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| The Gloucester Gabriel - His American Recordings |
| Sylvester Ahola |
| első megjelenés éve: 1932 |
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CD |
| 4.145 Ft
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Jazz / Classic Jazz
Trad Jazz
Recorded: Mar 25, 1924-Jul 13, 1932
Here's a marvelous oyster bed of antiquated cultural artifacts, a silver mine of overlooked curiosities ripe and ready for those who appreciate such things: 23 rare dance recordings dating from 1924-1932 strung together by the presence of Finnish-American trumpeter Sylvester Ahola. While this amazing cross section of popular entertainment allows for occasional glimpses of Ahola's accomplishments as a soloist, it also acts as a charming compilation of great old records with jazz overtones. "Lots o' Mama" is a grand instrumental with sparkling banjo and snorkeling rhythm, played by the Frank E. Ward Orchestra back in 1924. Nearly half of these recordings bear the name of Paul Specht & His Orchestra, a dizzy little band playing quaint arrangements with most of the vocals by Johnny Morris, an archetypal 1920s singing fool. "Static Strut," a spiffy stomp with novel twists, is a record with which to wrestle again and again. "So Does Your Old Mandarin" -- a takeoff on the popular phrase "So's your old man" -- qualifies as a genuine Oriental fox trot, a nearly forgotten subgenre still worth pursuing. Here Morris seems to snap out of his stupor, as he does during "Roll 'Em Girls," an Eddie Cantor-type routine apparently inspired by women who roll their stockings. So infatuating is this subject matter that the singer appears quite beside himself with excitement. "Let's Grow Old Together" is a hunky dory opus that moves almost like an oberek and "Spring Is Here," played by the Georgians, takes cuteness to an almost hallucinatory extreme as hot dogs begin to bark when bitten. "Horses" is presented with contrived race track patter, and "Frisco Bay" utilizes a boat whistle. It's all good clean fun. Every once in a while there are banjo runs of almost maniacal intensity -- possibly perpetrated by the great Harry Reser -- and things get even funkier when Adrian Rollini blows his bass sax behind the California Ramblers. "Cornfed," recorded by Van & His Hotel Half Moon Orchestra in 1927, is the third of only three instrumentals, and unquestionably the hottest. Here Ahola is clearly audible, sounding something like Thomas Morris or Red Nichols or Sterling Bose or -- maybe best of all -- like himself. With the Peter Van Steeden Orchestra sides of 1931 listeners have clearly entered the realm of syrupy '30s pop music. A bass clarinet erupts during "I Can Sympathize With You," garnished with violins and swank hotel band touches. All that's missing is a potted aspidistra. Despite the grim reality of vocalists Smith Ballew, Dick Robertson, and Chick Bullock, by 1932 Ahola sounded a little like Bunny Berigan, if you can handle that. While certain jazz purists will wrinkle their noses at the amount of lovable stupid pop music included in this time capsule, tried and true fans of old-fashioned entertainment will eat it right up.
---arwulf arwulf, allmusic
Includes liner notes by Brian Rust |
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