The second of five CDs put out by the European Classics label that document trumpeter Red Allen's 1929-41 recordings has three titles from a session co-led with tenor-saxophonist Coleman Hawkins, eight songs from 1934 and a dozen from the following year. Allen takes vocals on most of the tracks and, even if not all of the songs are gems, there are many highlights including "Pardon My Southern Accent," "Rug Cutter Swing," "Believe It, Beloved," "Rosetta" and "Truckin'." The strong supporting cast includes trombonists Dickie Wells and J.C. Higginbotham, clarinetists Buster Bailey and Cecil Scott and, on one date, tenorman Chu Berry.

Jack Teagarden made the trombone sexy, and his pliant, lazy tone made the instrument swing like a trumpet. He was also a remarkable singer, with a warm, Texas drawl that gave everything he sang a marvelous intimacy. Such talents did not go unnoticed in the jazz world, and he worked with such notables as Benny Goodman, Coleman Hawkins, Red Nichols, Joe Venuti, Eddie Condon and Louis Armstrong, among others, throughout his long career. This three- disc box spans the years 1928 to 1947, and its 72 tracks show an amazingly consistent performer, giving the whole set a cohesiveness that makes it indispensable. Included are Teagarden's near-definitive versions of "Basin Street Blues," "Beale Street Blues," "Blue River," "Jack Armstrong Blues," "St. Louis Blues" and a couple runs at "St. James Infirmary"…

The first in a series of Classics CDs focusing on the recordings of Sidney Bechet, this disc features the clarinetist/soprano-saxophonist on two early titles with blues singer Rosetta Crawford, his torrid 1932 session with The New Orleans Feetwarmers (which also features trumpeter Tommy Ladnier and is highlighted by "Shag" and "Maple Leaf Rag") and sides from Noble Sissle's somewhat commercial orchestra. Fortunately Sissle was wise enough to give Bechet plenty of solo space on some of his selections, most notably "Polka Dot Rag." Even with a few indifferent vocals, this CD is recommended to those not already owning this music.

This LP is a cut above most of Muggsy Spanier's recordings of the 1950s due to a surprisingly fresh repertoire, which includes such songs as "Dixie Flyer," "Home," "Caution Blues," "Alabama Jubilee" and "Lazy Piano Man." The cornetist/leader is joined by either George Brunies, Henry Graves or Ralph Hutchinson on trombone, clarinetist Darnell Howard, pianist Floyd Bean, bassist Truck Parham and either Sid Catlett, Don Chester or Barrett Deems on drums; Buddy Charles takes the vocal on "Sunday." The concise performances (all but "Sunday" are under three minutes) successfully pack a great deal of heat into a brief space of time.

These are the two most popular LPs by this Dixieland octet, which saw huge success in 1963-1964, including a number two hit single with "Washington Square." The albums stand better together than they did on their own - Washington Square was heavily weighted toward folk-based repertory, as a kind of Dixieland/folk revival crossover that worked well in early 1964. The dozen songs from their follow-up album are more derived from pop and jazz sources (though there is a Dylan tune thrown in). The bonus tracks, bringing the song count up to 26, are "From Russia With Love" and "Fiddler on the Roof," both modest hits that originally appeared on subsequent LPs, thus making this CD a kind of best-of, or at least a one-stop location for the group's most familiar records. The sound is excellent, the annotation is fairly complete, and it's unlikely there will ever be much more out on CD in connection with this group.

The Classics label has treated the Sidney Bechet canon with trademark thoroughness, with superb chronological sets chronicling his entire career. For many fans, however, it's Bechet's immediate postwar output that ranks above all else, and 1947-1949 compiles what is arguably the greatest period in Bechet's recording career. Masterpieces abound, from the devastating "Royal Garden Blues" to the wonderful "Buddy Bolden Stomp." Classics has done a fine job at improving the sonic fidelity, and the liner notes are very informative. A truly wonderful disc that should appeal to longtime fans of Bechet and neophytes alike.

The first recording by trombonist Wilbur DeParis' "New New Orleans Jazz Band" (although it was actually released after their 1955 session) is full of fresh and lively Dixieland. DeParis and his all-stars (cornetist Sidney DeParis, clarinetist Omer Simeon, pianist Don Kirkpatrick, banjoist Eddie Gibbs, bassist Harold Jackson and drummer Freddie Moore) play a wide variety of material which includes the leader's colorful "Martinique," "Under the Double Eagle," Rachmaninoff's "Prelude in C Sharp Minor," a couple of Jelly Roll Morton tunes and "When the Saints Go Marching In"; the second part of the latter is taken at a blistering tempo. The DeParis band was one of the most consistently inventive Dixieland-oriented groups of the 1950s.

The title of this compilation is a bit misleading, as Louis Armstrong only appears on seven of the CD's 20 tracks. All of them were recorded during a visit by the trumpeter to France in 1934 and were made on the sly, since he was under an exclusive contract to another label. The all-stars were primarily European musicians assembled for the session, though pianist Herman Chittison, a fellow American, makes his mark in "Super Tiger Rag," along with the leader's crisp, high-note solo. They compare favorably with some of Armstrong's later work back home with larger orchestras, but for the most part, the music is of minimal interest aside from his contributions. The other selections are a mixed bag…

One of the classic giants of jazz, Jack Teagarden was not only the top pre-bop trombonist (playing his instrument with the ease of a trumpeter) but one of the best jazz singers too. He was such a fine musician that younger brother Charlie (an excellent trumpeter) was always overshadowed. Jack started on piano at age five (his mother Helen was a ragtime pianist), switched to baritone horn, and finally took up trombone when he was ten. Teagarden worked in the Southwest in a variety of territory bands (most notably with the legendary pianist Peck Kelley) and then caused a sensation when he came to New York in 1928. His daring solos with Ben Pollack caused Glenn Miller to de-emphasize his own playing with the band, and during the late-'20s/early Depression era, "Mr. T." recorded frequently with many groups including units headed by Roger Wolfe Kahn, Eddie Condon, Red Nichols, and Louis Armstrong…

Singing trombonist Jack Teagarden came up in the jazz and dance bands of his native Texas and the surrounding territories. By the end of the '20s he was making noise with the Eddie Condon mob in New York City, where the South-and-Midwesterners quickly learned that authentic, New Orleans-Chicago-styled jazz could be performed in public if you didn't need to eat more than one meal per day. The paying gigs were with society dance bands, and Teagarden made ends meet during the first half of 1930 by serving in the brass sections of orchestras under the direction of Ben Selvin and Sam Lanin, as well as the toothpowder and toothpaste-affiliated Ipana Troubadours. This type of economic problem solving would lead to his being contractually tethered to the Paul Whiteman Orchestra during the years 1933-1939. In 2006, the Jazz Oracle label released a thrilling 25-track collection of recordings that document Teagarden's professional activity during the first grueling months of the Great Depression.

Although a tribute to the music of the legendary cornetist Bix Beiderbecke, the ten selections on this 1955 LP are really jam sessions with no attempt to recreate Beiderbecke's recordings or solos. Condon's band on this occasion features Wild Bill Davison or Bobby Hackett on cornet, trombonist Cutty Cutshall, Dick Cary on alto horn, clarinetist Edmond Hall and a fine rhythm section. Highlights include "At the Jazz Band Ball," "I'll Be a Friend with Pleasure," "Fidgety Feet" and "Royal Garden Blues."

A distinctive trombonist with a sly wit and the ability to sound as if he were playing underwater, Vic Dickenson was an asset to any session on which he appeared. He stated out in the 1920s and '30s playing in the Midwest. Associations with Blanche Calloway (1933-1936), Claude Hopkins (1936-1939), Benny Carter (1939), Count Basie (1940), Carter again (1941), and Frankie Newton (1941-1943) preceded a high-profile gig with Eddie Heywood's popular sextet (1943-1946); Dickenson also played and recorded with Sidney Bechet. From then on he was a freelancing soloist who spent time on the West Coast, Boston, and New York, appearing on many recordings (including some notable dates for Vanguard) and on the legendary Sound of Jazz telecast (1957)…

This is another great album from Jazztone Society Records, featuring Tony Parenti's All-Stars… and what a line-up! Tony, of course, hailing from out of the New Orleans jazz scene, sparkles on clarinet; Henry "Red" Allen, another prominent New Orleans jazz musician, shows why he was considered one of the best on Trumpet; Tyree Glenn, a Texan, worked wih some of the greatest bands, including Cab Calloway, Ellington, and Benny Carter - he growls a fine, mean trombone.
Two members of our rhythm section are familiar to all: Milt Hinton, the busiest, the happiest and the most bass player in the business, and drummer George Wettling, who not only was in on the beginnings of Chicago style jazz, but was also a vital part of the great swing surge as a member of the Tommy Dorsey…