Stu Pletcher (1907-78) was never a major name and he had a surprisingly brief career in the spotlight. His son, Tom Pletcher, had a more significant career as one of the top Bix Beiderbecke-influenced cornetists. However, as he shows throughout his Jazz Oracle CD, the trumpeter had something to offer.
Pletcher developed a mellow tone and style. In his earlier recordings, he showed the inspiration of Bix Beiderbecke although he always sounded fairly original. Pletcher’s best work (and over half of his recordings) is on his CD, along with extensive liner notes by his son that tell his full story.
The program is easily divided into two parts. After one selection (a weak novelty) from 1924 with Hackley’s Orchestra, Pletcher is featured as both a trumpeter and singer with Carl Webster’s Yale Collegians in 1930 plus two songs from a similar group billed as Pletcher’s Eli Prom Trotters. His singing is pleasant if not memorable but his trumpet sounds fine on the dance band numbers, highlighted by two fairly hot versions of “Puttin’ On The Ritz.” In addition, on private recordings from 1931, he is heard as a decent solo pianist-singer performing “Rockin’ Chair” and “Ain’t Misbehavin’.”
After a song apiece with Ben Pollack and Smith Ballew from 1934-35, Pletcher has some worthy spots on his best-known recordings: four selections with xylophonist Red Norvo fr
