Jimmie Lunceford
The Complete Jimmie Lunceford Decca Sessions
Mosaic Records
www.mosaicrecords.com
By George W. Harris

As Jackie Paris is to singing fans, and Wardell Grey is to devotees of the tenor sax, so is the Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra to fans of the music that came out of the Swing/Big Band era during The Depression (that’s the REAL depression, not Obama’s). The only difference between these musical cult followers of undeservedly obscure jazz geniuses is that, for a short time, Jimmie Lunceford’s well oiled jazz machine was as popular, if not more so, than the presently better known bands of Count Basie and Duke Ellington. Like his two competitors, Lunceford had developed his own unique sound and style: his incessant two-beat rhythm is pounded into every song, making each release a jitterbug’s dream, and the whispy solo and group harmonies provided by Trummy Young et al were a sine qua non of the band, making songs like “Margie” and “My Blue Heaven” completely identifiable with the band. This limited edition 7 cd set by Mosaic records puts together for the first time all of Lunceford’s sessions with Decca Records, and with a remastered sound quality that makes the piecemeal Classic single releases pale like an albino rat.( it should be noted that Lunceford did a bunch of sessions for Victor as well, which are not included here, making this a not-quite complete collection of Lunceford’s famous Orchestra)

Not only did Lunceford have a unique sound emanating from his orchestra, thanks mostly to the clever arrangements by Sy Oliver (who would soon be stolen by Tommy Dorsey) and Gerald Wilson (who is still alive and swinging in LA), Eddie Durham and Tadd Dameron, but he had at his disposal some of the best soloists around. Alto saxist Willie Smith, with his one of a kind gurgling sound, is eternally overlooked as a counterpart to Benny Carter and Johnny Hodges (he was also eventually taken away from Lunceford when the leader was out-bid by a white band leader, Harry James).The red headed Joe Thomas on tenor was a mix of Coleman Hawkins rhapsody and Lester Young smooth, while Paul Webster’s trumpet reached the stratosphere in a way that drove the Lindy Hoppers wild. All the while, Jimmie Crawford’s driving drums made the band groove like the chariot races in Ben-Hur.

Even though Lunceford was a contemporary of Ellington, he could cover the Duke’s material and make it sound completely like his own. No one will mistake his arrangements of “Solitude,” “Sophisticated Lady” or “Black and Tan Fantasy” for anyone’s but Lunceford’s, and for my money, the “Black and Tan” and “Mood Indigo” here are for the books. Meanwhile, tunes like “Sleepy Time Girl,” with its snazzy reed section interlude, “Rhythm Is Our Business” and “For Dancers Only” have a pulse and revved up drive that will get under your skin in no time, mixing artsy arrangements with foot moving riffs. Lunceford wasn’t above a bit of humor as well, with tunes like “Four Or Five Times” and “I’m Nuts About Screwy Music” grabbing your funny bone as well as making your toes tapping. As mentioned earlier, trombonist/ vocalist Trummy Young started a whole new style of singing with his hep-to-the-jive soto voce on “Swanee River” which still sounds crazy after all these years. If you think today’s big bands have something exciting to say, send me an email after you hear tunes like “Harlem Shout” and you’ll understand how half of the population tuned out of jazz once they stopped playing dance music. It ain’t what’cha say, but the way that’cha say it.

The attractive booklet includes some wonderful annotations from Lunceford biographer Eddy Determeyer, and the included photos from the late Joe Thomas’ private collection are priceless. As always, this is a 5000 release limited edition, so get it while you can. It’s a honey!