1947: When

Mezz Mezzrow was a jazz musician better known for writing his exaggerated autobiography Really the Blues in 1946 than for his clarinet playing. This Classics disc highlights the year 1947 when Mezzrow was recording for his own King Jazz label. Even on up-tempo hot numbers, a hazy laid back approach was consistently maintained, which may have had something to do with Mezzrow's fondness for marijuana. However, these are highly enjoyable recordings that feature vocalist Coot Grant on six of the discs 20 tracks along with top New Orleans jazzmen including Sidney Bechet, Pops Foster, and Baby Dodds.

Most people who are hip to Eugene "Honeybear" Sedric know him as the man who was Fats Waller's chosen handler of clarinet and tenor saxophone, usually paired with trumpeter Herman Autrey as the front line of the little "Rhythm" band, between the years 1934 and 1943. To be able to savor an entire CD containing virtually everything that Sedric recorded as a leader is a musical treat beyond belief. Any true Waller devotee would jump on this without hesitation. The first four tracks, recorded in November 1938, feature Waller's touring band, heard here with Hank Duncan at the piano and featuring spunky vocalist Myra Johnson, who livened up several of Waller's three-minute movies, including "The Joint Is Jumpin'"…

The year was 1947: World War II was over and there was music in the air, with Frank Sinatra making teenagers swoon. On other airways, primarily black radio stations, another, earthier music was being played which would become the foundation for what is now called rock & roll. Back then it was called the blues and rhythm & blues, and its voices had names like Wynonie Harris, Willie Dixon, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Among its musicians were Big Bill Broonzy, Hosea Sapp, and Thunder Smith. This CD is part of a series that chronicles the history of this music that was to have such an impact on rock & roll. This volume collects some of the great hits of 1947, when many baby boomers were born, who would go on to become the major supporters of the idiom…