexander’s quartet with pianist Conal Fowkes, bassist Bob Atkins, and drummer Kevin Dorn joined by featured guest Jerron Paxton on banjo. It begins with a hot version of Bechet’s classic “Wildcat Blues,” a piece inspired by early 20th century Brazilian music (“Slidin’”) that also includes some Jelly Roll Morton-inspired piano from Fowkes, and an uptempo version of Zez Confrey’s “Dizzy Fingers.” From there it showcases Paxton’s banjo on Tom Turpin’s “Buffalo Rag,” has Alexander and Paxton romping through the multi-note melody of “Nola,” and shifts gears with the sweet ballad “You And A Canoe.”

The second half of the set includes a happy stomp version of Bechet’s “Blackstick,” a swinging rendition of “Ragtime Oriole,” a cooker for Alexander’s clarinet on “Little Bits, a conventional but hot rendition of “Shreveport Stomp,” and a Paxton vocal on Jelly Roll Morton’s “Sweetheart O Mine.”

Suffice it to say that Ricky Alexander and his sidemen are up to their usual high standards throughout Ragology, a very easy album to enjoy.

Ricky Alexander • Ragology
Turtle Bay TBR 26001
www.turtlebayrecords.com

Scott Yanow

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.