1944 - October 26

James P. Johnson's Blue Note Jazz Men – October 26 1944

 

B-6506 Liner Notes – Leonard Feather 

Tishomingo Blues, a Spencer Williams tune recorded by Duke Ellington in 1928, has a couple of changes in the rhythm section, and brings Edmond Hall back into the front line. Bassist Al Lucas, like Dickenson, was working with Eddie Heywood during the period when these sessions were made. Arthur "Traps" Trappier, the drummer, spent three years with Fats Waller before the latter's death, then worked with the Teddy Wilson and Edmond Hall combos at Café Society. 

DeParis deploys his plunger in the first chorus of this tune, which might best be analyzed as a 32 bar blues. Ed, Vic, James P. and Jimmy all have a chance to work out on this rarely heard composition. 

Having been on the New York scene around the time these records were made (I remember some spiritedly rewarding nights listening to James P. at the Pied Piper, just off Sheridan Square), I find it doubly interesting to study these records in a 25 year retrospect. But they have dated so little, and so much vital jazz still emerges, it is not entirely a matter of whether or when jazz becomes old fashioned. 

There is much music made five years ago that already sounds dated; there are, on the other hand, numerous sides waxed during the 1920s by Louis, Bix and others that still have the breath of freshness, because their conception knew no bounds of time, style or fad. Happily, the music of Sidney DeParis, James P. Johnson and their Blue Note Jazzmen belongs in this elite category of music, in which the only time that counts is the 4/4 time signature, and what matters most is the beauty, the inspiration and the personal qualities of the unforgettable artists who made these contributions to jazz history. 

Eric Thacker – The Complete Edmond Hall/James P. Johnson/Sidney DeParis/Vic Dickenson Blue Note Sessions 

The line-up of the De Paris session in June (link) differed from that of the first Johnson's Jazzmen date only by having Hall in Webster's room. This second Johnson-led session is different again only in having Lucas and Trappier in place of Simmons and Catlett.  

With De Paris using his plunger at the beginning, TISHOMINGO BLUES could be a continuation of the closing mood of the June session. But four months have elapsed and revised concepts and relationships of role obtain. The character of the first two numbers and the fourth is, to an interesting extent, affected by the tunes chosen, each of them having a shapely continuity, tunes which carry a sense of jazz self- celebration with them. In the leisurely TISHOMINGO, Shirley's rhythms and tones sound brightly as De Paris completes his theme announcement. Hall talks to himself quietly while the trumpeter carries his own musing a little further; Dickenson splits the chorus and sounds similarly meditative. Johnson traces slightly distracted thoughts and, in that chorus’s second half, enters upon a stretch of fairly indeterminate conversation with Shirley and others. An arranged variation on the tune, allowing for edgings off into extemporization, brings the first, unissued, essay to its end. 

The second take. Again, De Paris packs a variety of colorings and rhythmic delicacies into his vocalization. The other solos follow a fairly predictable course, and only Johnson, slipping in some time-doubling, and Shirley, forming earlier half-thoughts into a consistent expression, make much advance. In both finales De Paris’ horn is un-muted, as it is for the splendid WALKIN’ THE DOG. In this, Hall, De Paris, and Dickenson are permitted two sixteen-bar choruses for their solos; Johnson, self –effacing, is satisfied with one. The trumpet and trombone sequences are sparked by some provocative jostlings, Dickenson's last bars being particularly exciting, even as he contrives an exalted tonal reserve. There are two choruses of rambunctious collectivity, beautifully wheeled along by the pianist. The second take simply confirms the success of the first.  

Though EASY RIDER is no Ellingtonian theme, and though the slow shuffle basis is not too encouraging, De Paris again proves himself the best 'jungle' trumpeter who never recorded with the Duke. All in all, this is the least fetching track. Dedication militates rather against freedom, and the way in which fairly straight rehearsals of the tune back Hall's well-formed solo causes some uncomfortable convergences.  

Dickenson sticks inside the ensemble, sounding a bit lame amid some fruity revivalism which a sprightlier tempo might have freshened. Still, 'less good' from a band of this caliber is well above the jazz average.  

Dickenson takes the first solo in AT THE BALL and, in the first take, seems not quite keyed up to an instruction that each solo should end four bars early, enabling the next contender to span his thirty-two bars from a kind of reverse overlap. The rest of the batting order is Hall, De Paris, Johnson. The other version is markedly faster, but also about half-a-minute longer, allowing for a Shirley solo, some muffled comments from Lucas, and some boisterous headlong drumming. Dickenson times his disappearance neatly this time, but Hall dashes in to make certain.  

The venerable band-leader's AT THE BALL solo proves a fitting exit for him from this sequence of sessions spanning, in fact, only eleven months, and to which he makes such a varied, constantly engaging, vividly magisterial contribution. Riffing, stomping, tumbling and dancing lightly here, he shows emphatically that a continually refreshed honoring of tradition is the best of all ways 'to be modernistic'. 

Dan Morgenstern - the Blue Note Jazzmen CD Liner Notes 

"Tishomingo Blues," composed by New Orleans native Spencer Williams in 1917, has a hauntingly attractive theme, suited to the band's leisurely tempo. The first take's a bit hazy in spots, the second more focused; the piano solos are intriguingly different. Things perk up for "Walkin' the Dog," a descriptive dance piece from 1916-—when the Bunny Hug, Grizzly Bear and Fox Trot were in vogue—by Shelton Brooks. It's such a fine piece for ensemble that one wonders why it isn't heard more often (Bunny Berigam gave it a good interpretation in 1939); James P. knew a good number. Both takes are delightful and swinging; the horns all take two 16-bar choruses while Jimmy is content with just one—he almost steals the show on the second take. Ed Hall and Shirley are an excellent match, here as elsewhere, and Vic scores once again while Sidney conjures up ol’ Davey Crockett during his nimble  turns. "Easy Rider," another of those patented Blue Note slow blues, is perhaps the least successful of this date's efforts, but far from feeble, with Sidney's growl stuff to the fore. But now we come to the piece de resistance (or rather, pieces.) The takes of "At the Ball" are really two distinct versions of that splendid but little well known composition by yet another New Orleanian, J. Lubrie Hill, whose 1913   
show "My Friend From Kentucky" was such a hit at Harlem's Lafayette Theater that Florence Ziegfield adapted its closing scene for his "Follies" of that year; the song featured in that scene was "At The Ball." It was surely James P. who remembered and brought the music to this date, and surely it was also he who devised the tricky routine whereby each soloist hands off to the next man two bars before one would expect it, thus suspending the completion of a break.   
  
The first take's the slower one, though well above middle tempo. After the opening ensemble, Vic's up first and he hands off to Edmond just a few microseconds late. Then Sidney takes it, handing off to James P. , whose second break is stunning. Traps takes the breaks in the rideout. A fine rendition, but hold on—here comes take two, and it's quite a bit faster, allowing for more soloing. Vic again leads off and this time hits safely; Edmond gets superb rhythmic support, and then Sidney tops his first effort, his notes skipping like a flat stone tossed over water. Then James P. fashions another terrific break, and now Shirley gets a spot, cutting the time in half effectively. Al Lucas gets his turn, and then comes a drum solo—not just a break—and its rambunctious. The final ensemble jumps. This was James P.’s  valedictory as a bandleader; he went out in a blaze of glory.  

Session Information 

Sidney DeParis, trumpet; Vic Dickenson, trombone; Edmond Hall, clarinet; James P. Johnson, piano; Jimmy Shirley, guitar; Al Lucas, bass; Arthur Trappier, drums. 

WOR Studios, NYC, October 26, 1944 

BN993-0, Tishomingo Blues (alternate take) 

BN993-2, Tishomingo Blues, Blue Note BLP 7012, B-6506 

BN994-0, Walking The Dog (alternate take) 

BN994-1, Walking The Dog, Blue Note BLP 7012 

BN995-0, Easy Rider 

BN996-0, At The Ball (alternate take) 

BN996-3, At The Ball, Blue Note BLP 7012