EVA TAYLOR & THE CLARENCE WILLIAMS BLUE FIVE
2. Cake Walking Babies from Home (Williams–Smith–Troy) 2:56
Louis Armstrong (c), Charlie Irwis (tb), Sidney Bechet (ss), Clarence Williams (p), „Buddy“ Christian (bjo), Eva Taylor (voc)
New York, NY, 8. Januar 1925 (OKeh)
von: Louis Armstrong – Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, 1923–1934 (Columbia, 4 CD, 1994)
Sidney Bechet (1897–1959) stammte wie Louis Armstrong aus New Orleans – und wichtiger: er war in diesen Jahren der einzige Solist, der auf Augenhöhe mit Armstrong spielte. Pianist und Bandleader Clarence Williams (1893–1965) organisierte öfter Gruppen, die nur im Aufnahmestudio existierten (dasselbe war bei Louis Armstrongs Hot Fives auch der Fall) und die besten von ihnen bringen Armstrong und Bechet zusammen.
Dan MorgensternWhen these two, the only true jazz virtuosi of the day, get together on CAKE WALKING BABIES (FROM HOME), sparks fly. They engage in actual rivalry, each man soloing and presenting a sequence of slashing breaks. It’s almost a draw, but what wins Louis the prize is hi superior rhythm; even Bechet, a powerful swinger, cannot match the Armstrong juggling of almost subliminal time shifts. Like a great tightrope walker, Louis never makes a wrong move. In 1924, jazz here reaches a first plateau of maturity, balancing instrumental mastery and what would late become known as ‟soul.” These two men had taught themselves how to tell a story in music.
Dan Morgenstern schreibt an anderer Stelle (alles aus dem Booklet der oben erwähnten CD-Box) über Armstrongs Breaks in der zweiten Ensemble-Passage: „His climactic stop-time figure is a miracle of juggling subliminal note-values. This is one of the first masterpieces of recorded jazz – and a rousing affirmation of life.“
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"Don't play what the public want. You play what you want and let the public pick up on what you doin' -- even if it take them fifteen, twenty years." (Thelonious Monk) | Meine Sendungen auf Radio StoneFM: gypsy goes jazz, #165: Johnny Dyani (1945–1986) - 9.9., 22:00 | Slow Drive to South Africa, #8: tba | No Problem Saloon, #30: tba