Joe Bushkin (1916-2004) was a fine
swing pianist who operated in a groove similar to that of
Teddy Wilson,
Jess Stacy or
Joe Sullivan. He worked with
Bunny Berigan,
Billie Holiday,
Artie Shaw and
Eddie Condon, then with
Tommy Dorsey and young
Frank Sinatra until 1942 whereupon he transferred most of his energies to the war effort by blowing trumpet in the United States Army Air Corps Band until 1946.
Bushkin's postwar career would involve him briefly with
Benny Goodman's band, in an excursion to Brazil with tenor saxophonist
Bud Freeman and subsequently in New York's theater and nightclub scene. In 2007, the Classics
Chronological Series took on the
Joe Bushkin discography, beginning with his first solo Commodore session of May 17, 1940 (tracks one through five); lining up master takes from three subsequent Commodore dates and rounding off the album with four solid Savoy sides cut in Los Angeles at some undetermined point during the year 1946. Some of these recordings are uncommon and have been sought after for years by
jazz lovers.
Bushkin's harmonic sensibilities make his "Serenade in Thirds" the most attractive of the 1940 solos. An inspired threesome,
Joe Bushkin's Blue Boys waxed five titles on March 28, 1941. "Morgan's Blues" spotlights string bassist
Al Morgan and trumpeter
Hot Lips Page is featured on the other four tunes. On May 23, 1944
Joe Bushkin waxed another five sides for Commodore, this time with bassist
Sid Weiss and drummer
Cozy Cole. The following day
Bushkin,
Weiss and drummer
Specs Powell backed trumpeter
Ernie Thomas Figueroa, trombonist
Bill Harris and 18-year-old tenor saxophonist
Zoot Sims; what a thrill to hear a teenage
Zoot riding the swift and straightforward changes of "Pickin' at the Pic." The Savoy session of 1946 (tracks twenty through twenty-three) resulted in four choice cuts, rendered pleasantly cool by the lightly amplified guitar of
Barney Kessel with subtle support from bassist
Harry Babasin.
Bushkin's technique at this point brings to mind the dexterity of
Nat King Cole, a master pianist who would soon all but abandon the instrument in order to focus his energies on singing
pop tunes for mass consumption. The next leg of
Joe Bushkin's career would find him recording for V-Disc, MGM, Atlantic, Columbia and Capitol. Hearing this artist's recordings laid out neatly session by session is a wonderful treat for which many listeners are and will continue to be grateful. ~ arwulf arwulf, All Music Guide
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