Search - Lu Watters & Yerba Buena Jazz Band :: 1937-1943, Vol. 1

Not essential

"Gimpy" Peach Johnson | 02/21/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The folks at the San Francisco Traditional Jazz Foundation should be commended on this CD, which provides a fascinating glimpse into the development of the most famous of the early traditional jazz revival bands: Lu Watters' Yerba Buena Jazz Band. The material here is drawn mostly from private recordings and live performances. The sound quality varies from poor to very good, with most tracks being quite listenable. Here I should add that the poor sound on some tracks cannot be blamed on the sound engineer, but rather on the poor condition of the one-of-a-kind lacquer originals, many of which may have been produced by a crude home disc cutter in the first place. The transfers have been well done and the sound here is good as can be expected. What is fascinating to me is that the Lu Watters aggregation started off essentially as a typical big band in the late 1930s. You'll hear standard big band arrangements of "Stardust," "Strange Blues," You Taught Me To Love Again" and others. However, you'll also hear the band's signature trad jazz sound developing, and by the time "Panama" or "Maple Leaf Rag" roll around, you can recognize the band as Watters. As a document of the "birth of a band," this disc is a priceless treasure. However, for sheer muisical and entertainment value, it doesn't rate too highly. Most of the performances sound rather uninspired compared to the later Jazz Man, West Coast, or Good Time Jazz recordings. Those are Watters and his band at their best. Don't get me wrong, there's some good stuff here, the poorer sound and a number of real duds make this a disc only for the Watters completist.If you're looking for just one good Watters disc, I'd recommend looking elsewhere. On the other hand, if you're a long-time Watters fan looking to expand your Watters collection and don't already have this CD, by all means, pick it up!"