The seventh and final volume in Jazz Oracle's Ben Pollack reissue program completes a series that put out every selection led by Pollack or featured a group of his sidemen during 1926-1933. This particular CD has a leftover feel to it although there are some rewarding performances heard along the way. The first 15 selections essentially complete Volume 6 which had all of the other performances by the recording group The Whoopee Makers. Dating from 1929, many of these numbers feature cornetist Jimmy McPartland, trombonist ...
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The seventh and final volume in Jazz Oracle's Ben Pollack reissue program completes a series that put out every selection led by Pollack or featured a group of his sidemen during 1926-1933. This particular CD has a leftover feel to it although there are some rewarding performances heard along the way. The first 15 selections essentially complete Volume 6 which had all of the other performances by the recording group The Whoopee Makers. Dating from 1929, many of these numbers feature cornetist Jimmy McPartland, trombonist-singer Jack Teagarden, and either Benny Goodman or Jimmy Dorsey on reeds. Unfortunately a portion of those performances are essentially joke sides, with the musicians purposely playing corny since their earlier cornball version of "Shirt Tail Stomp" had been an unexpected hit. However some of the blues numbers are taken a bit more seriously and Teagarden in particular comes across well. Volume 7 also includes four numbers from a Jack Teagarden date from 1931 and a Pollack swing session from 1933. While the two selections from Teagarden's date that were released at the time are decent dance band numbers, the two numbers that were not released until the 1980s, "China Boy" and "Tiger Rag," have the great Fats Waller on piano and are quite heated and exciting. Completists will want this CD while more general collectors will be more interested in the first couple of volumes from this rewarding series. ~ Scott Yanow, Rovi
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