Harry James - The Chronological Classics '1997-2001

Tracks list

Accomplished trumpeter and bandleader of the 1930s and 40s, renowned for his
exciting, attacking solos.

Harry James was one of the most outstanding instrumentalists of the swing era,
employing a bravura playing style that made his trumpet work instantly
identifiable. He was also one of the most popular bandleaders of the first half
of the 1940s, and he continued to lead his band until just before his death, 40
years later. James was the child of circus performers. His father, Everette
Robert James, was the bandleader and trumpet player in the orchestra for the
Mighty Haag Circus, and his mother, Maybelle Stewart Clark James, was an
aerialist. Growing up in the circus, James became a performer himself as early
as the age of four, when he began working as a contortionist. He soon turned to
music, however, first playing the snare drum in the band from about the age of
six and taking trumpet lessons from his father.


Tracks:


Harry James - 1937-1939 {CC, 903}

Trumpeter Harry James was very consistent in his musical tastes throughout his
career. This CD, which has the first 22 selections that James recorded as a
leader, starts off with eight numbers in which the trumpeter (still a Benny
Goodman sideman at the time) uses many of Count Basies top sidemen (including
trombonist-arranger Eddie Durham, tenor saxophonist Herschel Evans and singer
Helen Humes) for swinging performances highlighted by Life Goes to a Party and
One OClock Jump; James bands (particularly from the 1950s on) would often sound
like a duplicate of Basies. In addition, this CD has four tunes from 1938 in
which James mostly uses Goodman players (plus baritonist Harry Carney), and he
is also heard on the first six numbers by his big band (including Two OClock
Jump and his earliest recording of his theme Ciribiribin). However, the hottest
performances are four numbers in which James is backed by a boogie-woogie trio
featuring either Pete Johnson or Albert Ammons on piano. This enjoyable CD is
full of many examples of James hot swing trumpet and is easily recommended to
swing fans.

01. Jubilee (2:51)
02. When Were Alone (2:40)
03. (I Can Dream) Cant I? (3:02)
04. Life Goes to a Party (2:57)
05. Texas Chatter (2:56)
06. Song of the Wanderer (3:06)
07. Its the Dreamer in Me (2:58)
08. One OClock Jump (3:00)
09. Out of Nowhere (2:54)
10. Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams (3:02)
11. Lullaby in Rhythm (2:44)
12. Little White Lies (2:21)
13. Boo Woo (3:02)
14. Woo Woo (3:16)
15. Home James (2:38)
16. Jesse (2:46)
17. Ciribiribin (2:33)
18. Sweet Georgia Brown (2:37)
19. Blame It on My Last Affair (3:02)
20. Loves a Necessary Thing (2:54)
21. Taint What You Do (2:49)
22. Two OClock Jump (3:16) 


Harry James - 1939-1940 {CC, 970}

This third installment in the Classics Harry James chronology opens with nine
solid sides recorded in Los Angeles during November of 1939. Seven of these are
fine examples of big-band swing created expressly for dancing purposes. The
lively and dramatic Concerto for Trumpet is a masterpiece in miniature. Flash
and Avalon were based on arrangements written by the great Andy Gibson. One
player deserving of wider recognition is pianist Jack Gardner, an able
technician who rocks like a fiend during Back Beat Boogie. Although the public
certainly enjoyed these records, the men who ran Columbia, having expected
quicker sales and larger profits, chose to eliminate Harry James from their
roster shortly after the session of November 30th. As an ex-Benny Goodman
trumpet star who hadnt yet hit the big time as a bandleader, James was up
against several highly competitive, shrewd, and successful operators, most
notably Tommy Cutthroat Dorsey, who lured Sinatra away even as Columbia lowered
the boom. It would take a little over a year for the A&R executives to realize
their mistake and rehire Harry James. In the meantime, he signed on with
ex-Victor producer Eli Obersteins Varsity label, a modest enterprise for which
he would spend about six months recording a reasonable assortment of jazz,
dance, and pop tunes. The first Varsity date took place on February 12, 1940.
James had retained most of the players in his well-oiled big band; one worthy
development was the appearance of tenor saxophonist Vido Musso, a lusty-toned
soloist who shone during this bands utterly marvelous rendition of Alice Blue
Gown and tasty cover of Erskine Hawkins famous hit Tuxedo Junction. Note also
the presence of James himself behind the drum kit on Headin for Hallelujah.
Having auditioned as a composer and arranger, Dick Haymes instead found himself
filling the vocal gap left by the departure of Frank Sinatra. His mellifluous
handling of How High the Moon was the perfect counterweight to trumpeter Jack
Palmers smoothly hip, almost Trummy Young-like vocal on the Harry James
rendition of Cab Calloways Boog It. The leader plays a lot of trumpet on The
Sheik of Araby, sounding at first like Bunny Berigan, then working himself up to
a crescendo worthy of Roy Eldridge.

01. Flash (3:03)
02. Cross Country Jump (2:45)
03. Ciribiribin (2:26)
04. Every Day of My Life (2:57)
05. Avalon (3:08)
06. Concerto for Trumpet (2:53)
07. Night Special (2:36)
08. Im in the Market for You (2:37)
09. Back Beat Boogie (2:49)
10. Headin for Hallelujah (3:16)
11. Tuxedo Junction (3:02)
12. Alice Blue Gown (2:51)
13. Palms of Paradise (3:08)
14. Youve Got Me Out on a Limb (2:45)
15. Hodge Podge (3:00)
16. Come and Get It (3:07)
17. How High the Moon (3:00)
18. Carnival of Venice (2:47)
19. Boog-It (3:23)
20. The Sheik of Araby (3:02)
21. Fools Rush In (3:09)
22. Secrets in the Moonlight (2:49) 


Harry James - 1942 {CC, 1178}

This eighth installment in the Classics Harry James chronology assembles all of
his Columbia studio recordings made between February 24 and July 22, 1942,
beginning with four superb instrumentals. By the Sleepy Lagoon, a pretty tone
poem later parodied by Spike Jones as Sloppy Lagoon, is followed with the
boogie-woogie-based Trumpet Blues and Cantabile, a slow sweet Easter Parade, and
an eminently danceable version of Crazy Rhythm. One change that occurred in 1941
was the departure of tenor saxophonist Vido Musso and the arrival of young Gene
Corky Corcoran. Much more noticeably, James was continuing to modify the sound
of his band with instrumentation most often associated with European classical
music. By now the string quartet (first added in January 1941) had expanded into
a quintet with the addition of a third violin; Willard Culley began blowing
French horn with the Harry James Orchestra on the session of June 5th, and by
July 15th the string section had swollen to six fiddles and a cello. There are
quite a number of delectable vocals by Helen Forrest (as well as a handful of
less substantial ones by Jimmy Saunders) but the most useful and enduring tracks
are the instrumentals, during which the interplay of rhythm, reeds, brass, and
strings works uncommonly well.

01. By the Sleepy Lagoon (3:02)
02. Trumpet Blues and Cantabile (3:03)
03. Easter Parade (3:28)
04. Crazy Rhythm (3:46)
05. One Dozen Roses (3:06)
06. When Youre a Long, Long Way from Home (3:16)
07. Youre Too Good for Good-For-Nothing Me (3:10)
08. Estrellita (2:53)
09. Youre in Love with Someone Else (3:13)
10. James Session (3:00)
11. Hes My Guy (3:24)
12. I Cried for You (3:11)
13. Let Me Up (3:03)
14. That Soldier of Mine (3:03)
15. Moonlight Becomes You (3:24)
16. I Heard You Cried Last Night (3:03)
17. Manhattan Serenade (2:55)
18. My Beloved Is Rugged (3:19)
19. Cherry (3:15)
20. Prince Charming (2:41)
21. Jump Town (3:22)
22. A Poem Set to Music (3:11)
23. I Had the Craziest Dream (3:30)
24. Daybreak (3:09)

Related artists