JAZZ CLASSIC OF THE MONTH
While New Orleans traditional jazz has had several major revivals from the mid-1930s on, the opening of Preservation Hall in 1961 was particularly noteworthy. The Hall gave some long-neglected veteran African-American musicians opportunities to play on a regular basis and resulted in the formation of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, an outfit that was soon touring the world.
The Atlantic label was one of several that took note and started (at least briefly) documenting some of the local legends. The Mosaic label (www.mosaicrecords.com) back in 1998 came out with the four-CD limited-edition box set The Atlantic New Orleans Jazz Sessions which collects together all of the music (plus five previously unreleased performances) originally released on six LPs.
With the exception of a set by the Young Tuxedo Brass Band from 1958 (led by Percy Humphrey) and one of the two Paul Barbarin dates (from 1955), all of the music was recorded during July 2-7, 1962. Featured are the albums Jazz Begins: The Young Tuxedo Brass Band, Paul Barbarin and his New Orleans Jazz, and the four volumes in the series Jazz At Preservation Hall which feature the Eureka Brass Band and groups led by Billie & De De Pierce, Jim Robinson, Paul Barbarin (a different band than on the earlier album), Punch Miller, and George Lewis.
While not all of the music is flawlessly played (particularly that of the Young Tuxedo Brass Band), the joyous spirit, often-rambunctious ensembles, and colorful individual voices make it all worthwhile. Among the notable sidemen are trumpeters Kid Sheik Cola and Kid Howard, trombonist Louis Nelson, clarinetists Willie Humphrey and Louis Cottrell, banjoist Danny Barker, and bassist Milt Hinton with the leaders frequently appearing on some of the other sessions. For example, George Lewis is also heard with the Pierces and Punch Miller.
Fans of 1960s New Orleans revival jazz will certainly want to search for this hard-to-find LP size box which includes an informative and photo-filled 16-page booklet.
The Atlantic New Orleans Jazz Sessions
Mosaic MD4-179
www.mosaicrecords.com
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.
