These two recent concert recordings released by Dot Time Records reveal that the genre of music isn’t nearly as important as the way it is delivered.
While Louis Armstrong preceded the Swing Era, it has been argued that he not only created the pulse, but his solos were the foundation for the Big Band Era of Swing. This 1964 recording that captures his working band of Russell “Big Chief” Moore/tb, Billy Kyle/p, Danny Barcelona/dr, Joe Darensbourg/cl, Arvell Shaw/b and Jewel Brown/voc gives testimony to the fact that Armstrong was able to include material that ranged from New Orleans Traditional to bebop and puree’ it all through an irresistibly good time and satisfy every ear in the audience.
Armstrong has no problem giving solo space to his band members, as Kyle delivers a two fisted stomp of “When I Grow To Old To Dream,” Shaw bebops through a snappy “How High the Moon” and Jewel Brown mixes Sarah Vaughan and R&B growls during “have You Heard About Jerry” and “Lover Come Back to Me.” Instrumentals like “Indiana” and “Tiger Rag” have Armstrong and Darnsbourg in peppy form, and while Armstrong beams through the hit “Hello, Dolly,” the band swings through an extra chorus and swings the daylights out of it, removing any sense of nostalgia. This is a collection of a masterpiece performance delivering timeless sounds. Simply enjoyable on a plethora of levels.
Drummer Gene Krupa is best known for bringing the tom toms to the forefront of jazz on his relentless work of Benny Goodman’s classic “Sing Sing Sing.” He also led a successful big band of his own, but by the time of this 1966 recording, he actually sounds like he’s mixing it up with the hard bop boys. It doesn’t hurt that he employs Eddie Shu, who sounds a lot like Dexter Gordon on tenor sax, and with Benny Moten/b (not the old KC bandleader) and Dill Jones/p, Krupa sounds absolutely up to date and timeless.
Krupa shows off his skills with a hip Afro Bossa take of Duke Ellington’s “Caravan” and let’s the sparks fly on his hit song “Drum Boogie” that doesn’t miss Barbara Stanwyck at all. His nifty interplay with Moten on “Big Noise From Winnetka” is a bopping delight, and the team sounds bouncy on with Shu on clarinet on a Goodmanesque “Honeysuckle Rose.” Jones gets the spotlight on a striding “Alligator Crawl,” but that’s the only reference to the old Chicago Jazz days, as Shu’s beefy sax growls like a lion on “Caravan” and oozes on “The Shadow of Your Smile.” Krupa and company are surprisingly hip at this stage of the game!