Search - Various Artists :: Hot Dance Bands From Okeh 1923-1931

SUPERB COMPILATION OF RARE EARLY SIDES

Barry McCanna | Normandy, France | 01/22/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Any collector worth their salt knows that the OKeh label is a treasure trove for early jazz, often of quite obscure territory bands recorded on field trips by the studio's mobile recording unit. They also allow for the fact that a compilation clearly labelled as starting at 1923 is going to include acoustic recordings.



A detailed liner note by Mark Berresford sets out the background to these 48 sides in great detail. And what sides they are! To complement Amazon's tracklist I'm setting out below the bands involved.



Disc 1

1 & 2: Ace Brigode & his 10 (!)/14 (2) Virginians

3. Harold Leonard & his Red Jackets

4 to 9. Arkansas Travellers

10/11 Frankie Quartell & his Melody Boys

12 The Melody Sheiks

13 The Scranton Sirens Orch.

14/15 The Melody Sheiks

16 Emerson Gill & his Orch.

17/18 Foor-Robinson Carolina Club Orch.

19/20 Mickey Guy & his Rose Tree Café Orch.

21&23 Vincent Lopez & his Hotel Pennsylvania Orch.

22. Palledo Orch. of St. Louis

24 Jack Glassner & his Colonial Inn Orch.

Disc 2

1 ditto

2 & 3 Emerson Gill & his Castle of Paris Orch

4 Vincent Lopez & his Casa Lopez Orch

5 & 6 Mike Markel's Orch

7 Sam Lanin

8 Sol S. Wagner

9 The Goofus Five

10 Irwin Abrams

11 Arnold Frank & his Rogers Café Orch

12/14 Ted Wallace

15/16 Gus Arnheim & his Ambassador Hotel Orch

17 Milt Shaw & his Detroiters (NB. This is actually track 15)

18/19 The Jazz Pilots

20/21 Cornell & his Orch

22 Ben Selvin

23 Sam Lanin's Famous Players & Singers

24 Fred Rich



Any one one of the original 78s would be a major find, and to assemble them all would cost a small fortune, even supposing you could find them. Some of the tunes have become jazz standards, and it's fascinating to hear, for example, "What-Cha-Call-Em Blues" played by the Palledo Orchestra of St. Louis rather than by Fletcher Henderson, "Deep Henderson" by Mike Markel's Orchestra instead of King Oliver & his Dixie Syncopaters, and "Zulu Wail" by Ted Wallace in place of Clarence Williams.



As well as familiar tunes, there are others that deserve to be heard again, particularly in performances such as these. The tracks progress in chronological order, and the second disc comes into somewhat more familiar territory, featuring musicians like the Dorsey Brothers, Jack Teagarden, Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang (the latter featuring briefly on banjo on the final track) and Adrian Rollini. There's not a dud track throughout, but I would particularly single out the two sides by Cornell & his Orchestra for sheer unmitigated zest."

Great concept, but...

Thomas Bumbera | Maplewood, NJ USA | 06/01/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Collectors of 20s dancebands always rejoice when they can obtain an Okeh 78 in clean condition, particularly the electric recordings from 1927-1929. So it is somewhat disappointing that more than half the tracks in this two-disc set are either acoustically recorded, or from the first year of dreadful "TrueTone" electric recording.



I also take issue with the pitch of the transfers of the acoustic sides, some of which sound like they were transferred at a speed other than that at which they were recorded. Perhaps these are minor quibbles; while some tracks (especially on the acoustic disc) are weaker than others, it does provide a good overview of the label's danceband roster, and if you collect music from this era you'll probably want this regardless of what any reviewer says!"

Best collection yet!

G. M. Ende | 05/09/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've bought a lot of 1920's dance band CD's and this is the best one I've come across so far. In fact if I had to give up all my CD's and keep only one, this would be the one I would keep. I actually own an old 78rpm Okeh side of Vincent Lopez, but the record is in such bad shape it's hard to listen to. But in this collection the sound is superb and you get a wide range of different bands, including Vincent Lopez."