1923-1928

The material on Jimmie Noone's 1923-1928 is great; however, fans of New Orleans jazz should keep both eyes open in order not to get caught up in a web of duplication. In the end it would be insulting to downgrade the music itself simply because reissue companies more than half a century later insisted on stepping on each other's toes. The identical year that this release came out on the Classics imprint, the French EPM Musique line saw fit to put out many of the same tracks under the name of trumpeter Freddie Keppard. Both Keppard and Noone played in various bands led by Doc Cook, and it is these sessions by such groups as the Doc Cook Dreamland Orchestra that make up the bulk of both the Noone and Keppard collections. As if this wasn't confusing enough, the French company put out the material again in 1998 with a slightly different cover. Meanwhile the great Cook has yet to have his recipes brought to the table under his own name, but that's the music business for you. Noone created the balance of the material on the Classics set with his own Apex Orchestra, all told bringing the total number of different titles up to 23. It is a bit less material than on the French sides, which substitute the Noone bandleading efforts for tracks by the Erskine Tate Vendome Orchestra. Noone collectors will be thus forced into nabbing the Classics CD whether they have one or both of the other sets anyway, but hopefully should not be dissapointed by the lively, well-played music. In all cases it is a chance to experience a side of New Orleans jazz that has gotten much less play than the better-known small-combo styles. ~ Eugene Chadbourne|