Volume eight in the
Mezz Mezzrow
department of the
Classics
Chronological Series contains selected recordings cut for the
Vogue
label between March 1, 1953 and November 21, 1954 in Paris, France.
Mezz
sounds entirely at home as leader and participant in 17 relaxed rituals of old-fashioned
jazz
, including ten minutes of the
"Basin Street Blues"
and a nine-minute romp through the changes of
"I Can't Give You Anything But Love."
Like volume seven, this is an exciting and entertaining if technically incomplete representation of the artist's professional activity during the designated time period. The first two tracks are excerpts from matinee and evening concerts given at the
Theatre des Champs-Elysees
on March 1, 1953. Although other excerpts appeared at the end of volume seven, the omission of numerous titles from these gigs leaves a gap in the
Mezzrow
discographical timeline that is uncharacteristic of the
reissue label. Tracks three-nine were recorded in Paris on April 2, 1953, ten-fourteen from a little known session featuring
Fats Waller
's chief saxophonist
Eugene "Honeybear" Sedric
(without a doubt some of the best
Sedric
ever preserved on record!) and the final three jams were taped at the
Salle Pleyel
concert hall on November 21, 1954 with pianist
Claude Bolling
, drummer man
Freddie Moore
, trombonist
Jimmy Archey
, and one of the first trumpeters ever to make records with
Jelly Roll Morton
, the great
Lee Collins
. Other key participants in this excellent collection of traditional New Orleans/Chicago styled
and
swing
are trumpeter
Buck Clayton
Big Chief Russell Moore
, pianist
Red Richards
, bassist
Pierre Michelot
, tap dancer
Taps Miller
, and primal
blues
drummer
Kansas Fields
. Once again,
's amazing homegrown ability to surround himself with legendary jazzmen yields honest and intimate good-time music that comes across friendly and for real. ~ arwulf arwulf