I'm Speaking of Kentucky Days - Rhythmic Eight, Gilbert, Joe
'Tain't No Sin - Rhythmic Eight, Donaldson, Walter
Harlem Madness - Rhythmic Eight, Ager, Milton
Forty-eight of The Rhythmic Eight's best recordings, on two CDs, feature Sylvester Ahola, Danny Polo, Barney Sorkin, Perley Breed, Frank Guarante, Johnny Hoffer, Max Coldberg, Arthur Hally, and more. Includes audio restora... more »tions of some of the rarest Zonophone recordings.« less
Forty-eight of The Rhythmic Eight's best recordings, on two CDs, feature Sylvester Ahola, Danny Polo, Barney Sorkin, Perley Breed, Frank Guarante, Johnny Hoffer, Max Coldberg, Arthur Hally, and more. Includes audio restorations of some of the rarest Zonophone recordings.
CD Reviews
THE MOST SOUGHT AFTER 20s BRITISH DANCE BAND RECORDINGS
Barry McCanna | Normandy, France | 11/10/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Bert Firman was a very successful bandleader, who recorded prolifically for Zonophone in the 20s under a variety of pseudonyms, using the cream of London's session musicians. Of all those recordings, the most sought after are those by the Rhythmic Eight, which in the opinion of many contain some of the best examples of hot dance band music ever committed to wax. The fact that the original recordings are now extremely rare testifies to the fact that they were far ahead of their time, and this 2-CD set should win them a new audience.
What made them so special is that the group appear to have been able to play as they pleased, free from the commercial constraints that so often forced other bands into recording mediocre material. That's not to say that popular songs of the day don't feature here, but they were transformed by the arrangements, many by reedsman Arthur Lally, which accentuated their syncopated rhythms and left space for individual contributions. Particular mention should be made of Sylvester Ahola, whose hot solos are thrown off apparently effortlessly, as if issuing unbidden from a hidden spring.
The only thing preventing me from giving this compilation an unqualified welcome is that sadly somewhere between remastering and production the gremlins have struck, creating a very brief glitch 39 seconds into the first track of the second CD. I've commented before on the need for Retrieval to improve quality control, and it really is time someone took that on board.
Keen collectors may already own one or more of the three volumes issued by Mellotone in 2001/2, and there's no denying that this set duplicates many of those tracks, but remastering techniques have moved on since then. Nick Dellow has succeeded in capturing and balancing the complete spectrum, doing justice to both Hooley's golden tone and Lally's full-bodied baritone sax, as well as providing an informed 10-page liner note, embellished with rare photos. All of which more than offsets my one reservation, and justifies a five star grading."
Track Listings (24) - Disc #1