ANDY SCHUMM SHINES!

I didn’t stumble upon the title for its alliterative possibilities, for that’s just what Andy did, side by side with his Noble Friends — Bob Havens, Scott Robinson, Andy Stein, James Dapogny, Marty Grosz, Vince Giordano, and Arnie Kinsella (a peerless rhythm section there) — recorded at Jazz at Chautauqua, Saturday, September 19, 2009.  Here are four performances, three of which hark back to Andy’s hero, Bix Beiderbecke.

We begin with LOUISE (which, for me, brings together Bing Crosby and Lester Young) and a lovely rocking performance notable, among other things, for one of Scott Robinson’s heartfelt, floating solos:

Again summoning up Bing (and the Rhythm Boys) as well as Bix, Andy turned to RHYTHM KING:

Then, taking a slight detour into Red Nichols territory — both a 1927 recording featuring Pee Wee Russell and Adrian Rollini and the 1929 Vitaphone short film . . . to perform Eddie Cantor’s theme, IDA, with Andy making a joke at his own expense about his considerable jazz erudition:

Finally, a mysterious homage to Bix and his Rhythm Jugglers, with a song that they tried to record and never got on wax, NO-ONE KNOWS WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT.  Hardly a memorable composition but Scott Robinson romps.  (I told Andy after this session that he was allowed to say that RHYTHM KING was his theme song, but not this . . . We’ll see!)

A young man who holds his own among the Jazz Masters, as the evidence here proves . . . .