Скачать или смотреть "UMBRELLA MAN": STUFF SMITH, AUTREY, McCORD, SAMMY BENSKIN, AL CASEY, AL HALL, SLICK JONES (1942)

Yes, there's surface noise. And two or three speed fluctuations at the start. Be calm. There's also some of the finest swing imaginable. In 1942 violin wizard Stuff Smith led a band of Fats Waller alumni -- not after Waller's death, as has been suggested. The band was Herman Autrey, trumpet; Ted McCord, tenor saxophone; Sammy Benskin, piano; Al Casey, guitar; Al Hall, string bass; Slick Jones, drums. This performance is part of a late-August broadcast from the Old Vienna Restaurant in Cincinnati, Ohio, taken off the air by William E. Loeffler. The source of all this joy is an available CD -- fancy that! -- on violin scholar Anthony Barnett's AB FABLE label (ABCD 015).

Barnett has released incredibly rare recordings: Ella Fitzgerald in 1937 with a Smith-led big band combining players from Chick Webb's band and Cab Calloway's; a private jam session with Ray Nance, Ben Webster, Jimmie Blanton, Fred Guy, and Sonny Greer, on which Ben plays clarinet (!); wonderful recordings by Eddie South, Ray Perry, Ginger Smock, and more.

Visit http://abar.net/index.htm to see the CD releases and books. Barnett's research is deep and impeccable, and the recordings he unearths are rewarding: this is just an uplifting sample. This public service announcement is brought to you by Michael Steinman of JAZZ LIVES (http://www.jazzlives.wordpress.com).