King Oliver And His Creole Jazz Band (Gennett, October 5, 1923 Session)

King Oliver And His Creole Jazz Band - The Gennett Sessions October 5, 1923 Gennett Recording Studio, Richmond, IN * For those releases the band changed their name from King Oliver’s Jazz Band to King Oliver And His Creole Jazz Band. * The songs were taken from The Chronological Classics: King Oliver And His Creole Jazz Band 1923. * The songs were mixed following their catalog numbers’ order. TRACK LISTING 00:00 Krooked Blues [Master 11638] [Bill Johnson / John Spikes / Reb Spikes] [Gennett 5274-A] 02:49 Alligator Hop [Master 11633-B] [Alphonse Picou / King Oliver] [Gennett 5274-B] 05:08 Zulu’s Ball [Master 11635-A] [Jim Robinson / King Oliver] [Gennett 5275-A] 07:39 Workingman Blues [Master 11636-B] [King Oliver / Lil Hardin] [Gennett 5275-B] * It’s sometimes said that eight numbers were recorded on this session. That Sweet Something, Dear [Master 11634-C] b/w If You Want My Heart [Master 11639-B] was supposedly assigned a release number (Gennett 5276), but went unissued. The real story is different though. Laurie Wright and John R.T. Davies assembled a “fudged“ label photograph of Gennett 5276, complete with the title: “That Sweet Something, Dear.“ They then co-conspired with the “Storyville team,“ a gang of volunteer loonies who assembled Storyville magazine in England in the 60s, and which at one time included your humble servant, to include the photo of the “unissued“ Oliver Gennett in the magazine. On the page was the footnote “April 1 1963“ in Univers Bold type, large enough to give the observer a black eye. This notwithstanding, such was the desire among the readership for the April Fool joke not to be so, that Laurie and John received several inquiries about the possibility of hearing or buying the item (SHAW, Malcolm. “Bixing“: Myths, Lies, and Political Correctness in Jazz Research, p. 7). When You Leave Me Alone To Pine [Master 11632-ABC] and Someday Sweetheart [11637-ABC] were apparently both rejected ( * Zulu’s Ball b/w Workingman Blues survives in a single remaining pressing that was not released. It was discovered by a West Coast collector, Monte Ballou, in 1944 in while rummaging in an Alabama Salvation Army store. Ballou held the disc until 1974 when, after lengthy correspondence, he sold it to New York collector Bernie Klatzko. Bernie, who died in mid-November, wrote VJM (Vintage Jazz Mart Magazine) recently to say he owned the disc for five years before selling it to Dutch collector Max Vreede, with dealer Robert Altshuler acting as the middle man for the transaction. Max Vreede died nearly 10 years ago and the disc remained in his study until last March when VJM editor Russ Shor and film archivist Joe Lauro purchased it (). FORMAT Single / 78 rpm [10-inch] / Mono PERSONNEL Honoré Dutrey - Trombone John Alexander “Johnny“ St. Cyr - Banjo John M. “Johnny“ Dodds - Clarinet Joseph Nathan “King“ Oliver - Cornet Lillian Beatrice “Lil“ Hardin - Piano Louis Daniel Armstrong - Cornet Paul Anderson “Stump“ Evans - C-Melody Saxophone Warren “Baby“ Dodds - Percussion [Woodblocks] BIOGRAPHY A key figure in the first period of jazz history, Oliver’s career was a mix of triumph and miscalculation. He was bandleading in New Orleans in the early years of the century, but it wasn’t until the 1910s that he really rose above the other local groups. He went to Chicago in 1919 and created what became the Creole Jazz Band around 1921, which Louis Armstrong joined in 1922. They were a sensation, and made the first important group of records by black jazzmen. His later band, the Dixie Syncopators, was less successful, and turning down an offer from New York’s Cotton Club may have been a crucial mistake (it went to Duke Ellington). Though he was still touring and recording, he was out of fashion by the early ’30s and was often barely able to play, owing to poor teeth. He died in Savannah, Georgia, reduced to working as a pool-hall janitor (COOK, Richard; MORTON, Brian. The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. 8th edition. London: Penguin Books, 2006, p. 997). PICTURES 1st (left to right): Baby Dodds, Honoré Dutrey, King Oliver, Bill Johnson, Louis Armstrong, Johnny Dodds and Lil Hardin 2nd: King Oliver 3rd (left to right): Louis Armstrong and King Oliver