Search - Albert Ammons :: Boogie Woogie Trio 1 & 2

Eternal boogie

T. Bekken | Austmarka Norway | 12/09/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Now, this is it!! Here we have the three titans of boogie woogie piano in rare live recordings from the 30s, 40s and 50s. They appear as soloists,or in duos and trios on two and three pianos, respectively. A few great tracks feature Meade Lux Lewis with an unnamed bassist and drummer (possibly Red Callender and Louis Bellson), recorded live at the Club Hangover in 1954.

The music is hard-rocking big beat boogie woogie at its most exciting, and the sound quality is far better than one could hope for, given the time and circumstance of the recordings.

Volume 2 of the set is made up of radio broadcasts from the Chicago Sherman Hotel in 1939, and it shows that Ammons, Johnson and Lewis were quite different in their approach to the music. They also come across as very good stride players, and in a live setting, they seem to have used many different bass figures within each number, as opposed to on their studio efforts, where they often stick to the same left hand patterns throughout the entire song.

It is a great treat to hear this music as it used to be played in an authentic live situation. Turn up the volume, and listen to the boundless energy and the sheer life force contained in this eternal African American groove bonanza."