Jelly Roll

Michael Frank inaugurated his Earwig imprint with this 1979 album reteaming Frost, Johnson, and Carr in all their glory. Frank was mesmerized by the trio's almost telepathic musical interplay, a trait captured vividly by the album itself. This trio's repertoire was varied - the no-holds-barred "Slop Jar Blues" is offset by the bubbly instrumental "Sunshine Twist." Frost and Johnson share vocal duties.

The New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers originated back in January 2007 when musician brothers Luther & Cody Dickinson sat down for a guitar jam with ex-Squirrel Nut Zippers leader Jimbo Mathus along with Blues Greats Charlie Musselwhite, Alvin Youngblood Hart and the late Memphis pianist, producer and all around musical stylist Jim Dickinson gathered for a recording under the group name of the New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers.

Jelly Roll Morton - Last Sessions, The Complete General Recordings (1997) {CMD 14032 rec 1939-1940}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 226 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 155 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 58 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1939-40, 1997 Commodore ‎| CMD-14032
Jazz / Early Jazz / Piano

This CD contains Jelly Roll Morton's final studio recordings (the only existing later performances by Morton are a couple of tunes from a radio broadcast) and supercedes an earlier two-LP Atlantic set. The main reason to acquire this 1997 CD is Morton's 13 classic piano solos, which include five vocals, his first on record other than the much earlier "Dr. Jazz" and the Library of Congress sides. Only ten of the solos were originally released, so this is a very complete reissue.

This CD actually starts off with 14 selections that predate the Victors. Several of the early selections (such as the first four numbers, which include cornetist Lee Collins and trombonist Roy Palmer and "Soap Suds") are a bit disappointing due to the low-level recording quality. However, "My Gal" does have some good clarinet work from the underrated Volly DeFaut, there are four superb piano solos (including "The Pearls" and the definitive solo version of "King Porter Stomp"), and blues singer Edmonia Henderson is excellent on "Dead Man Blues" and "Georgia Grind." Despite these highlights, it is the final nine numbers on this disc that are most memorable. Morton is heard with his finest group, a septet with cornetist George Mitchell, trombonist Kid Ory, and clarinetist Omer Simeon…

Recorded in 1998 in the Sonny Boy Williamson Memorial Music Hall in Helena, Arkansas, this pares the blues down to a bare-bones sound with Frank Frost on vocals and harmonica (piano on one track) and Sam Carr on drums (vocals on one track, "Owl Head Woman"), tied together with the overdubbed guitar work of producer Fred James, who also provides the unobtrusive bass parts in the background. The result is a very modern-sounding (i.e., powerful) production that nonetheless keeps the format so astoundingly simple, it seems like a throwback to an earlier time……

John Rhea "Yank" Lawson was a jazz trumpeter known for Dixieland and swing music. Born John Lausen in 1911, from 1933 to 1935 he worked in Ben Pollack's orchestra and after that became a founding member of the Bob Crosby Orchestra. He later worked with Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey, but also worked with Crosby again in 1941-42. Later in the 1940s he became a studio musician leading his own Dixieland sessions. In the 1950s he and Bob Haggart created the Lawson-Haggart band and they worked together in 1968 to form the World's Greatest Jazz Band, a Dixieland group which performed for the next ten years…