Eddie Condon - Chronological Classics 1938-1940 '1994

Tracks list

Here is a particularly tasty portion of old-fashioned Chicago-style jazz, calmly
dished out by some of Condons very best bands. Jackson Teagarden and his
trombone deliver the nicest portrait of Diane ever painted. Serenade to a
Shylock slowly ambles through Mr. Ts vocal and suddenly kicks up into a stomp,
sharpened at the edges by Pee Wee Russells gloriously filthy clarinet. Bud
Freeman glides effortlessly into Sunday and California. Buds relaxing influence
bathes the entire band in rosy light even during upbeat finales. On August 11,
1939, Davey Tough actually made it into a recording studio. While George
Wettling and Lionel Hampton had each served ably on the preceding tracks, its
invigorating to hear Mr. Tough driving the band the way he did. The same could
be said for Joe Sullivan, with all due respect for Jess Stacy and Joe Bushkin.
The chemistry on this little Decca date is really magical. Friars Point gets
low-down and dirty, a funky collective discourse on the human condition. Back
with Commodore Records on November 30, 1939, Condon retained Max Kaminsky, Brad
Gowans, and Pee Wee Russell for a real blowing session. While Jelly Roll bakes
itself brown, during Strut Miss Lizzie the band sounds almost possessed. Its
Right Here for You is just plain gorgeous. These really are among the best
records Condon ever produced, and everybody ought to get a chance to hear them
on a regular basis. On March 24, 1940, about 17 minutes worth of A Good Man Is
Hard to Find was spread over four 12 78-rpm platters, with 11 musicians taking
turns ritualistically hammering out every possible angle of the song. While
conventional criticism regards this as a bit too much of a good thing, seasoned
jazz heads are surely capable of enjoying dramatically extended solos without
undue concern for normal parameters. Rules and preconceptions are made to be
broken and dispelled. With this precept in mind, the session of November 11,
1940, is particularly tasty. Invading the Commodore studios, popular Victor
recording artist Thomas Fats Waller cheerfully broke his contract by making
records with Condons band under the pseudonym Maurice, a name borrowed from one
of his sons. This music is exquisite. The combination of Pee Wee and Fats should
have occurred much more often than it ever did. Waller and Condon first made
records together in 1929 -- in the very same studio, by the way: the wonderful
Liederkranz Hall. This, then, was a sort of reunion, bittersweet in retrospect,
as Fats died in December of 1943, making this Commodore jam the last time the
two men would get to play music together in front of the same microphone.


Tracks:

01. Diane (3:06)
02. Serenade to a Shylock (4:35)
03. Sunday (3:03)
04. California, Here I Come (3:04)
05. Therell Be Some Changes Made (2:50)
06. Nobodys Sweetheart (3:28)
07. Friars Point Shuffle (3:08)
08. Someday, Sweetheart (3:10)
09. (I Aint Gonna Give Nobody) None of My Jelly-Roll (2:58)
10. Strut, Miss Lizzie (3:03)
11. Its All Right Here for You (3:03)
12. Ballin the Jack (2:58)
13. A Good Man Is Hard to Find, Part 1 (4:33)
14. A Good Man Is Hard to Find, Part 4 (4:11)
15. A Good Man Is Hard to Find, Part 2 (4:23)
16. A Good Man Is Hard to Find, Part 3 (4:09)
17. Georgia Grind (2:54)
18. Oh Sister! Aint That Hot? (2:54)
19. Dancing Fool (2:48)
20. (Youre Some) Pretty Doll (2:50) 

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