Author Archives: Joseph Neff

Remembering Hank Williams, born on this day in 1923. —Ed.

Hank Williams is an icon of early country music, but he recorded before the LP era really took hold, so his legacy is dominated by posthumously assembled compilations. These sets come in various sizes and levels of quality. The latest, Pictures from Life’s Other Side: The Man and his Music in Rare Photos and Recordings, offers 144 transcriptions from Williams’ Mother’s Best radio program on six CDs, all tucked into a magnificent hardcover book loaded with photos, many of them in color, that serve to broaden the life of the artist beyond the still too common reduction of strife and an early death. It’s out now, but if it’s vinyl you require, the 3LP distillation Only Mother’s Best is also currently available from BMG.

When it comes to concise surveys of Hank Williams’ exceptional musical abilities (by which I mean single or double sets), the gold standard remains Polydor’s 40 Greatest Hits. Released in 1978, it was distinguished at the time for its lack of production meddling, as those four vinyl sides weren’t rechanneled into stereo and they lacked additional posthumous meddling such as overdubs and duet fakery.

40 Greatest Hits was just pure Hank, and for those who favored his work, disappointment in the listening was an impossibility. That’s not the same as being fully satisfied however, which is where the box sets enter the picture. Mercury’s 1998 10CD The Complete Hank Williams is an award winner, but amongst the numerous two- and three-disc collections, there’s an even bigger assemblage, Time Life’s The Complete Mother’s Best Recordings…Plus!, which emerged in 2010 as a 15CD behemoth.

As one might’ve deduced, there is a relationship between that release and the one under review here, with the difference being that Time Life simply rounded up the acetates of the original 15-minute broadcasts, which were sponsored by Mother’s Best flour. This left in all the instrumental bits, the guest musicians and the chatting and joking around.

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Trumpeter Dave Guy is known for his session work (Amy Winehouse, Lee Fields, Al Green, numerous Mark Ronson productions) and as a member of The Dap-Kings. Currently, he plays in The Roots, but with the release of Ruby he steps into the spotlight on his own with a vibrant blend of jazz and soul. Savvy infusions of hip hop expand the already potent sound of a debut that’s historically rich as it delivers a contemporary punch. Ruby is available September 20 on vinyl (red or black), compact disc, cassette, and digital from Big Crown Records of Brooklyn, NY.

That Dave Guy has extensive music school experience (LaGuardia Performing Arts High School, Manhattan School of Music, the New School) is quickly discernible, as his playing possesses an abundance of sharpness that can really only be the byproduct of constant practice, along with an openness to learn and to make mistakes. Most of all, there’s the love of doing it.

But these qualities, while integral to Guy’s approach, need be accompanied with astute taste and solid decision making, particularly in regard to restraint. That’s is, Guy clearly has the chops, but he’s not about flash. Instead, he’s focused on sweetness of groove and mood. Nothing here is too smooth as hip hop is an obvious influence (Guy was playing in the live hip hop group Dujeous while attending LaGuardia) but not an outright style.

Opener “7th Heaven” has the slamming beats that have long been something of a Big Crown trademark. Guy’s jazzy trumpet lines are front and center, enhanced by pulsing synth, cascades of piano, and a supple but sturdy foundation of electric bass. Guy’s playing can at times insinuate a one-off 45 Art Farmer might’ve recorded for Mainstream in the early 1970s, but there is just as much that isn’t easily comparable to anything else, e.g. the crescendos of trumpet and wordless vocals.

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Celebrating Colin Newman on his 70th birthday. —Ed.

While the punk genre has its share of great albums, and the same can surely be said for the refinements, expansions, and disruptions in post-punk’s playground, the list of those having excelled at both is short indeed. If any outfit makes the cut, it’s Wire. Having delivered the UK class of ’77 a cornerstone LP, their next two full-lengths helped to define the sound of post-punk; they remain amongst the finest records the styles ever produced. Out now through the band’s label Pinkflag are special edition CD books of all three, 80 pages each and sized like 45s, featuring text by Jon Savage and Graham Duff plus additional tracks. Here’s our look at 1978’s Chairs Missing.

The enduring stream of adulation awarded to Wire’s debut Pink Flag can mask the fact that the esteem wasn’t instantaneous. As the printed observations in these CD books helps to clarify, the band was strikingly distinctive as part of the whole ’77 punk shebang, as they garnered a pocket of fervent advocates, including then Sounds writers Jon Savage and Jane Suck, but overall, Wire existed as just one outfit amongst many, and this lack of a microscope of expectation surely allowed for creativity to flourish without the hinderance of unnecessary pressures.

If somewhat ambivalent to the punk tag at the time and in retrospect, it’s pretty apparent now that Wire benefited from their emergence in connection to the sheer tumult of the time. Just as importantly, they weren’t anointed the saviors of its essence, the crucial destabilizers of convention, or the inevitable deliverers of what comes next.

Simply put, making rock music is hard. Making rock music that will produce an immediate audience reaction (and critical response) is harder. And making rock music under outsized expectations has been the end, literal and figurative, of many a band, resulting either in breakups or a nosedive in quality. At the very least, the avalanche of attention will irrevocably change the music.

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Elemental Music Motown Sound Collection extends into September with three releases available on the 13th: a mono edition of Meet the Temptations, Diana Ross & the Supremes’ Love Child, and Marvin Gaye’s In the Groove, all on 140 gram virgin vinyl. Considerations of all three follow below.

After three years of trying, The Temptations finally scored a sizable hit. Side one of Meet the Temptations opens with that hard earned success, “The Way You Do the Things You Do”; side two begins with the song’s B-side “Just Let Me Know.” Filling out the rest of LP is nearly everything they released prior to that commercial breakthrough.

It’s worth noting that “(You’re My) Dream Come True,” written and produced by Barry Gordy, was a minor R&B hit for the group in 1962. Had Billboard not disbanded the R&B chart (apparently due to Motown’s haywire crossover success) from late November ’63 to January ’65, it’s very likely “The Way You Do the Things You Do” would’ve climbed to the top spot (it did hit #1 on the Cash Box R&B chart).

In large part due to the inclusion of that first sizeable hit single, and with the A-side marking the entrance of David Ruffin to the group (as Elbridge “Al” Bryant made his departure), the mono release of Meet the Temptations is an essential acquisition for any serious Motown shelf. But any assumptions that the rest of the LP is primarily of interest to vinyl fans with a heavy-duty Motown jones is off the mark, even if the more rudimentary material included does lack the consistency and refinement that marks The Temps’ sound moving forward.

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In various configurations, from solo to duo to orchestra, pianist Satoko Fujii has amassed a prodigious and voluminous output, hitting the 100-album mark in 2022, and that’s only counting her work as a leader. Amongst all that achieving is the output of the Satoko Fujii Quartet alongside trumpeter Natsuki Tamura, bassist Takeharu Hayakawa, and drummer Tatsuya Yoshida. Jazz-rock is the group’s specialty, avant-garde friendly in its explorations as it avoids leaning too heavily into familiar aspects of fusion. After a long dormant stretch, they have reconvened for studio record number six, Dog Days of Summer, available on CD and digital September 13 through Libra Records.

When a band resumes activity after a lengthy break, it is often discovered that the spark of interactive creativity, i.e. the “magic,” is gone. The reasons vary, but a recurring issue is a desire, frequently unconscious, to recapture something comparable to what came before rather than breaking free of expectations in the true spirit of what made the endeavor worthwhile in the first place.

To be sure, the reunion blues are a rock-centric malady, but as the Satoko Fujii Quartet is a jazz-rock affair, and one that has returned to recording after a considerable layoff, the scenario applies. Of course, the opposing sides of the hyphen in the band’s formal hybrid are fairly pinpointed as avant-jazz and art rock, but the dangers of diminishing returns are still relevant.

Fujii is on the record as disinclined to recreate the Quartet’s earlier sounds. But understanding that saying and doing aren’t the same thing, Fujii’s aim is true, as Dog Days of Summer expands upon the band’s prior brilliance, establishing fresh possibilities from a familiar framework. Like many successful recommencements, Fujii and crew got back into the groove through live performance, playing first at the Shinuku Pit Inn in Tokyo and following with a four-city tour of Japan. Then, to the studio, as this album was recorded on April 8 of this year.

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BASIC is a fresh project featuring Chris Forsyth on guitar, Nick Millevoi on baritone guitar and drum machine, and Mikel Patrick Avery on percussion and electronics. Dispensing with vocals, the trio takes inspiration from a specific and fleeting strain of 1980s art-rock where creatively restless guitarists embraced technological advances that were generally associated with the new wave. There are elements of homage in BASIC’s sound but the emphasis is largely on intricate and precise weaves that are imbued with energy levels substantial and rocking. This Is BASIC is available now on vinyl, compact disc, and digital from the No Quarter label of Philadelphia, PA.

Amongst the outfits cited as influential to BASIC’s approach is the duo of Robert Fripp and Andy Summers. They cut a pair of albums, I Advance Masked in 1982 and Bewitched in ’84 that offer a solid baseline for the “prog-rock-gone-new-wave” sensibility that was extant for a good portion of the decade. Bill Bruford is also mentioned, which brings the ’80s incarnation of King Crimson front and center. While Adrian Belew’s Lone Rhino isn’t name checked in the text accompanying BASIC’s debut, that 1982 album is still quite relevant to BASIC’s mode of operation.

The thinking person’s supergroup French/Frith/Kaiser/Thompson gets listed as part of BASIC’s constellation of precedent, and surely some of the ’80s solo work of Fred Frith and Henry Kaiser is part of the equation as well, especially the former’s The Technology of Tears (1988) and the latter’s Devil in the Drain (’87), records both released in the USA by SST on which Frith and Kaiser both play the Synclavier.

One of Frith’s many bands was Massacre, the first incarnation of which featured Bill Laswell on bass and Fred Maher on drums. In 1984, Maher and guitarist Robert Quine recorded Basic, the album that provided this BASIC with its moniker, along with a groundbreaking and once ubiquitous computer coding language (hence the all caps).

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Remembering Otis Redding, born on this day in 1941. —Ed.

As one of the undisputed titans in the annals of Soul Music, Otis Redding seemingly needs no introduction. Any serious discussion of the genre he so thrillingly mastered will reflect upon the rewards to be found in his work, and that it’s never fallen out of favor is tribute to his talents. But in truth, scads of younger listeners do require some enlightenment regarding the massive achievements of the man. Lonely & Blue: The Deepest Soul of Otis Redding will serve as an exemplary primer for the uninitiated, and the thoughtful focus on the artist’s aching love balladry might just lead many longtime fans to hear Mr. Pitiful with fresh ears.

With Sam and James and Wilson and Al and Marvin all making such singular contributions to the style, there will never be an undisputed King of Soul. But upon reflection, Otis Redding can perhaps be accurately described as the form’s Total Package, for the fabric of his music contains so many substantial fibers; a Southern “country” grit combining with the newfound sophistication of R&B, the powerhouse qualities of a consummate front-man coexisting with a distinctive desire to interact with his backing band, and the ability to knock ‘em stone cold dead on stage thriving alongside an uncommon level of success in the studio setting.

Furthermore, Redding’s considerable talents as a songwriter coincided with his equally impressive skills at interpreting other’s material, a substantial crossover into the pop market sacrificed none of his creative verve, and Stax’s significant spirit of racial harmony served as a beautiful example of brotherhood in an era that very much needed it. So Otis clearly lacked nothing in his ascension to the very top ranks of Soul expression.

Add to the above Redding’s knack for both raising the roof through raucous uptempo material and delving into the deep emotional weeds via exquisitely rendered slow burners. This dual proficiency is surely a given with the great soulsters, and it seems fairly obvious that a huge component in Redding’s lasting rep is how he could turn it way up and then bring it all back down without a hitch, frequently hitting upon spectacular mid-tempo grooves along the way.

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Remembering Jimmy Reed, born on this day in 1925. —Ed.

One of the first great electric blues LPs is titled I’m Jimmy Reed, and it’s loaded with twelve songs from one of the 1950s only true blues crossovers. Over half a century later it still holds up spectacularly well and additionally provides a solid contrast to the electrified delta sounds that poured out of the studio Chess during the same period.

Jimmy Reed’s blues is amongst the most accessible ever recorded in either the acoustic or electric permutations of the form. Master of a relaxed, natural style lacking in the rough edges that his contemporaries Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, and John Lee Hooker utilized with prideful relish, Reed’s stellar run of sides for the Vee-Jay label displayed how in the bustling post-WWII urban environment the blues could represent more than the power of the plantation transmogrified after traveling up the Mississippi River (Muddy, Wolf, etc.) or the horn-laden high strains of citified sophistication (Louis Jordan, Charles Brown, Tiny Bradshaw, Willie Mabon).

In contrast to Muddy, who instigated a booming ensemble sound that while impressively groundbreaking completely on its own terms would also prove an essential component in rock music’s ‘60s growth spurt, Reed was somewhat closer to the norm of a “folk-blues” player, offering up simple and often insanely catchy guitar figures and an unfussy, plainly sung (some might say sleepy) vocal approach with accents of trilling rack harmonica.

This shouldn’t infer that Reed engaged in any forced gestures of aw-shucks down-home authenticity, at least not in what’s considered his prime. Hell, one glimpse at the picture on I’m Jimmy Reed’s back cover presents a man of top-flight refinement and truly choice threads, and his image intersected with the sound of his records extremely well.

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In the 20th century jazz discourse at it pertains to the West Coast of the USA, it’s the Cool sound that dominates. But what about the avant-garde? Freeform improvisational sparks did emanate from the Pacific Time Zone; a fine and occasionally overlooked example is The Cry! by the Prince Lasha Quintet featuring Sonny Simmons. Used copies aren’t frequent in the bins, so the fresh 180 gram edition due out September 6 is very welcome. It’s the latest entry in Craft Recordings Contemporary Records Acoustic Sounds Series.

Although the label’s primary focus was on recordings from inside the bebop continuum, Lester Koenig’s Contemporary Records has a sturdy if not extensive association with the jazz avant-garde, the label having released the first two LPs by saxophonist Ornette Coleman (Something Else!!!! from 1958 and Tomorrow Is the Question! from the following year) and a major early statement from pianist Cecil Taylor (Looking Ahead! from ’59).

Recorded in November 1962 and released the next year, The Cry! by the quintet of William Prince Lasha (pronounced La-shay) is a less celebrated entry in the avant corner of Contemporary’s catalog, but that’s easily attributed to the modest name recognition of Lasha and Simmons. The record is a fine example of how avant-jazz was reacting to Coleman’s innovations in the moments prior to Fire Music (as exemplified by Taylor, late period John Coltrane, Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders, and Albert Ayler) fully taking hold.

Lasha was a childhood friend of Coleman’s, so the influence runs deep. And while the relationship isn’t difficult to detect, the music on The Cry! is still quite distinguishable from what’s heard on Coleman’s Atlantic albums. This is in part due to a unique instrumental configuration. Multi-instrumentalist Lasha is heard exclusively on flute here, Sonny Simmons handles the alto sax, Gary Peacock and Mark Proctor are a double bass tandem (Proctor does lay out for three of the set’s eight selections), and Gene Stone is on drums.

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Deservedly celebrated as a founding member of The Dream Syndicate, guitarist-vocalist-songwriter Steve Wynn’s solo output is extensive. Fresh out through Fire Records, Make It Right his first solo disc in a decade, the set coinciding with the publication by Jawbone Press of his memoir I Wouldn’t Say It if It Wasn’t True. Completed with a bevy of Wynn’s friends old and new, the ten songs share an engaging depth that’s a little rootsy but never retrograde. The record is out now on clear vinyl as a standalone item or bundled with the book and a limited edition silver foil leather bookmark. Compact disc and digital options are also available.

Given the size of Steve Wynn’s solo discography and the high regard in which it’s held, it might register as a wee bit inappropriate (or perhaps just overly predictable) to begin this review with yet another mention of Wynn’s key role in shaping The Dream Syndicate. Except it’s surely worth noting that The Dream Syndicate recommenced activity in 2012 with three albums recorded since. And with Wynn the memoirist clearly in reflective mode, it’s impressive that Wynn was disinclined to rest on his laurels.

Instead, he added to his workload by cutting a new record, and one that’s intrinsically tied to the process of writing I Wouldn’t Say It if It Wasn’t True. The list of contributors for Make It Right include numerous individuals who figure prominently in the story Wynn has told, including Dream Syndicate members Dennis Duck, Mark Walton, and Jason Victor.

There’s also Mike Mills of R.E.M., Vicki Peterson of The Bangles, Scott McCaughey of Young Fresh Fellows and The Minus 5, Chris Schlarb of Psychic Temple, Chris Ekman of The Walkabouts, Emil Nikolaisen of Serena-Maneesh, Rob Mazurek of Exploding Star Orchestra, and Linda Pitmon of Filthy Friends and The Baseball Project alongside Mills, McCaughey, and her husband Wynn.

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Extending from a rich folky bedrock and influenced by classical, Middle Easten music and even rock & roll, Sandy Bull was an undersung master of the guitar and other stringed instruments including banjo, bass, oud, and pedal steel. Having passed in 2001 with a modestly sized but often masterful discography, his reputation has been boosted by posthumously issued live recordings. The first one to surface, Still Valentine’s Day 1969, documenting two shows at the Matrix in San Francisco, was initially released CD-only in 2006 but has just received a terrific new edition on 2LP with the original liner notes by Byron Coley. Fans of Bull’s Vanguard years who’ve pined to drop needle on this set have reason to rejoice.

Long rated as a player of exploratory brilliance who was unfortunately burdened with addiction problems, Sandy Bull is accurately assessed as an early fusioneer whose stylistic innovations steadfastly avoided exoticism; between his 1963 debut Fantasias for Guitar and Banjo and its ’65 follow-up Inventions (both issued by Vanguard), Bull contributed percussion to ’64’s Music of Nubia (also released by Vanguard), the first album by Nubian music master Hamza el Din of Egypt.

Inventions offers Bull’s first recordings on the Arabic stringed instrument the oud, but his inclination toward a raga synthesis is already pretty clear in “Blend,” a 22-minute piece extending across Fantasias’ first side. However, Bull’s approach was multifaceted and way ahead of the pack for the era, as the great jazz drummer Billy Higgins is the sole accompanist on Fantasias and Inventions.

As underscored by his instrumental version of “Memphis, Tennessee” (closing Inventions and serving as the penultimate track on Still Valentine’s Day 1969) Bull was averse to merely swiping a few formal moves in service of broadening his sound. Instead, he favored a transformational approach to Chuck Berry’s rock & roll staple while retaining a sense of familiarity. This extends to 1969’s E Pluribus Unum, a wonderful shift into extended psychedelic environments with a deeper emphasis on electric guitar (a part of Bull’s arsenal from the beginning) that’s never simply taggable as rock.

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Pairing the almost ludicrously prolific trumpeter-flugelhornist Clark Terry with sui generis piano master Thelonious Monk, In Orbit is an impressive and frequently overlooked album, particularly because it marks Terry’s debut on flugelhorn and is Monk’s only sideman credit for Riverside (the label that propelled him to jazz stardom). Bassist Sam Jones and drummer Philly Joe Jones complete the band. A fresh edition of the album adds yet another gem to Craft Recordings’ Original Jazz Classics series as it’s currently unfolding, available August 30 on 180 gram vinyl.

To absorb the entirety of Clark Terry’s discography is a herculean task; much more sensible is to simply begin with a highly regarded album, preferably from early in his career, and then just roll from there. Two big hunks of Terry’s recorded work capture him in support of celebrated bandleaders Count Basie and Duke Ellington; that’s where a lot of ears get hip to the guy and then branch out to Terry’s own smaller group stuff, which began with a self-titled septet album released by EmArcy in 1955.

It was reportedly Monk who recommended Terry to Orrin Keepnews at Riverside. Monk began recording for the label in 1955. Terry’s first Riverside LP, Serenade to a Bus Seat, followed two years later. As said above, Monk’s alliance with the company pulled him from the jazz margins to the forefront of the scene as that Time magazine cover loomed in the distance. In Orbit being Monk’s sole sideman date for Riverside isn’t unusual; given the nature of his style, it’s actually surprising Monk cut a sideman date at all, at least until Monk and Terry’s relationship, musical rather than personal, is contemplated.

For starters, there is Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington, the pianist’s first album for Riverside. Released in 1955, it was the first of two LPs dedicated to standard material that Monk cut with the intention of building his reputation beyond and easing him into greater public awareness. It worked, as Monk’s playing is sublime.

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In the autumn of 1955 trumpeter Miles Davis hit the studio for the first time in the company of tenor saxophonist John Coltrane, pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Philly Joe Jones. Miles: The New Miles Davis Quintet was the first album to see release by this combo, a wholly worthwhile undertaking that set the stage for bolder achievements to come. On August 30 the record receives a well-deserved reissue on 180 gram vinyl as part Craft Recordings’ Original Jazz Classics Series.

It’s occasionally difficult to shake the notion of music history being shaped by particular inevitabilities. That is, certain great musicians, and specifically those who innovated across extensive discographies, were just creatively unstoppable. Their brilliance simply had to happen. And in the realms of jazz, perhaps no single musician can foster this atmosphere of the inescapable more than Miles Davis.

The man was responsible for an enormous number of masterpieces; listing only a third of them here would only serve to pad out the length of this review. But think of it this way; Davis was part of the original bebop wave, played a crucial role in the subsequent advancements of hard bop, and was an (arguably the) innovator in the cool, modal and fusion genres.

And if Davis eschewed free jazz, his “second great quintet” could occasionally creep up near the borderlines of that movement. That group’s string of mid-’60s studio albums remain sterling examples of a transitional and exploratory style that many describe as post-bop. And for that matter, Davis’ electric period is fairly assessed as experimental.

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Remembering Alice Coltrane, born on this day in 1937. —Ed.

One of the most suitable resurgences of esteem to have occurred over the last quarter century relates to the discography of multi-instrumentalist and composer Alice Coltrane. For far too many years far too many people erroneously ranked her as a major accompanist and downgraded her leadership efforts as being of primary interest to aficionados of freeform, modal, or spiritual jazz. Today Coltrane is justly recognized as a master, her output loaded with jewels; none are better than ‘71’s Universal Consciousness. 

Had Alice Coltrane somehow not recorded Universal Consciousness she’d still stand as one of the defining talents from jazz’s most exploratory era. And even if the woman born Alice McLeod on August 27th, 1937 in that hub of American artistry Detroit, Michigan had never managed to cut an album under her married name, her creative achievements would endure as quite notable.

In assuming the piano bench in the band of John Coltrane, she assisted in shaping the late-period of one of recorded music’s most vital exponents. With the departure of pianist McCoy Tyner and drummer Elvin Jones, Coltrane’s “Classic Quartet” (which the saxophonist had been augmenting across 1965) was receding in the rear-view mirror. Drummer Rashied Ali, bassist Jimmy Garrison, and reedman Pharoah Sanders remained as assorted percussionists and Alice Coltrane entered; as of this writing the results remain galvanizing.

Studio evidence of her contribution didn’t emerge until after her husband’s death on July 17th, 1967; Expression arrived the following September, Cosmic Music, co-credited to Alice and John, the next year, and Stellar Regions, sourced from rediscovered tapes, belatedly appeared in 1995. The majority of the collaboration rests upon performance documents, though only one, late-‘66’s Live At The Village Vanguard Again!, was released prior to the bandleader’s succumbing to liver cancer.

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The 1923 sessions by Joseph “King” Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band stand tall amongst the most important recordings in the history of music; they document significant strides in the evolution of jazz while marking the debut of a young cornetist, Louis Armstrong. Archeophone Records celebrates Oliver’s achievements and Armstrong’s arrival with the box set Centennial. Inside the sturdy slipcase are two LPs offering all 37 sides by the Oliver band and four CDs collecting the Oliver cuts plus 55 additional tracks. Completing the set is an informative 80-page hardback book and a 22” x 33” commemorative poster of the band. Best of all, the music has never sounded better. Centennial is available August 30.

Centennial is an essential purchase for any serious jazz maven for several reasons, but foremost in how it extends the life of these historically crucial recordings into a second century through increased audio clarity that minimizes the limitations of non-electrical recording, a process that was the standard for cutting shellac discs of the time (meaning no microphones were used) but not for long after.

First the Gennett label, followed by Okeh, Columbia, and Paramount in quick succession, had King Oliver’s band set up in front of a large horn, where they played as a master disc was cut. In the producer’s notes for Centennial, it is explained how the Creole Jazz Band’s recordings were subsequently praised for their innovations and diminished due to the poor recording quality, an audio reality that was only magnified by budget labels recurringly just dumping the music into the marketplace with little or no attempt to improve the sound quality.

To be fair, some efforts were made to better the sonics, and notably in this century by Off the Record, a Maryland label that released these 37 sides with improved quality as a 2CD set in 2007. Using the cleanest copies available, that collection was distributed in the US by Archeophone. But the more extensive endeavors by Richard Martin for Centennial are painstaking, beginning with great care in the conversion process before using declicking, decracking, and denoising technology. The results are revelatory.

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