Andy, cornet and piano; Paul Munnery, trombone; Norman Field, reeds and commentary; Paul Asaro, piano; Jacob Ullberger, banjo and guitar; Frans Sjostrom, bass saxophone; Josh Duffee, drums; Nick Ward, drums on BORNEO and CLARINET MARMALADE.
SWEET SUE is a delightful melody at any tempo; I love Andy’s devil-may-care introduction: “A flat. See what happens.” What happens is great good fun:
WAITING AT THE END OF THE ROAD might have the solo by Andy Secrest, but it remains a lovely Irving Berlin song (recorded also by Bing Crosby and Fats Waller — alas, separately):
THOU SWELL is a splendid Rodgers and Hart declaration of love:
CHINA BOY was much beloved by Hot players from Condon and Tesch to Muggsy and Bechet, and remains a Hot perennial:
I’LL BE A FRIEND “WITH PLEASURE” is remembered by all who love Bix for its sweetly mournful solo, here evoked by the whole band:
BORNEO is one of those now politically-incorrect songs about the swinging savages. But without the lyrics, it still rocks mightily (with percussive help from Nick Ward):
I’LL FOLLOW YOU must be the only song ever recorded both by Bing Crosby and Willie “the Lion” Smith — further proof of the Crosby influence reaching into all corners of jazz and pop music. Here it’s a pretty ruminative feature for striding Paul Asaro:
CLARINET MARMALADE always reminds me of the many-themed silent film accompaniments, memorably so. Catch Nick’s vibrant solo here:
Be back in ten minutes!
