Search - Isham Jones :: Swinging Down the Lane

Not a bad start, but seems only half-full...

Adam M. Dubin | Chicago, IL USA | 10/19/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a valuable CD which helps preserve some small part of the recorded legacy of Isham Jones, however much more could have fit on this one CD, and there unfortunately do not seem to be any plans to continue this project by Memphis Archives, as this was issued in 1995. Not to demean what this excellent small independent label has accomplished (with admirably non-interventionalist transfers), but this CD seems oddly incomplete, even as it spans the decade from the early '20s to the early '30s. But still, it's a shame that a more balanced picture of Jones' output was not achieved, with even a bit more representation of his jazzier numbers ("Cotton Pickers Ball" [my personal favorite, from 1923] and "Meadow Lark" come immediately to mind, with perhaps "I Just Wanna Be Known As Susie's Feller" thrown in, not to mention some of the more driving songs he recorded in the early-mid '30s that are presagers of swing). But I don't expect Decca/MCA (which may or may not have the original masters from the Brunswick recordings; I read somewhere that most of these were destroyed or lost long ago) or BMG/RCA (which issued, to my knowledge, only one wonderful LP, 36 years ago, dedicated to his early '30s recordings) to remember this icon of the dance band era. So I guess the only alternative if one wants to hear more Isham Jones is to collect the 78s. I suppose all this makes listening to "Swinging Down the Lane" a bittersweet experience...it's nice as far as it goes, but don't expect much more on CD. I would love to be wrong on that account, however!"

SECOND CHOICE REISSUE FOR THIS PERIOD OF THE BAND

Barry McCanna | Normandy, France | 10/30/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"For seekers of early hot dance bands, this CD is a good companion to the Timeless reissue, which covers 1922-1926, since the two contain only one duplication, namely Farewell Blues. But it is somewhat short measure in comparison, with five less tracks, and there is less in the way of documentation. Therefore I'd place it in second place to the other, and the four star grading reflects that."