Usually, when you think of the Swing Era, your mind goes to the big bands of Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Tommy Dorsey and Chick Webb. But, the fact of the matter is that almost all of these orchestras also had smaller sub units in order to let their music breath a bit more freely and swing a bit more loosely. Thus, you had Goodman’s trios, quartets and sextets, Ellington’s small groups, Basie’s Kansas City 5 or 6, Dorsey’s Clambake Seven and Webb’s Little Chicks.
Bassist John Kirby formed a band of essential alumni from Fletcher Henderson’s Orchestra and, as the title of this release suggests, created one of the most swinging, clever and generally “biggest” small group around. They consisted of Charlie Shavers/tp, Russell Procope/as, Buster Bailey/cl, Billy Kyle/p and O’Neil Spencer/dr along with the gifted leader, and these 24 2-3 minute ditties from the 40s contain some of the most erudite, clever, fun and cooking music of the time. It’s surprising how well this music stands up over time. No gimmicks, just excellent musicianship and well crafted arrangements of material like “Blue Skies,” as well as groovers such as “9:20 Special” and “Perdido.” Bailey’s clarinet is a thrill here, with some amazing dexterity on material like “B flat Special.” Their flexibility and agility is glorious as they swing classics as on “Mr. Haydn Gets Hip” and “Sextet from Lucia de Lammermoor” but this band was nothing if not swining, and they could go 8 to the bar with the best as on “Boogie Woogie.” A pure thrill from start to finish. Look for this gem!
Classic Jazz Records
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