Jazz of the past; Mezz Mezzrow, part I

The jazz of the past. Welcome to I happen out of the jazz classics from the private collection of lenny castle. These old 78 rpm recordings are now a collector's item and here to comment on the music and playing some of the records for you is let me guess. Now you all have heard the theme song and of course the name of the theme song is coming on with a come on part one. Well tonight and next week we're going to have a two part show and they're going to be built around a man that had the band it recorded. Both of these. Parts in other words. Tonight it's part 1 and next week it's part two and like a lot of other jazz man this man puts a mark of distinction on any group that he gets together. And of course you can think back jelly roll

MARTIN Louis Armstrong's Hot Five and certainly the Duke Ellington band I mean it doesn't matter how large the band is. There's something about the personality of the individual that sort of marks the way that he gets things together of course even read McKenzie the way that he was able to get record dates together. There was something there was some brilliant stroke of luck or something that made his sessions go. And certainly with him as measure all the things he put on wax were greater than his musicianship if you want to for a fact. And Mez is rather limited in his ability to play the clarinet but he has intensity to get groups together and certainly to to be a swing musician. I've always been as far as I'm concerned and most especially by his record date. So we're going to hear. First of all the theme and what we're going to do tonight is to play the second part after the first part of coming over the come up part one. And we're going to do it just the way that they recorded in the studio.

And of course it will lead right on Ian to the second part where they double time the temple and all the records that were made tonight were made in the 30s by Miss Winwood which was a time when he found himself with more record dates and certainly some good ones and I hope that you like all the ones who are going to play because as I said before this stroke of getting these musicians together is surely borne out by this intensity and and this beautiful record which James P. Johnson opens up on piano and of course that he slings on drums Mez and two trumpet men are the melody instruments and the great Teddy Bunn is the guitarist. And we're going to hear coming on with the come on Part One and Part Two. I am

I am. I am. I am now I am

I am. Now as far as I know that record was really one of the first attempts to really capture this sort of jam sation speared in in their absence. It lasted you know over to see two sides and that would have been well you know about eight minutes or seven or eight minutes so this was done by the one that organized this day with us certainly with man's measure.

And it was Hugh Tennesse who is a French jazz critic who was over here at the time. And of course one of the significant things in both sides of that record is the two trumpet the work of the two trumpets together in their report between them and of course there are Tommy last year and Sydney to Paris and of course Sydney a person still very active today and Tommy lay near died shortly after these records were made. Not too long. So we're going to play another side from the same date with the same musicians that I've mentioned on this last record. And of course this is again with the great James P. Johnson of the piano and this is revolutionary blues. Thank you.

Now we're going to play several records that were made with a rhythm section and under the name of the measure last near Quintet and of course Ms measure on Tommy Ladd near are the instrumentalist in this and this is a little bit different. Mandy Johnson is on drums and pops pastor the great bass man is on bass and then Teddy mine is a guitarist and there's no pianist on on these but these are really driving records and I think this verse will assert that fact and it I'm going to give nobody none of my jelly will. I. Now we're going to play another side. It was made in the same day which incidentally was still

organized by Hugh Pena say in the late thirties or in the mid three fourths the way through the 30s and of course this isn't just a jam tune and they just call it getting together. Now this next record is still the same record date but it's a little different because

it's a very slow blues in Teddyboy and sings on this one. And of course this is a traditional blues but I think he does a magnificent job on this. And of course it's if you see me coming or going or you know when lo. You're. Home.

Right.

Now we're going to play one more record from this same date. And of course as I said next week we're going to continue to play records that mismeasure had a lot to do with because he was a leader in most cases.

And we're going to close out with this Mr. Ladd New York quintet. And this is Everybody Loves My Baby. Again as I said we're going to review a great number of records

by. That is a great number. By that I mean we're going to play different dates that he had sort of isolated dates. For instance he made some records with the swing man by the Bluebird label. Very nice state we're going to play those next week. And we're going to play some things that he made for the victory label that had of all trumpet men silent for the gentlemen that finally did a lot of the rangelands that I'm sure sold a lot a million seller records for Tommy Dorsey. So out of hours on the trumpet in I was in the trumpet section but he's on trumpet. And then of course we're going to hear again from some sides that you've been AC got together for mass and. Those are excellent sides with both Tommy Ladd near and Sydney the Shea blowing magnificently together on Nos. And then we're even going to have a side where there's a very bad vocal by the great Benny Carter who is really a magnificent

musician on a tune that both Carter and Miss wrote called love you not the one for me so if you want to hear some more of Misrata and you don't feel sort of chased away by the fact that there's a limited musician he has enough spirit to go around for everyone why. Tune in next week and we'll see what we can cook up by these wonderful record dates that he produced in the 30s. So for tonight. Well we'll just say adieu. Next week at the same time money gets old again some like several recordings from his private collection of old 78 rpm jazz classics and he'll play them for you on jazz band. And.

This is the University of Alaska Broadcasting Service. This program was distributed by the national educational radio network.