Rating:
Genre:
Jazz
Release Date: 05/20/2003
Less jumbled than
Living Era's
Hot Trumpets compilation,
Trombones on Parade (1927-1947) comes a bit closer to achieving a logical stylistic progression from early hot
jazz through the heyday of
swing to the full-grown majesty of
bebop. Incongruities do arise, however, as when
Juan Tizol's marvelously modern
"Keb-Lah" (recorded in 1946 for the
Keynote label) is wedged between a pair of staunch old-fashioned numbers by
Miff Mole and
Georg Brunis. This briefly disrupts the apparent concept of the compilation as a retrospective that traces the stylistic evolution of
jazz trombone during the first half of the 20th century. Although the 1920s are somewhat under-represented here, the selection of trombonists presented on this one disc is amazing.
Kid Ory, the gutsiest member of
Louis Armstrong's Hot Five, represents the oldest of the old guard. Valve trombonist
Brad Gowans is heard in a rare performance with
Rosy McHargue & the Memphis Five, and
Jack Teagarden resounds in the company of
Charles LaVere & His Chicago Loopers.
Glenn Miller and
Tommy Dorsey sound better than ever when serving as soloists rather than mere chaperones for puerile vocalists. Three outstanding trombonists associated with
Duke Ellington --
Joe "Tricky Sam" Nanton,
Lawrence Brown, and
Tyree Glenn -- leave only
Quentin "Butter" Jackson out of the picture.
Vic Dickenson and
Sandy Williams show up as members of
Sidney Bechet's New Orleans Feetwarmers;
J.C. Higginbotham sits in with Kansas City piano man
Sammy Price;
Dicky Wells jumps with
the Kansas City Six;
Trummy Young is heard with
the Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra; and
Benny Morton leads his
Blue Note All-Stars, a fabulous team including
Barney Bigard and
Ben Webster. Commendably, the producers of this compilation included examples from two artists who are perhaps less famous than the rest of the pack: the tragically short-lived
Jack Jenney and Scottish trombonist
George Chisholm. Closing the album with the showy
"Sliphorn Outing," Benny Morton's Trombone Choir was a decision obviously based upon the fact that four trombones are sounding at once rather than any notions of real modernity, a collective state of mind already fully realized and demonstrated here by
Bill Harris,
Kai Winding, and
J.J. Johnson. Anyone even remotely interested in the history of
jazz trombone needs to consider absorbing this excellent core sample of vintage stomps and
swing.
~arwulf arwulf, All Music Guide
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