Joe Bushkin - The Chronological Classics '2007

Tracks list

Pianist Joe Bushkin lent his unmistakably light, spirited style to classic
swing-era dates headlined by Bunny Berigan and Tommy Dorsey, later moving into
pop, cabaret, and even Broadway. The son of a cellist father, he was born in New
York City on November 7, 1916 -- although reputedly a student of the great
Polish pianist Leopold Godowsky, he in fact began his musical studies at the age
of ten with lessons from a neighbor who was, in turn, a student of their
landlords son and the Godowsky pupil in question. The teenaged Bushkin also
studied the trumpet after a bicycle accident injured his hand and put his piano
career in jeopardy, but he quickly recovered and soon joined a jazz group formed
by classmates at DeWitt Clinton high school; his friendship with Benny Goodmans
brother Irving earned him an invitation to fill in for absent pianist Teddy
Wilson on a 1931 Goodman session, and although Wilson appeared just minutes
before recording commenced, Bushkin nevertheless made invaluable contacts that
landed him gigs with dance bands up and down the Eastern seaboard, making his
professional debut at New Yorks famed Roseland Ballroom. He signed on with
Berigan at the age of 19, soon after joining him and Artie Shaw on one of Billie
Holidays earliest recording dates, a session that yielded the landmark
Summertime and Billies Blues. From 1936 to 1938, Bushkin also backed Eddie
Condon, and was in fact the last surviving member of the guitarists famous gang.

After gracing cornetist Muggsy Spaniers 1939 classic Relaxing at the Touro with
his elegant, ethereal touch, Bushkin joined Dorseys orchestra, with whom he
would make in excess of 100 records, many of them featuring bandmates Frank
Sinatra and drummer Buddy Rich. He also wrote the lovely Oh, Look at Me Now,
which topped the Hit Parade in early 1941 on its way to becoming Sinatras first
blockbuster. Bushkin left Dorsey in 1942, spending the next four years playing
trumpet in the U.S. Army Air Corps band. Upon returning to New York he worked
with composer David Rose, and in 1946 he replaced Mel Powell in Goodmans new
band. Creative differences with Goodman drove him out of the lineup a few months
later, however, and in 1947 Bushkin signed on with tenorist Bud Freeman for a
tour of Brazil. Over the years he made several contacts in Broadway circles, and
in 1949 he was hired to score Garson Kanins The Rat Race, eventually joining the
cast full-time (playing a bandleader, a role hed yet to assume in real life).
The following year Bushkin also mounted the first of several extended
engagements at the midtown jazz club the Embers, where he played alongside Milt
Hinton, Buck Clayton, and Jo Jones. In 1950 he recorded his first solo LP, the
Atlantic release I Love a Piano, and the year following he reunited with
Sinatra, leading the singers band during a run at New Yorks Paramount Theater.
In 1953 he traveled to England on a planned three-week vacation that instead
lasted all of five months, returning to the U.S. only to join Louis Armstrong &
His All-Stars, with whom he also recorded.

With Midnight Rhapsody, the title song from his 1955 solo LP, Bushkin scored a
minor hit -- over the years he authored a handful of original songs, including
the novelties Therell Be a Hot Time in the Town of Berlin and Aint Been the Same
Since the Beatles, but would remain far better known as a performer than as a
composer. His bands were a staple of the Manhattan nightclub circuit throughout
the 50s and 60s, and he became something of a socialite, eventually amassing
enough money to enter semi-retirement. Bushkin and his family relocated to
London in 1969, and upon returning stateside two years later settled in Santa
Barbara; in 1975, Bing Crosby lured him back out on the road, and he served as
the featured soloist on the legendary crooners final world tour, a series of
dates that culminated in a late 1976 run on Broadway. Bushkin spent his final
decades picking and choosing his gigs with the utmost care, heading New York
piano bars including Michaels Pub, the St. Regis, and the Carlyle; he also
scored and performed in the revue Swinging on a Star, and mentored a new
generation of jazz musicians including cornetist Warren Vaché, Jr. He died of
pneumonia on November 3, 2004, just four days shy of his 88th birthday.


Tracks:



Joe Bushkin - 1940-1946 {The Chronological Classics, 1434} 

 01. Serenade In Thirds (2:47)
 02. I Cant Get Started (2:59)
 03. Blue Chips (2:56)
 04. Joes Blues (2:50)
 05. In A Little Spanish Town (2:48)
 06. Ill Never Be The Same (3:02)
 07. Caldonia Is Gone (2:56)
 08. Morgans Blues (3:01)
 09. Sweet Georgia Brown (3:12)
 10. Bozay (3:08)
 11. Merci Michelle (2:42)
 12. Getaway Joe (3:03)
 13. Black Satin Gal (3:14)
 14. In A Persian Black Market (3:12)
 15. Culver City Suite (2:37)
 16. Pickin At The Pic (2:46)
 17. Fade Out (3:16)
 18. Oh, Lady Be Good! (3:31)
 19. Georgia (On My Mind) (2:54)
 20. Mean To Me (2:50)
 21. Indian Summer (2:51)
 22. Boogie Woogie Platter (3:14)
 23. Indiana (2:35)



Joe Bushkin - 1947-1950 {The Chronological Classics, 1459} 

 01. Chicago (2:49)
 02. 12th Street Rag (3:02)
 03. Edgewater Beach (2:51)
 04. Doggin The Gutter (2:48)
 05. New Orleans Butterfly (3:15)
 06. Hoity-Hoity (2:44)
 07. The Song Is Ended (5:16)
 08. Sweet Georgia Brown (5:19)
 09. I May Be Wrong (3:03)
 10. You Do Something To Me (2:58)
 11. Soft Lights And Sweet Music (1:39)
 12. Soft Lights And Sweet Music (2:31)
 13. Indiana - Part 1 (2:47)
 14. Indiana - Part 2 (2:24)
 15. I Cant Get Started (2:50)
 16. It Never Entered My Mind (3:09)
 17. Oh! Look At Me Now (2:52)
 18. So In Love (2:28)
 19. I Love A Piano (2:30)
 20. If I Knew You Were There (3:05)
 21. One For The Road (3:03)
 22. But Not For Me (3:09)
 23. Dancing On The Ceiling (2:52)
 24. Stompin At The Savoy (2:38)

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