Bye And Bye: Selected Late Poems

George Lewis and His Ragtime Band - Jazz At Vespers (1954) {Riverside OJCCD-1721-2 rel 1992}
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© 1954, 1992 Riverside / Fantasy / OJC | OJCCD-1721-2
Jazz / Ragtime / New Orleans Jazz / Clarinet

The recording captures Lewis's ensemble perhaps at zenith. "Jazz at Vespers" is one of the key albums in the George Lewis canon. It was recorded during a Vespers service in 1954 at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Oxford Ohio. This was the church of Rev. Alvin Kershaw, a jazz enthusiast who was one of the first to use jazz bands as part of a service. George Lewis was at his best playing spirituals, his clarinet gentle and introspective, weaving inside the melodies like a white dove. The band backed him sensitively.Highly recommended. Clean, clear recordings.

For their sixth Concord recording, there was a major change in the personnel of the Cheathams' Sweet Baby Blues Band. Jimmie Noone, Jr. had passed away, and his replacement was the popular tenor Rickey Woodard, who on this set also plays some effective alto and clarinet (the latter on "Buddy Bolden's Blues"). But Woodard is only one of a bunch of colorful soloists, which include pianist/singer Jeannie Cheatham, Jimmy Cheatham on bass trombone, altoist Curtis Peagler, Snooky Young and Nolan Smith on trumpets, baritonist Dinky Morris and guest Frank Wess on tenor and flute. With bassist Red Callender and drummer John "Ironman" Harris keeping the ensembles swinging and driving, this is a particularly memorable set..

Fats Domino - I've Been Around: The Complete Imperial and ABC-Paramount Recordings (2019) {12CD Set, Bear Family BCD17579}
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© 1948-65, 2015 Bear Family Records | BCD 17579
Early Rhythm & Blues / Rock & Roll / New Orleans R&B / Swamp-Pop / Piano Blues

We could have taken the easy way out. The original 1993 box set was out of stock. We could simply have printed more copies and filled orders. Of course, we didn’t. This is Bear Family Records and we don’t take shortcuts. We’ve invested more than 1000 hours in re-writing, recompiling and re-mastering this box. The brilliant engineering by Christian Zwarg will leave you shaking your head in admiration. You won’t quite recognize some of your favorite Fats Domino tracks because they’ve never sounded this good.

Various Artists - Heavy Sugar: The Pure Essence Of New Orleans R&B (1952-1959) {3CD Set Fantastic Voyage FVTD051 rel 2010}
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© 1952-59, 2010 Fantastic Voyage | FVTD051
Rhythm & Blues / Rock ‘n’ Roll / Rockabilly

Over the course of time, Heavy Sugar has been the title of a song, the name of a radio station, an independent movie and the primary ingredient for a rapturous recipe. How fitting it is that this latter description also epitomizes the ingredients that go to make up Heavy Sugar: The Pure Essence of New Orleans R&B. Just think, if the celebrity chefs of New Orleans were to whip up Heavy Sugar until the peaks start to form, then the hostesses on Bourbon Street would go that little bit further and add any flavour necessary to achieve a creamy finish.