The first LP I ever bought was Columbia 33S1065 'King Joe' by King Oliver and his Creole Jazz Band. I say I bought it, but more accurately, my two brothers and I pooled our meagre resources and bought it jointly from a mail order supplier advertised in Melody Maker, which at that time was still concerned with music. It must have been 1955, and I vividly recall unwrapping the brown paper and cardboard packaging and playing through the tracks at least twice before venturing out into a snowy Caithness January to play at a dance with The Reay Band at a local village hall. In the weeks and years to come we played our shared LP countless times until we knew every note played by each instrument. I like to think that my share of the record included Sobbin' Blues and Jazzin' Baby Blues. Both of these numbers summed up for me the bittersweet sadness and rollicking energy of the Creole Jazz Band. "Laissez les bons temps rouler".
So, what did we hear that winter afternoon in 1955 that so excited
us. Since then, the tracks have been re-mastered and the sound cleaned
up for CD release, so that it is hard to remember exactly how we heard
the band on our little Dansette record player. The sound was muffled,
as if covered by a layer of dust. The dominant voices were those of the
clarinet and trombone, and it required a special effort even to hear the
two cornets of Oliver and Louis Armstrong, let alone distinguish who
played what. This effort was an excellent musical education, however,
as eventually we completely familiarised ourselves with every note on
the record. I learned to copy everything Johnny Dodds played on clarinet,
reproducing even the cracked note he plays on Mabel's Dream. The two cornets
warranted close listening: Oliver, poignant and sweet; Armstrong, clearly
playing second to his mentor, yet so confident, assertive and magnificent.
What they must have sounded like live at the Lincoln Gardens in Chicago
in 1923! Honore Dutray's simple trombone lines were unlike the typical
tailgate style of most New Orleans players, and it was entirely believable
that he was playing from cello parts. The rhythm section is badly served
by the primitive recording techniques and tends to plod, not helped on
some tracks by the ponderous gruntings of Charlie Jackson on bass sax.
Jackson was reputed to be a somewhat mean tempered man with a tendency
to violence, and his presence in the band may have had more to do with
self-preservation than with Oliver's opinion of his qualities as a musician.
Above all, for me, there was Dodds. His sublime singing clarinet dominates
the recordings. Never again, in my opinion, did he achieve such a vibrant
flute-like tone or dance so joyously around the lines played by his fellow
musicians. If I had only one record to take with me to that legendary
desert island, it would be Sobbin'
Blue. Sheer perfection, down to the harmonised coda and the final
rhythm section thud.
Joe 'King' Oliver went on to lead successful bands throughout the 1920s.
He composed the famous anthem 'Doctor Jazz' and many other tunes which
have become jazz standards. As his health deteriorated he was able to
play less and less trumpet, and on his later recordings the solos are taken
by other musicians. He spent the last days of his life in poverty, working
as a janitor. He continued to the end to take pride in the growing reputation
of his young protégé, Louis Armstrong, and Louis never lost
his admiration and gratitude for Papa Joe, the father figure who took
him out of a New Orleans slum and set him on the path of universal adulation.
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