Count Basie & His Orchestra - V-Disc 369 (1945)

Count Basie p, dir / Harry Edison, Al Killian, Ed Lewis, Joe Newman t / Ted Donnelly, Eli Robinson, Louis Taylor, Dicky Wells tb / Elman 'Rudy' Rutherford cl, bar / Jimmy Powell as / Earle Warren as / Buddy Tate, Eli 'Lucky' Thompson ts / Freddy Green g / Rodney Richardson sb / Rossiere ‘Shadow’ Wilson d / Tab Smith a.

Recorded in New York on October 30, 1944.

Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra - Victor 36207 12" (1937)

Tommy Dorsey tb, dir / Pee Wee Erwin, Joe Bauer, Andy Feretti t / Les Jenkins, Red Bone tb / Johnny Mince, Fred Stulce, Mike Doty cl, as / Bud Freeman ts / Howard Smith p / Carmen Mastren g / Gene Traxler sb / Dave Tough d / Deane Kincade a.

Recorded in New York on May 26, 1937.

Earl Hines & His Orchestra - Bluebird 11567 (1942)

From wikipedia…

Charles Valdez "Truck" Parham (January 25, 1911 – June 5, 2002) was an American jazz double-bassist.

Parham played professional sports early in his career; he was a boxer and played football with the Chicago Negro All Stars. He played drums before settling on bass, and studied under Walter Page. He played in the Midwest territory band of Zack Whyte in 1932-34, playing primarily in Cincinnati. After returning to Chicago, he played with Zutty Singleton, Roy Eldridge (1936–38), Art Tatum, and Bob Shoffner in the 1930s. In 1940 he joined Earl Hines's orchestra, where he remained for two years; in 1942 he was hired by Jimmie Lunceford and played with him until 1947.

Parham continued to play revival gigs with Muggsy Spanier (1950–55), Herbie Fields (1956–57), Hines again, and Louie Bellson. He spent much of the 1960s working with Art Hodes, and played in numerous Dixieland jazz groups later in his career. Parham never recorded as a leader, though he recorded profusely as a sideman.

Earl Hines p, dir / George Dixon t, as / Harry Jackson, Maurice McConnell, Jesse Miller t / George Hunt, Joe McLewis tb / Gerald Valentine tb, a / Leroy Harris, Scoops Carey cl, as / William Randall, Budd Johnson ts / Robert Crowder ts, a / Clifton Best g / Truck Parham sb / Rudolph Taylor d / Billy Eckstine v.

Recorded in New York on March 19, 1942.


Louis Armstrong & His Hot Seven - Okeh 8482 (1927)

Louis Armstrong c, v / John Thomas / Johnny Dodds cl / Lil Armstrong p / Johnny St. Cyr bj, g / Pete Briggs bb / Baby Dodds d.

Recorded in Chicago on May 7 & 10, 1927.


Baron Lee & His Blue Rhythm Band - Melotone 12515 (1932)

From wikipedia…

Wardell "Preacher" Jones (b. ca. 1905) was an American jazz trumpeter.

Jones played early in his career in New York City in the ballroom bands of Bill Brown and Benny Carter before joining Bingie Madison's ensemble. Jones joined the Mills Blue Rhythm Band, playing with the group from 1930 to 1936 and recording with them several times. In addition to trumpet, he occasionally played trombone with the group and did arranging work. Later in the 1930s he played with Fats Waller and Hot Lips Page, but appears to have left music after 1940.

Baron Lee dir / Wardell Jones, Shelton Hemphill, Ed Anderson t / George Washington, Henry Hicks tb / Crawford Washington as, bar / Gene Mikell cl, as / Joe Garland cl, ts, bar, a / Edgar Hayes p, a / Benny James bj, g / Hayes Alvis bb, sb / O'Neil Spencer d / Benny Carter a.

Recorded in New York on September 23, 1932.


Jimmy Rushing Acc. By Johnny Otis - Excelsior 141/142 (1945)

From wikipedia…

James Andrew Rushing (August 26, 1901 – June 8, 1972), known as Jimmy Rushing, was an American blues shouter and swing jazz singer from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, best known as the featured vocalist of Count Basie's Orchestra from 1935 to 1948.

Rushing was a powerful singer who had a range from baritone to tenor. He could project his voice so that it soared over the horn and reed sections in a big-band setting. Basie claimed that Rushing "never had an equal" as a blues vocalist. George Frazier, author of Harvard Blues, called Rushing's distinctive voice "a magnificent gargle". His best known recordings are probably "Going to Chicago" with Basie, and "Harvard Blues", with a famous saxophone solo by Don Byas.

Jimmy Rushing v / Johnny Otis d, dir / Teddy Buckner, Billy Jones, Loyal Walker, Par Jones t / Lorenzo Cocker, Eli Robinson, John Pettigrew, Jap Jones tb / Rene Block, James Von Streeter, Paul Quinchette, Bob Harris, Leon Beck saxes / Curtis Counce sb / Bernie Cobbs g / Bill Doggett p.

Recorded in Los Angeles on September 13, 1945.


Count Basie & His Orchestra / Duke Ellington & His Orchestra - V-Disc 575 (1945)

Excerpted from the wikipedia entry on V-Discs …

The American Federation of Musicians, under the leadership of James Caesar Petrillo, were involved in a major recording strike against the four major record companies. This continued until the intervention of recording pioneer George Robert Vincent, who was at that point a lieutenant.

On October 27, 1943, Vincent convinced Petrillo to allow his union musicians to record sides for the military, as long as the records were not offered for purchase in the United States. From that moment on, artists who wanted to record now had an outlet for their productivity — as well as a guaranteed, receptive, enthusiastic worldwide audience of soldiers, sailors and airmen.

Count Basie & His Orchestra: Count Basie p, dir / Harry Edison, Al Killian, Ed Lewis, Joe Newman t / Ted Donnelly, Eli Robinson, Louis Taylor, Dicky Wells tb / Elman 'Rudy' Rutherford cl, bar / Jimmy Powell as / Earle Warren as / Buddy Tate, Eli 'Lucky' Thompson ts / Freddy Green g / Rodney Richardson sb / Joe Marshall d / Don Redman a.

Recorded in New York on January 11, 1945.


Duke Ellington p, dir / Shelton 'Scad' Hemphill, Cat Anderson t / Taft Jordan t / Ray Nance t, vn / Tricky Sam Nanton, Claude Jones, Lawrence Brown tb / Al Sears ts / Jimmy Hamilton cl, ts / Johnny Hodges, Otto Hardwick as / Harry Carney bar, cl / Fred Guy g / Alvin 'Junior' Raglin sb / Sonny Greer d.

Recorded in New York on April 21, 1945.

Count Basie & His Orchestra - Vocalion 4747, 4748, 4860, 5010 (1939)

Here is my contribution to the Basiefest activity that members (thanks David, Mark & Lloyd) of the facebook companion page to this blog have been posting. As always, I'm a day late and a dollar short.

Count Basie p, dir / Buck Clayton, Ed Lewis, Sweets Edison, Shad Collins t / Dicky Wells, Benny Morton, Dan Minor tb / Earl Warren as / Jack Washington as, bar / Buddy Tate, Lester Young ts / Freddy Green g / Walter Page sb / Joe Jones d / Helen Humes, Jimmy Rushing v.

Recorded in New York on March 19, 1939.




Recorded in New York on April 5, 1939.


Recorded in Chicago on June 24, 1939.

Troy Floyd & His Plaza Hotel Orchestra - Okeh 8571 (1928)

Here we have the first of two records made by the Texas territory band led by Troy Floyd.

The second record (Okeh 8719) has a bit of a history mystery tied to it regarding who the tenor sax player may be. Scott Bagby laid claim to the performance while Herchel Evans (of Count Basie fame) did the same. A very convincing column in favor of Evans can be found here.

Anyway, since I do not have that record, it doesn't matter here as it is definitely Bagby on tenor below.

This record has been previously enjoyed to death as you will hear.

Troy Floyd cl, as, dir / Don Albert, Willie Long t / Benny Long tb / N.J. "Siki" Collins cl, as / Scott Bagby cl, ts / Allen Vann p / John H. Braggs bj / Charlie Dixon bb, tb / John Humphries d / Kellough Jefferson v.

Recorded in San Antonio on March 14, 1928.