Cat. No. 2861: KING OLIVER AND HIS DIXIE SYNCOPATORS ~ SUGAR FOOR STOMP. GRP RECORDS GRD-616. (IMPORT).

THE NAME KING OLIVER WOULD NOT BE KNOWN TO MANY MUSIC FANS OTHER THAN JAZZ AFICIONADOS. JOSEPH "KING" OLIVER, BORN UPRIVER FROM NEW ORLEANS, IN MANY WAYS PERSONIFIED THE STORY OF JAZZ, FROM IT'S RAGTIME BEGINNINGS TO THE COMING OF SWING ORCHESTRAS. WHEN PIONEER CORNETIST BUDDY BOLDEN WAS STILL LEADING A BAND IN THE CRESCENT CITY, YOUNG JOSEPH OLIVER WAS PLAYING HIS HORN IN THE ONWARD BRASS BAND. BY 1910, AT THE AGE OF 25, JOE WAS WELL ON HIS WAY.

WITH OLIVER'S SOLID HOMETOWN REPUTATION AMONG MUSICIANS WHO HAD MOVED UP TO CHICAGO DURING AND AFTER WORLD WAR 1, IT WAS INEVITABLE THAT HE GOT A CALL TO GO NORTH. JOE WENT IN 1918 AND BEFORE LONG TOOK OVER AS LEADER AT SOUTH CHICAGO'S DREAMLAND CAFE. USING MOSTLY LOUISIANA MUSICIANS, HE BEGAN BUILDING HIS FAMOUS CREOLE JAZZ BAND, TAKING THE GROUP OUT FOR A YEAR IN CALIFORNIA, THEN BACK TO CHICAGO'S LINCOLN GARDENS FOR TWO SENSATIONAL YEARS. IT WAS A TIME OF MUSICAL TRIUMPH, OUTSTANDING RECORDINGS, AND RAPIDLY WIDENING FAME. WHEN KING OLIVER BROUGHT LOUIS ARMSTRONG UP FROM NEW ORLEANS IN 1922 TO PLAY SECOND CORNET, MUSICIANS OF EVERY VARIETY FLOCKED TO THE LINCOLN GARDENS TO LISTEN, LEARN AND SOMETIMES COPY. OLIVER'S INFLUENCE ON THE COURSE OF JAZZ, ESPECIALLY IN THE '20s, CAN HARDLY BE OVERSTATED. ALL TRACKS FEATURED ON THIS ALBUM WERE RECORDED FROM 1926 THROUGH 1928 AND WERE MOSTLY RECORDED IN CHICAGO. CD COMES WITH A SIXTEEN PAGE BOOKLET WHICH INCLUDES A COMPREHENSIVE DISCOGRAPHY. FABULOUS HISTORICAL EARLY JAZZ RECORDINGS *****

TRACK LISTING: Too Bad / Snag It (first version) / Deep Henderson / Jackass Blues / Sugar Foot Stomp / Wa Wa Wa / Tack Annie / Someday Sweetheart / Dead Man Blues / New Wang Wang Blues / Snag It (second version) / Doctor Jazz / Showboat Shuffle / Every Tub / Willie The Weeper / Black Snake Blues / Farewell Blues / Sobbin' Blues / Tin Roof Blues / West End Blues / Sweet Emmalina / Lazy Mama.

CD PLUS 16 PAGE BOOKLET     NEW