The “Complete” Rivermont CD Collection

This all started with the excellent interview of Frederick Hodges on the front page of the April 2022 issue of The Syncopated Times. Intrigued, I visited the Rivermont website to order music. I discovered a plethora of other artists, both new and old of interest and with the exception of only What a Heavenly Dream by Paul Asaro and the Fat Babies, no overlap with any other music in my existing collection. Although mostly a vinyl guy, a recently purchased new CD player made it practically deja vu to order the set. The Complete Rivermont CD Collection was ordered and promptly received. It has been a busy month listening to it all. What is it? What sets it apart? Well obviously it is a collection of traditional American music: Principally jazz, ragtime, early 1920s-’30s dance band, show tunes and the like. Generally it covers lesser known artists. There are two primary groups: The 1100 series, which are transfers and restorations of original recordings; and 2100 series, which are late 20th to 2021 recordings of current artists playing traditional music. This latter includes both original compositions and brand new ones. More on that in a moment. There are many things that set Rivermont apart compared to any other label in my experience. As an aside, I have been a jazz enthusiast, musician, and collector for decades and am privileged to possess an extensive collection of both LPs and