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Thanks Alyn. Once again the choice seems much more interesting than in times of yore - as I'm sure the traddies will disagree!
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Originally posted by Serial_Apologist View PostThanks Alyn. Once again the choice seems much more interesting than in times of yore - as I'm sure the traddies will disagree!
Wondered how you would have considered the Bob Crosby track then? I must admit that I think this band produced some brilliant music and "Spain" has a fantastic piano solo by the brilliant Jess Stacey. There is also some very agreeable clarinet by Irving Fazola on this track. He was one of the most polished on the New Orleans clarinettists I don't think the notion of "traddies" really exists these days as most people can easily take on board the whole history of jazz as the divisions in the music have narrowed. The other great track that I am familiar with is the Shorty Roger's one - "Cool & crazy" being a seminal album from the early 1950's. I know Calum is a fan too.
The point I really wanted to make was that I was intrigued to see trombonist Claude Jones' name in the line up of the Cab Calloway band. I didn't realise he played for Calloway#s band. Jones is almost totally forgotten these days and I first became aware of him through his work with McKinney's Cotton Pickers which was one of the pioneering big bands of the late 1920's. He later played with Fletcher Henderson, Chick Webb and Don Redman and I knew he had a brief stint with Ellington too. In addition, he also cropped up playing on some of Jelly Roll Morton's last recordings. Claude Jones deserves to be held in affection by jazz fans as he was one of the first musicians to play linear solos as opposed to the tale gate style on his instrument. Along with the likes of Jack Teagarden and Miff Mole, he was a pioneer on his instrument. It's a shame that so few people are aware of him these days even though he was in demand amongst the most significant bandleaders of the day.
The bizarre thing about him is that he also was a familiar figure in the Southampton jazz scene in the 50's and 60's as he later worked as a steward on the SS united States which frequently docked in to the port. When the ship was in town, Jones used to jam with local musicians in a pub in a village outside the Southampton called Botley where the local hotel, The Dolphin, was then one of the most renown venues to hear jazz. My piano teacher told me a tale about Earl Hines playing there in the 1960's and people having to sit on the floor because so many people turned up to listen. One of the most celebrated local revivalist bands of tat time around here was the Gateway Jazz Band and their trombonist was bequeathed Claude Jones trombone. I don't know his name but he was once interviewed on the local radio station's jazz programme where he talked about this time and his friendship with Jones. It was amazing to think that the trombonist from one of my favourite vintage bands ended up playing in a pub about ten miles down the road and in a village more famous for being described by the writer and radical politician William Cobbett as the most beautiful village in Britain. I think the Gateway band were still going well in to the 1980's which would have been when I heard them play.
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