The Three Ts • Live At The Hickory House

In 1934, trombonist Jack Teagarden joined the Paul Whiteman Orchestra, a few months after his younger brother, trumpeter Charlie Teagarden. It seemed like a good deal at the time, a way of having a secure income during the Depression which is why Jack signed a five-year contract. Unfortunately, that decision stifled his career a bit. While featured with Whiteman now and then, much of the time Jack Teagarden mostly just played anonymously in the trombone section. He missed an opportunity to lead what would become the Bob Crosby Orchestra, and his stint with the Three T’s was briefer than it could have been.

The Three Ts were formed with Whiteman’s permission in late 1936 when the Paul Whiteman Orchestra was taking time off. The group featured the Teagardens plus its real leader, C-melody saxophonist Frank Trumbauer. In addition to their playing with Whiteman (Trumbauer had joined back in 1927), the three had previously been heard together as part of a larger group on two of Trumbauer’s record dates in 1934 and four in 1936, a Jack Teagarden session from 1934, and billed as “The Three T’s” for a two-part version of “Ise A Muggin’” on Mar. 10, 1936, although the latter was actually with a nine-piece group.

The Three T’s had a regular gig at the Hickory House in New York in December 1936. Their broadcasts from Dec. 4, 11 and 25 were discovered many decades later. A collector’s album (Broadway BR 106) contained most of this music while a CD from Jazz Oracle expanded upon it. Upbeat’s The Three T’s Live At The Hickory House is a reissue of the latter with new liner notes.

In addition to the three main stars, the Three T’s included pianist Herman Crone, bassist Min Leibrook (who had played bass sax in the 1920s), drummer Stan King, and Caspar Reardon (on the first broadcast) or Adele Girard on harp. The unit had a rather unusual theme song that consisted of a half-chorus of “ Singin’ The Blues” followed by Jack Teagarden singing eight bars of “Basin Street Blues.”

Trumbauer (in excellent form) and the Teagarden brothers take many fine solos, Jack Teagarden sings on around half of the numbers, and the harpists help give the group its own unique musical personality. Reardon gets a chorus on “You Take Advantage Of Me” (part of one of several medleys played by the band) and Girard (showcased on “Liza”) has many short spots in addition to singing “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.” Among the other highlights are a surprisingly uptempo “You Turned The Tables On Me,” the superior framework given “’S Wonderful” (the second version is quite memorable), a showcase for Trumbauer’s virtuosity on the art piece “Eclipse,” and Charlie Teagarden quoting parts of Bix Beiderbecke’s solo on “Way Down Yonder In New Orleans.”

The Three T’s only lasted until Paul Whiteman took his orchestra back on tour. The Teagardens returned to “The King Of Jazz” while Trumbauer kept the band going under his own name for a few more months with several different trumpeters (including briefly Bunny Berigan) and trombonist Ford Leary.

The Three T’s Live At The Hickory House, which adds to the musical legacy of its three principals, documents a talented band that should have lasted much longer.

The Three T’s • Live At The Hickory House
Upbeat URCD 351
www.upbeatrecordings.co.uk

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.