These bright Dixie-to-swing sessions were initially issued on the
Stomp Off
label, with two additional, previously unissued sessions tacked on.
Jones
and
Sudhalter
are staunch interpreters of these songs of the 1920s and '30s, evoking clear echoes of
Bix Beiderbecke
,
Bobby Hackett
Louis Armstrong
, and others. Performers include
on cornet and
on trumpet, with pianist
Keith Ingham
, bassist
Greg Cohen
, guitarists
Marty Grosz
James Chirillo
, drummer
Arnie Kinsella
, and frontline help from alto saxophonist and clarinetist
Joe Muranyi
and trombonist
Bobby Pring
. The most familiar numbers are
Beiderbecke
's sweet
"Davenport Blues,"
Cole Porter
's upbeat,
-led
"Rosalie,"
Pring
Muranyi
on the
Frankie Trumbauer
hit
"Singin' the Blues."
Another standout is the wonderful show tune
"Futuristic Rhythm,"
with its myriad rhythmic changes and Latin, click clack, hard swinging beats. Some smaller combinations arise as
Ingham
gently stride through
"I'd Climb the Highest Mountain"
and the stark and bluesy
"Persian Rug,"
and perform spirited jamming on
"Why Couldn't It Be Poor Little Me?"
alone states the theme on the easy paced
"Ol' Pigeon Toed Joad"
and gives the rougher-hewn ballad
"Jeannine"
a neat contrast. The two brassmen are at their best when dueling away on
"If I Had a Million Dollars,"
"Changes,"
and the title cut, where their sound meshes and brings the sunny side out. Though the subtitle of this session is "Live at the Vineyard" (the Vineyard Theater in New York City) there is no crowd noise, so it's not an in-concert performance. It is a date that early period jazz mavens will want to own. ~ Michael G. Nastos