Get Easy Blues

Although the center of jazz gradually shifted from Chicago to New York during 1926-28, there was plenty of major jazz musicians in Chicago during the late 1920s. Some of the hottest performances recorded in the Windy City are featured on this exciting 26-song set. Featured are complete sessions by the Levee Serenaders (a pickup group with pianist-composer Jelly Roll Morton and singer Frances Hereford), the Original Washboard Band, Lil Hardaway's Orchestra, Sammy Stewart, Albert Wynn's Creole Jazz Band, Gut Bucket Five, Jimmy Wade's Dixielanders, Jimmy Bertrand's Washboard Wizards, the Beale Street Washboard Band, and Frankie Franko's Louisianians. Among the more illustrious sidemen are clarinetists Johnny Dodds and Darnell Howard; Jasper Taylor on washboard; trumpeters Dave Nelson and Punch Miller; drummer Sid Catlett; and pianists Alex Wynn and Jimmy Blythe. Such numbers as "Midnight Mama," "She's Crying for Me," "Parkway Stomp," and "Forty and Tight" are among the many highlights of this joyous release. ~ Scott Yanow|