Hello everyone. I know I'm a "bit" late but there were problems I could not have foreseen. But never mind that, let's get to work.
Original Dixieland Jazz Band was a very old jazz, this was during the time swing became a thing. Back in the 10s and 20s of the last century they were one of the biggest bands around. And they were big rightfully so! All of the musicians in this band knew exactly what they are doing and they mastered their instruments exceptionally. When it comes to old Dixie jazz I often return to these guys. Their music was always up there with King Oliver, Hot Fives and others.
The songs I have from them aren't from just one source but from a lot of compilations (mainly from that one huge jazz compilation of 50 or so CDs). The songs themselves were sorted chronologically and I think that was a very good decision. This makes the production much more coherent and understandable. The sound itself is actually really great so there probably was some digital mastering (on a lot of newer songs you can't even hear the hiss of records).
Be sure to grab this if you're into pre-swing jazz.
Parts one and two.
Note: see comments for clarification and for a book about the band.
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oh these guys are more than just pre-dating swing, they pre-date everything; Louis Armstrong recalls listing to Nick LaRocca when he was a boy -- there were other bands before ODJB, but (a) they played ragtime and blues not jazz and (b) only ODJB had that unstoppable raging fire that gave the music its name.
ReplyDeleteI highly recommend The Story of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band if only because their story tends to get marginalized and forgotten in the jazz histories, and Brunn's book pulls no punches in citing first-hand accounts backed up by artifacts in Nick LaRocca's possession at the time.
And in that spirit of setting the record straight, thanks so much for posting these collections!
Thank you for the information and the book as well!
ReplyDeleteyou're very welcome, and thank you for a wonderful blog; seeing it pop up in my Reader always brightens my day :)
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