Nothing defined the essence of swing-era jazz better than
the spontaneity of live performances for appreciative audiences, whether in
person or on the radio. And that is perfectly demonstrated with the National
Jazz Museum in Harlem's The Savory Collection Volume 3 - Honeysuckle Rose: Fats
Waller and Friends, the latest entry in its outstanding series of historic
swing-era jazz.
This extraordinary and unique historical archive features
swing era jazz artists at their peaks. Performing inspired and extended performances
of previously unissued material, this music has been preserved in superior
sound quality by sound engineer/technical genius Bill Savory. The full
multi-volume collection is now available for streaming exclusively on Apple
Music.
The result of a 30-year effort to secure these recordings
for the Museum by Founding Director and Senior Scholar Loren Schoenberg, this
new collection is another remarkable addition in a series that clearly sustains
its excitement and importance with each ensuing release.
"Many times when there is a multivolume series, the
content tends to weaken as the series goes on. That's far from the case here;
we have so many superlative recordings, that we took extra special care to
space them out as the series continues so that there are true highlights in
every volume," says Schoenberg. "This one was especially fun to work
on; you should've seen us dancing around the museum!"
Through the efforts of Schoenberg and the Museum, the
timeless Jazz Canon continues to expand, adding new jewels to a treasury of
riches in this utterly unique and transcendent art form. As the esteemed
documentarian Ken Burns says in his liner introduction, "The Savory
Collection adds a new and significant piece to the jigsaw puzzle of jazz's
evolution. Several dozen hours' worth of the music's greatest artists playing
the true Golden Age of the music...."
Following in the fashion of the previous volumes, a stellar
representation of the era's foremost artists is featured, including single cuts
by Albert Ammons, Roy Eldridge, Chick Webb and Joe Sullivan; and a pair by
Benny Carter. But the collection is dominated by a five-tune jam session co-led
by three legendary figures -- pianist Fats Waller, trombonist Jack Teagarden
and guitarist Eddie Condon; and ten tracks by the highly innovative
bassist John Kirby's Sextet.
The 1938 jam session, broadcast on New York City's WNEW
radio and a forgotten event until now, also includes jazz masters Pee Wee
Russell on clarinet, tenorman Bud Freeman, the bass/drums tandem of Artie
Shapiro and Zutty Singleton, along with Jack's brother Charlie Teagarden on
trumpet; and of course Fats and Jack add their singular vocal stylings to the
mix. The repertoire includes Fats' iconic "Honeysuckle Rose,"
striking interpretations of the standards "China Boy," "I'm
Coming Virginia," "I Got Rhythm" and an intimately compelling
blues excursion simply titled "Blues" -- all marked by both the
expected extraordinary musicianship in this unexpected collaboration with Fats.
The collection's titular "Honeysuckle Rose" is
also one of the Kirby selections, featuring a delightful vocal by scat-singer
Leo Watson, broadcast in 1938 -- the first radio broadcast by the all-star
group that included Charlie Shavers on trumpet, Russell Procope on alto sax, clarinetist
Buster Bailey, with Billy Kyle and O'Neil Spencer joining Kirby in the rhythm
section on piano and drums, respectively. The remaining nine tracks are from
1940, tied together with a spoken narrative.
Although the Western Classical touches for which Kirby was
known are not part of this set, the wit, virtuosity and aplomb of his highly
original ensemble certainly are on full display. With six band originals by
Shavers, Kyle and Kirby -- "From A Flat to C," "Blues
Petite," "Front and Center," "Effervescent Blues,"
"Milumbu" and the experimental "Rehearsin' for a Nervous
Breakdown" -- alongside items like "Minnie the Moocher's Wedding
Day," "Boogie Woogie" and Duke Ellington's "Echoes of
Harlem," clear evidence is provided as to this group's special place in
jazz history.
The third version of "Honeysuckle Rose" comes from
the orchestra of another giant, Benny Carter. Recorded live at the Savoy
Ballroom in 1939 along with Edward Eliscu's and Billy Rose's "More Than
You Know, "the 16-piece orchestra includes such heavyweights as
trombonists Vic Dickenson and Tyree Glenn (also on vibes), trumpeter Joe Thomas
and Eddie Heywood on piano. With arrangements by Carter, he also vividly
demonstrates his impeccable solo skills on both alto sax and trumpet.
The single artist tracks are also gems. Albert Ammons
testifies to his royal stature as the king of boogie-woogie piano with his
rollicking "Boogie Woogie Stomp," recorded in 1939 at New York's Café
Society. Drum master Chick Webb tears off some spectacular drum solos unlike
anything heard on his commercial recordings on his 1938 take on the Gershwins'
"Liza" with a studio orchestra, made even hotter with the trumpet
fire of Roy Eldridge. From that same session (but without Chick), Roy adds his
own version of "Body and Soul" to the list of profound
interpretations of that beautiful song.
This spectacular collection closes out with a brief, but
sparkling take on "China Boy" by pianist Joe Sullivan's sextet,
recorded the same night as the Albert Ammons track that provides the opening
bookend to this album. As the liner notes so aptly state, "Once again,
Bill Savory's exquisite taste in music has afforded us the rare chance to revel
in some of the greatest jazz sounds that without his intervention would have
been lost to the ages -- thank you, Bill!"
