The Penguin Jazz Guide by Brian Morton, Richard Cook Read Free Book Online

recording.
    Leadership of the group switched to Mutt Carey in 1925, which is why the strict-constructionists at the Classics label do not include subsequent tracks in their documentation of Ory’s work. The later things are equally valid representations, though. Ory perhaps does less special pleading later on, letting that vivid tailgating style speak for itself. Nevertheless, he was always conscious of his place in the history of the music, and he acted up to it shamelessly. Ory’s ’40s albums had Creole cooking tips printed on the sleeves. On his comeback, after nearly a decade out of music fattening up chickens, the trombonist’s rhythmic tailgating was still as salty as blackened kingfish and as spicy as good gumbo.
    THE GEORGIANS
    Formed 1922
    Group
    The Georgians 1922–23 / 1923–24
    Retrieval RTR 79003 / 79036
    Frank Guarente (t); Ray Stilwell, Russ Morgan, Archie Jones (tb); Johnny O’Donnell, Frank Smith, Dick Johnson, Harold ‘Red’ Sailiers (reeds); Arthur Schutt (p); Russell Deppe (bj); Joe Tarto (tba); Chauncey Morehouse (d): plus Elwood Boyer (t); Charlie Butterfield (tb); Henry Wade, Al Monquin (reeds); Roy Smeck (bj); Billy Jones, Eddie Cantor, Dolly Kay, Blossom Seeley (v). November 1922–November 1923, June 1922–May 1924.
    Broadcaster Steve Race said (1991): ‘I think it’s almost more interesting to think of all those hot bands that either didn’t record, or the recordings haven’t survived. Some of them are rough and ready, but almost every time, you find some little gem or nugget buried away among the dross.’
    It became familiar later for small ‘hot’ groups to be hived out of large dance orchestras. The Georgians were originally a contingent from Paul Specht’s more straitlaced dance orchestra, working at New York’s Hotel Alamac. Led by the excellent Guarente, a King Oliver student, it stood at a point somewhere between the simple ensemble style of the Original Memphis Five and the looser, more inventive methods of the early black Chicago bands. Guarente, an Italian-American, even took some lessons from Joe Oliver in New Orleans. He was the only improviser of any special merit in the band, but Arthur Schutt, hitherto largely ignored by jazz history, contributed an increasingly sophisticated book of arrangements. The later tracks on the first CD, especially the likes of ‘Land Of Cotton Blues’ and ‘Old Fashioned Love’, show real finesse coupled with a proper sense of swing. Most of the tunes have somethingto commend them, and even novelty pieces like ‘Barney Google’ are sustained by Guarente’s work, although here and there (as in the plodding treatment of ‘Farewell Blues’) the group fails to make much out of the music.
    The second disc takes the story up to Guarente’s departure in May 1924. The best of The Georgians’ music is here, in such sides as ‘Big Boy’ (with a great vocal by Dolly Kay) and the pair of titles which turned out to be Guarente’s swansong, ‘Savannah’ and ‘Doodle Doo Doo’. Eddie Cantor turns up to sing at one session and the disc is padded with four titles by the full Specht orchestra.
    PERRY BRADFORD
    Born John Henry Perry Bradford, also known as ‘Mule’, 14 February 1893 (some sources cite 1895), Montgomery, Alabama; died 20 April 1970, New York City
    Piano, voice
    And The Blues Singers In Chronological Order
    Document 5353
    Bradford; Gus Aiken, Louis Armstrong, Johnny Dunn, Bubber Miley (c); Bud Aiken, William Dover, Herb Fleming, Charlie Green, Calvin ‘Fuzz’ Jones (tb); Harry Hull (btb, b, bhn); Buster Bailey (cl); Hersal Brassfield (cl, as, ts); Garvin Bushell (as, cl); Don Redman (as); James P. Johnson, Charles Edward Smith, Leroy Tibbs (p); Gus Horsley, Stanley Wilson (bj); Walter Wright (b, bhn); Ed Jackson, Kaiser Marshall (d); Julia Jones, Louise Vant (v, acc); Ethel Ridley, Mamie Smith (v). May 1923–February 1927.
    Singer George Melly said (1993): ‘The sound of Mamie Smith singing Bradford’s “Crazy