Year: 2000
Record Label: Jazz Crusade
Style: Other
Musicians: Dr. Michael White - clarinet; Norman Thatcher - trumpet; Emil Mark - piano; Dr. Colin Bray - string bass; Big Bill Bissonnette - drums.
Review: Johnny Dodds (1892-1940) was one of the most important early New Orleans clarinetists. He was primarily self taught although he took some lessons from Lorenzo Tio. Dodds gigged around New Orleans with Kid Ory, Freddie Keppard and Fate Marable but his reputation really developed about 1924, in Chicago with Joe "King" Oliver and later with Louis Armstrong. Johnny Dodds was a great asset to the popularity of Armstrong's Hot 5 and Hot 7 in the Windy City. Oddly, he made only one trip to New York for a record date and returned immediately to Chicago. Although there were other great New Orleans clarinetists at the time including Jimmy Noone, Johnny Dodds became a leading influence on later generations of jazz performers.
Dr. Michael White is a professor of Afro-American and Spanish music at Xavier University. He is a brilliant clarinetist and director having performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival in 1997 and has directed a number of "Jazz at Lincoln Center" concerts featuring New Orleans music. He is one of the major "preservationists" of the style of jazz developed in the Crescent City and is truly admired by his fellow musicians and aficionados of early jazz.
Michael White makes no attempt , on this CD , to faithfully imitate the sound and style of Dodds. He successfully recreates the "spirit and inventiveness" of his mentor in a manner that clearly illustrates why Johnny Dodds is still a prime influence on later clarinetists. Dr. White enjoys the honest and exciting accompaniment of a great little band featuring the British born trumpeter, Norman Thatcher, pianist Emil Mark of the Easy Riders Jazzband, Colin Bray, bassist with Canada's Hot Five Jazzmakers and Big Bill Bissonette, the producer of this session, on drums. Bill is a great practitioner of New Orleans drumming in the tradition of the late Sammy Penn.
Michael White and the group weave their merry way through eleven hot tunes that brought Dodds to fame including Wild Man Blues, Bull Fiddle Blues, Loveless Love and Blue Clarinet Stomp.
In short, this is a memorable session featuring some of the very best "classic style" players on the scene. In spite of the age of the compositions, there is nothing stale on this CD and I recommend it strongly for any jazz fan. Dr. White is a phenomenal player in the company of truly competent cohorts. While you're at the record shop, you'll probably want to pick up a reissue of some original Hot 5 and Hot 7 material too.
Top Marks!!!
Artist's Website: http://hometown.aol.com/jazzcrusad/index.html
Reviewed by:
Richard Bourcier
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