Night Hawks

Richard M. Jones was more important as a talent scout and an organizer of bands than as a pianist. This Classics CD features Jones as a soloist on two numbers from 1923 ("Jazzin' Babies Blues" and "12th Street Rag"); with the Chicago Hottentots backing the mediocre singer Lillie Delk Christian; playing with Nelson's Paramount Serenaders and Hightower's Night Hawks; and leading his own Jazz Wizards. Among the other players are clarinetist Albert Nicholas, banjoist Johnny St. Cyr, cornetist Shirley Clay, and trombonist Preston Jackson. Although the music is generally not all that classic, this formerly rare material has its strong moments and gives one a good example of middle-of-the-road Chicago jazz of the mid-'20s.

There have been a lot of Sun compilations over the years; this three-CD, 74-song compilation strikes the medium ground between abridged single-disc highlights and overkill ten-album box sets. What this means is that you get virtually all the key sides of this vastly influential blues, country, and rockabilly label, including the biggest Sun hits cut by Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Charlie Rich, and Roy Orbison. There's also a lot of the pioneering electric blues cut by label head Sam Phillips before he made rockabilly Sun's focus, including sides by Howlin' Wolf, B.B. King, Rufus Thomas, Junior Parker, and James Cotton. Then there are the interesting small hits and flops by minor rockabilly figures like Warren Smith, Billy Lee Riley, Malcolm Yelvington, Onie Wheeler, and Carl Mann…