Jazz Focus

Mills Blue Rhythm Band - early 1930's

A great but almost forgotten hot band - the Mills Blue Rhythm Band held sway at the Cotton Club and other venues with Irving Mills' other bands (Ellington, Calloway) were otherwise engaged.  Pianist Edgar Hayes, trombonist Harry "Fatha" White and later reedman Joe Garland did most of the arrangements which also featured Ed Anderson on trumpet, George Washington on trombone, George Morton and Billy Banks on vocals and reedmen Charlie Holmes, Crawford Wethington and Castor McCord

Eddie South Transcriptions - 1930's

These recordings were made for a radio program in Los Angeles in the early 1930's by his "International Orchestra" including Milt Hinton, Antonia Spaulding, Clifford King, George Barnes and Jimmy Bertrand - quite a mix of jazz, tango, rhumba, German, Jewish and Latin music!

Ed Hall and Ralph Sutton - 1954

Great quartet that existed through most of 1954 - studio session with Ed Hall, Ralph Sutton, Walter Page and Cliff Leeman and broadcasts with Hall, Sutton, Page and Charlie Lodice (and Clyde Hurley added on a few!)  - terrific arrangements and fire-y playing all around.

Stompin' Around - the Casa Loma Orchestra 1935

Stompin' Around - 1935 radio transcriptions of the Casa Loma Orchestra featuring Gene Gifford arrangements and solos by Sonny Dunham, Grady Watts, Billy Rausch, Clarence Hutchenrider, Pat Davis, Joe Hall and Tony Briglia . .great on the cusp of swing playing!

Art Farmer in Europe 1954

Trumpeter Art Farmer was in France and Sweden with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra in the Fall of 1954 and recorded with several groups, including two under his own name . . these sides feature Clifford Brown, Jimmy Cleveland, Anthony Ortega and Clifford Solomon from the Hampton band as well as Swedish stars Ake Persson, Bengt Hallberg, Arne Domnerus and Lars Gullin playing Quincy Jones arrangements and blending the hard bop and cool styles

Johnny Dodds and Jimmy Noone - 1930's

ohnny Dodds and Jimmie Noone on Decca . . 1937 and 1938 sessions for the two innovative New Orleans clarinetists backed by a swing band including Charlie Shavers, Pete Brown, Teddy Bunn and others

Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong - 1950's albums

Ella and Louis - great duos by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong from three albums 1957-59 backed up by Russ Garcia's Orchestra and the Oscar Peterson Quartet with Herb Ellis, Ray Brown and Louis Bellson or Buddy Rich

Dick Johnson - great Boston alto player with Dave McKenna, Wibur Ware

Dick Johnson - great Boston alto player on two albums from the 1950's for Emarcy and Riverside including Dave McKenna, Wilbur Ware and Philly Jo Jones . .great swing and bebop

Duke Ellington - the Blanton - Webster band, live and transcriptions

The great 1940-41 Ellington band with Ben Webster and Jimmy Blanton (and Cootie Williams, Rex Stewart, Ray Nance, Juan Tizol, Lawrence Brown, Tricky Sam Nanton, Barney Bigard, Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney and Sonny Greer) doing live and radio transcription versions of the great tunes they recorded for RCA Victor.

Jelly Roll Morton the sideman

Jelly Roll Morton the sideman . . Recordings made by the legendary New Orleans pianist, composer and arranger with OTHER groups- although the Jelly Roll influence is everywhere.  Recordings with Johnny Dunn's Original Jazz Hounds, Wingy Manone and His Orchestra, The New Orleans Rhythm Kings, Edmonia Henderson and WIlton Crawley and His Orchestra (1923-1934)