Various: Classic V-Disc Big Band Jazz Sessions
Following the release of Classic V-Disc Small Group Jazz Sessions, an 11-CD set which I reviewed in December 2024, Mosaic have now issued a companion 10-CD compilation running over four and a half hours. The set features – in (mainly) excellent restored/improved sound – the musical contributions of swing-band leaders to the US World War 2 effort in Europe and Asia.* Those leaders included stars such as Woody Herman, Les Brown, Charlie Barnet, Buddy Rich, Jimmy Lunceford, Harry James, Count Basie, Lionel Hampton, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Gene Krupa, Stan Kenton and Glenn Miller. Less prolific (or less recorded) leaders were Kay Kyser, Clyde Lucas, Yank Lawson, Lee Castle, Tony Pastor, Chubby Jackson, Charlie Spivak, Glen Gray and Don Redman. This review will only focus on the tracks recorded by Herman (16), Rich (12), Basie (24), the combined (and separate) Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey orchestras (13), and the Glenn Miller Army/Air Forces ensembles. (12).
As with all Mosaic releases, there are detailed (although not always accurate) listings of tune titles. Disc 5 has 24 tracks but only 23 are listed. Full personnel details and photos of some of the musicians involved are a decided bonus. David Weiner contributes an informed if discursive commentary on all of these recordings and their provenance. The set as a whole is, to re-coin a Ducal phrase, almost “beyond category”.
Herman’s V-Disc recordings featured such already established names as Flip Phillips, Bill Harris, Pete and Conte Candoli and Dave Tough. Try Your Father’s Mustache or Happiness Is Just A Thing Called Joe (with vocalist Frances Wayne). Buddy Rich – apart from offering comic verbal introductions and superlative drumming, presented the rising tenor-man Allen Eager – on What Is This Thing Called Love, and offered his own vocal talents on Tadd Dameron’s Good Bait. Count Basie (no less), must take pride of place in the V-Disc big-band pantheon. The offerings from his “Old Testament” band featured such founding fathers as Buck Clayton, Harry Edison, Dicky Wells, Lester Young, Buddy Tate, Jimmy Rushing, Don Byas and the “All-American Rhythm Section”. Lionel Hampton participated in only two V-Discs sessions, starting off with a break-neck, two-part rendition of Flying Home. It featured long and rabble-rousing solos by Arnett Cobb, Al Sears, Milt Buckner and the man himself. Ten months later, Hamp returned to V-Discs and offered a duet again with Buckner on Vibe Boogie.
What tracks, then, would I recommend? Answer: Almost everything. Perhaps sample Basie’s Jimmy’s Blues, Taps Miller and Basie Strides Again (although not issued until 1948 under the title Avenue C) and Beaver Junction. The estranged Dorsey Brothers combined to record Brotherly Jump and More Than You Know, which featured Charlie Shavers, Buddy Rich and Jess Stacey. The two Dorseys were also recorded separately. Tommy’s own sessions included a fleet-fingered Buddy De Franco on the previously unissued At The Fat Man’s. Brother Jimmy’s orchestra (including Dizzy Gillespie) offers fresh and spirited renditions of All The Things You Ain’t, and The Great Lie. Last (but certainly not least) are Captain (later Major) Glenn Miller’s Army Air Forces recordings made exclusively for V-Disc. They were largely transfers from live performances or broadcast rehearsals. The most enduring and popular version still has to be his St. Louis Blues March, arranged by Sgt. Jerry Gray, featuring drummers Frank Ippolito and Ray McKinley.
This splendid (if not overwhelming) collection contains 214 recordings – with eight sides previously unissued. Mosaic’s engineers have performed wonders (with a few exceptions which are duly identified) of sonic restoration. Critic George T. Simon is quoted as saying “The V-Disc years are a snapshot of an era that did not last much longer. They mark the high watermark of the big band years.” Simon also supervised Stan Kenton’s V-Disc recordings in autumn 1945 of several sides which included June Christy who had just replaced Anita O’Day in the band. Most of the tracks on this welcome anthology confirm his verdict. We might, however, been spared the inclusion of such decided non-classics as Don’t Worry ’Bout That Mule and There Are No Wings On A Foxhole (Herman), Tabby The Cat and Hymn To A Goat (Hal Mcintyre), Two Spoos In An Igloo (Boyd Raeburn) and Can’t Get Stuff In Your Cuff (Ted Fiorito) which were inflicted on their “captive” listeners. But despite some overripe “corn”, this is a cornucopia (apologies) of the sounds that delighted and sustained American servicemen and women in the 1940s. An expensive but enticing set.
*See also my article “Jazz on V-Disc: America’s not-so-secret weapon” – Jazz Journal, Vol. 68, No. 2 (February 2015) pp 15-17.
Discography
A detailed discography, including tracklists and personnel, is provided on the Mosaic website.
(Mosaic MD10-284)
Harold Mabern: Afro-Blue – 10th Anniversary Edition
Since it’s not available on CD I was only able to listen to this recording by pianist Mabern (1936-2019) on this digital version. This is a 2025 remastering of what is generally conceded to be his finest album, featuring Mabern with invited vocalists Gregory Porter, Norah Jones, Jane Monheit, Kurt Elling and Alexis Cole. The instrumental ensemble includes such Mabern stalwarts as trombonist Steve Turre and tenorist Earl Alexander, trumpeter Jeremy Pelt bassist and drummer Joe Farnsworth.
Mabern was particularly fond of singers, and Farnsworth is quoted as saying “Harold considered Afro-Blue to be the most important record he ever made. It really showcased what he loved to do best, which was being an accompanist.” He certainly inspired and supported his invited singers on such better-known titles as Fools Rush In, I’ll Take Romance, My One And Only Love and Billie’s Bounce. Not all the song titles will be familiar to Mabernists, but they deserve a respectful hearing. The album begins with an instrumental tribute to Coltrane (The Chief). Other titles include the Steely Dan composition Do It Again, Gordon Parks’ Don’t Misunderstand, featuring Jones in a satisfying duet with Mabern, and Ellings’ arresting version of You Needed Me. Afro-Blue provides a timely celebration and evaluation of a talented but unfairly neglected pianist.
Discography
The Chief; Afro Blue; The Man fFrom Hyde Park; Fools Rush In; Don’t Misunderstand; I’ll Take Romance; My One And Only Love; Billie’s Bounce; Portrait Of Jennie; You Needed Me; Such Is Life; Do It Again; Mozzin’; Bobby, Benny, Jymie, Lee, Bu (70.20)
Mabern (p); Gregory Porter, Norah Jones, Jane Monheit, Kurt Elling, Alexis Cole (v); Peter Bernstein (g); Jeremy Pelt (t); Eric Alexander (s); Steve Turre (tb); John Webber (b); Joe Farnsworth (d). Sear Sound, Studio C, NYC, 21 & 29 August, 2014.
Smoke Sessions Records SSR-2507
