1944 - June 21

 Sidney DeParis' Blue Note Jazz Men – June 21 1944 

 

The American Record Guide – August 1945 Volume 11 Issue 12 

Everybody Loves My Baby by Sidney De Paris' Blue Note Jazz Men. Sidney De Paris—trumpet; Vic Dickenson—trombone; Edmond Hall—clarinet; James P. Johnson—piano: Arthur Shirley—guitar;  
Sidney Catlett—drums (Blue Note 40).  

The number starts with De Paris' driving trumpet leading some rough ensemble playing, but this is soon succeeded by an excellent trombone solo and then by a cleanly played trumpet improvisation. Johnson's piano is interesting mainly because it shows how much his pupil. the late "Fats" Waller, owed to him. Hall's clarinet solo on this side is somewhat spoiled for me by his excessively harsh tone, but it must be admitted that his musical ideas are of the best. On the reverse, we have Call of the Blues which is the best medium tempo jazz that I've heard in many a moon. It is credited to and features De Paris almost all the way. His restrained muted choruses with the constant use of rubato give the listener a sense of great power held in reserve. Johnson's rolling boogie-woogie piano background and the relaxed but firmly based rhythm section also contribute a great deal to the success of the record. Dickenson, Shirley and Hall take their turns at improvising and each one has something worthwhile to add. The record end with some great trumpet work by the leader. 

The Jazz Record August 1946 – George Avakian 

Another in the excellent series of Ed Hall-Sidney de Paris collaborations. While not one of the best by this pair, both are such consistently fine musicians that it's always a treat to have them around.  

Ballin' the Jack's got more character, perhaps because Hall and De Paris have their solos first on this side and last on the coupling. James P. Johnson's whimsical piano shines on the first side, too, and John Simmons' tasteful bassing lightens the heavy-handedness of Sidney Catlett's drums. The last ensemble choruses on both titles are infinitely better than the ragged first choruses would lead you to expect, and it appears that the "Blue Note button" is here to stay. What I mean is that almost all De Paris-Hall records tack a sustained chord at the end, and the one on Ballin' the Jack sets a new record for duration. 

Pete Welding - B-6501 Liner Notes 

For jazz, the 1940's was a period of incredible activity and musical diversity. A vast number of apparently conflicting styles and idioms vied for the attention of the jazz fan. The large Swing orchestras that had come to the fore in the '30's still exerted a huge influence; for the popular record buyer, jazz generally meant the music of the white popularizers like Benny Goodman, the Dorsey brothers, Artie Shaw and the like. For the more dedicated and knowledgeable listener, there were all manner of small groups; New York's "jazz street" (52nd Street) was jumping and its numerous clubs supported a large floating population of jazz musicians who came together in various, ever-changing permutations. Too, the new music, eventually to be called bop, was beginning to stir uneasily in the wings. 

Titled "Sidney DeParis' Blue Note Jazzmen" on its recordings, this 1944 unit consisted of: Ohio-born trombonist Vic Dickenson, one of the most individual, intelligent and probing soloists of the Swing period; New Orleans clarinetist Edmond Hall, one of the most recorded musicians of the late '30's and early '40's and who on these two numbers almost unconsciously affected a Sidney Bechet-like attack and phrasing; the veteran and awesomely versatile pianist James P. Johnson, a New Jersey native who had been one of the preeminent fixtures of the New York jazz, blues and show business scene from early in the century; DeParis on trumpet of course; guitarist Jimmy Shirley, another Ohioan who had been active in small group and orchestral jazz through the '30's and who was a member of Herman Chittison's popular trio at New York City's Blue Angel when these records were made; Los Angeles bassist John Simmons, who had played in a variety of large and small jazz settings through the '30's and early '40's, including stints with both Benny Goodman and Louis Armstrong; drummer Sid Catlett, like DeParis a Hoosier, with a vast experience in jazz and Swing through the 1930's and long considered by musicians as one of the most advanced and sensitive percussionists in jazz. 

The music the septet made was memorable. Over the supple four of the rhythm section, the band simply explodes. Sidney DeParis' incendiary, flaring trumpet spears and drives the group on, while Hall weaves sinuously in and out, above and below the trumpet with imaginative agility, and Dickenson provides his wry burry punch and plenty of the yeast pungency that was his forte. While the textures of the music are those of the traditional New Orleans ensemble, the music is decidedly of a much more modern cast. This is of course most clearly evidenced in the solo segments of the two numbers, but it informs the ensemble playing as well. Even Shirley gets a solo turn on "Who's Sorry Now?" and acquits himself with distinction. And DeParis fairly crackles in his improvisations; at his best he could phrase with both lyricism and driving power. The two go hand-in-glove in his playing here. The two performances are masterful samples of traditional music that is suffused, that fairly glows in fact, with excitement, inventiveness and plenty of wit. Its commitment to total, whole-hearted playing, and its freedom from ideological positions, gave the music of Sidney DeParis' Blue Note Jazzmen freshness, contemporaneity and a chance at timelessness. 

The Record Changer – July 1945 

(Review with Blue Note 45, Sidney Bechet Blue Horizon, Muskrat Ramble) 

In Everybody Loves My Baby the solos are well played but there is a lack of invention in them. De Paris has the best solo although it is not outstanding. Johnson's piano is a little on the accepted side of orchestra piano playing. Maybe I am asking too much, for it is no lack of imagination on the artist's part but rather in the medium or style of such piano playing. 

The Call of the Blues is another unique record. To a background of Johnson's boogie woogie de Paris plays many choruses. They appear to be all in the same manner but the variations are so melodically conceived that the sameness of manner disappears in compositional progression. Shirley has two good guitar choruses. Some of his melodic twists are so intriguing, when playing on his bass notes, that it is a shame we cannot talk more explicitly about them without recourse to notation. Hall's choruses are not too inspired but they are, as always, intact and move along in the medium of great music. There is a background by de Paris and the orchestra to Hall's solo which is only one more of the ingenious things we hear on this side. Dickerson keeps rather close to the theme introduced by de Paris. He is more mellow than Hall and coming after him makes good contrast. 

The Call of the Blues is a great record. How great I cannot exactly say. It does not have, nor does it attempt to have, the quality of greatness that we may expect to come from early New Orleans or from the style that the men, surrounding Bunk, have today. The very singable music in it should make it very winning and I cannot see why it should not become popular and at the same time have nothing to be ashamed of. De Paris so played his choruses both at the beginning and at the end that the whole piece holds tightly together. The other solos in the middle vary in their style somewhat which is something we must and should expect from a later day jazz. All the solos are played in a manner that hint of the fact that something has transpired since early jazz. De Paris and Dickerson are both extremely melodic in their own way. 

 

Leonard Feather – B-6506 Liner Notes 

Everybody Loves My Baby, the Spencer Williams 1924 standard, sets the pace, displaying the verse and chorus of this imperishable song. It is interesting to note that the rhythm section, though heavy and rigid by today's standards, never becomes ponderous; for this we must accord much of the credit to the finesse of Big Sid Catlett, many of whose ideas in the 1930s and '40s were still being picked up on by jazzmen after his death in 1951. 

A dash of humor informs Vic Dickenson's solo, as is so often the case with him. Hall demonstrates his exceptional ability to inflame the clarinet, an instrument that has shown a tendency to sound passive and even flaccid in less capable hands. Sidney DeParis' style carries suggestions of Roy Eldridge, both in his sound and in the use of thrills and other devices associated with Little Jazz. 

Ballin' The Jack, from your hit parade of 1914, offers a familiar harmonic background for the horns and an opportunity for James P. to display a dainty, symmetrical style. At one point, as one reviewer observed when this record was originally released on a 78, James P. displays his occasional tendency to use breaks in the style of Zez Confrey, the celebrated popular pianist of the 1920s. 

Who's Sorry Now? is of unusual interest in that Jimmy Shirley takes the introduction and the first solo chorus, the notes so evenly spaced that you tend to compare his time with Charlie Christian's. Vic is in top form, with riffing encouragement offered by the other horns, and James P. may remind you of Fats Waller, though this is a reversal of the way things should bet since, of course, it was Fats who was an ardent disciple of Johnson; the latter, born in 1891, was 13 years Waller's senior. 

The Call of the Blues, with James P. setting a boogie woogie figure, offers an admirable example of the plunger and growl style of Sidney DeParis, in a tradition generally associated with Bobber Miley of the early Ellington orchestra. Jimmy Shirley pulls his weight, swinging as much as or more than anyone else in the band. Hall and Dickenson, of course, are acknowledged masters of the blues. 

Dan Morgenstern - the Blue Note Jazzmen CD Liner Notes 

"Everybody Loves My Baby" is presented in contrasting tempos, the first take considerably faster, each opening with the song's verse, and each offering splendid solos. On the first, we get one by James P. t on the second, the brassman both excel; on the first, the closing ensemble is a rouser, and on both, the team of Simmons and Catlett—great friends who'd served together in the bands of Armstrong and Benny Goodman—is magical "Ballin' the Jack" survives in just one take, but it's just about perfect in terms of tempo and feeling. This 1913 tune describes a dance, and the rhythm section's work will urge you to get out on the floor. For once, the great James P. gets two choruses to himself, and makes the most of it, and De Paris clearly likes this song. "Who's Sorry Now," vintage 1923, comes in for two fine takes; I like the first best for its firm tempo and great James P., but Jimmy Shirley's characteristic guitar's fine on both, as are all the horns—dig that rhythm section behind Hall on the first take! "Call of the Blues" is Sidney's feature and it's a masterpiece; he gets that plunger going front and back, growling and swinging. Hall's graceful, Shirley takes one of his best, really into the blues, and Vic tells another of his sly, funky stories. Too bad this wasn't a working band—they'd have made history. Hell, they did...    

 

Session Information 

Sidney DeParis, trumpet; Vic Dickenson, trombone; Edmond Hall, clarinet; James P. Johnson, piano; Jimmy Shirley, guitar; John Simmons, bass; Sidney Catlett, drums. 

WOR Studios, NYC, June 21, 1944 

BN981-0, Everybody Loves My Baby, Blue Note 40, BLP 7012, B-6501, B-6506 

BN981-1, Everybody Loves My Baby (alternate take) 

BN982-0, Ballin' The Jack, Blue Note 41, BLP 7007, B-6506 

BN983-0, Who's Sorry Now (alternate take) 

BN983-1, Who's Sorry Now, Blue Note 41, BLP 7007, B-6506 

BN984-0, The Call Of The Blues, Blue Note 40, BLP 7012, B-6501, B-6506, BST 89902