Search - Joe Robichaux :: 1929-1933

Joe Robichaux's New Orleans Rhythm Boys--The Pulse of Life!

A. W. Senior | Utica, New York United States | 03/23/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've waited for this reissue for over 20 years. I found Joe Robichaux's "Stormy Weather" on 78 at a house sale, and the vitality and drive of the recording kept me wanting more. It was one of the best jazz bands I'd ever heard--New Orleans meets Swing for the first (and probably last) time.



There was an LP set, which was way out of print by the time I discovered it. Then, about five years ago, I found the Document CD--which I was thankful to have. But the people at Document tend to truncate the frequencies, and I knew there was much more music in the grooves than on that reissue. (The Document CD does contain two alternate takes not available on the Jazz Oracle, which keeps it from becoming obsolete).



You can imagine my delight when, by sheer chance, I managed to find an advance copy of the new Jazz Oracle reissue on eBay. Very shortly before, I'd complained on my RADIOLA! program about the inadequacy of the Document remasters and begged for a label such as Jazz Oracle to reissue the recordings as they should be heard. Well, in the new reissue, I've gotten everything I wanted. Ted Kendall, a protege of the great John R. T. Davies, has managed to transfer the full range of music to this disc. It's the next best thing to having the original shellac records and the proper stylus and equalization to play them--and a great deal less expensive.



You hear the pulse of life here, and experience the deep joy of being a human being on this planet with each selection. I would have loved to have heard this band live--but this CD will more than suffice. Yowzah!"