Dixieland King - Tradition Records

Dixieland King

1998 Tradition Records TCD 1068 Mono

CD Listing
1. High Society
2. That's A Plenty
3. The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise
4. Up A Lazy River
5. Mahogany Hall Stomp
6. I'm Goin' Home
7. Margie
8. Farewell Blues

Liner Notes:

The Tradition reissue of this album includes new comprehensive liner notes.

Pete Fountain is the undisputed monarch of New Orleans jazz, and has been for decades. This album includes many gems from the early part of Fountain's career and showcases his ability as both band-leader and clarinetist. The jubilant energy of New Orleans comes through in every piece.

Pete Fountain came to national prominence as a clarinet player on The Lawrence Welk Show and is fond of telling the story of the time Mr. Welk asked him to go backstage and take over the bubble machine. He had never done it before and loaded the machine with too much juice. The result was bubble mayhem on stage.

This anecdote is a good little introduction to Pete Fountain, the man and the musician. You can hear this devilish prankster in every whimsical note of Dixie that flies through his clarinet on this album. But don't be fooled. Playing Dixie true to form is serious business.

Though some may see Dixie as simplistic and old fashioned, those who know better, and Pete Fountain does, will tell you that often the more simple it sounds, the harder it is to play. The more rigid the structure, the more difficult it is to project one's own voice. Pete Fountain does both and makes it sound natural and effortless.

There are many words that describe the music on this album: Melodic, energetic, sweet, fun, radical... Radical? Well, yes. This collection of Dixie standards was first released in 1959.

As many fans and historians know, 1959 was a benchmark year in the history of jazz. The year that saw the passing of Lester Young and Billie Holiday also gave birth to landmark albums by Charles Mingus, Duke Ellington, and Miles Davis. Davis' masterpiece, Kind of Blue firmly established modal jazz as a blueprint for much of the music's future - a style that dismissed the traditional chord structures of jazz's foundation. Modal music relied instead on players exploring melody and harmony in relation to an inverted musical idea or phrase.

Standing in sharp, if muted, contrast, was Pete Fountain. And, if in 1959 few saw the revival of Dixieland - the jazz style most firmly rooted in traditional chord structures - as a response to cool, this might serve as an interesting historical
footnote.

From when the very first note of Pete's clarinet hits after the two bar introduction in "High Society," you know everything is going to be alright. Such is the sweetness and surety of his tone that as he darts in and around the trumpet's melody, a feeling of well-being should immediately pervade the listening area. And then comes the solo! Here Fountain shows his true mastery, running up and down and around scales with incredible range and speed. Of course, it's easy to miss speed, hidden as it is within his silky smooth attack and technique. To top it off, he then takes out his bass clarinet and breezes through another couple choruses a few octaves down - a pretty good introduction to the Pete Fountain style and range.

After a strutted run through of "That's A Plenty," the album's second cut, "The World is Waiting for the Sunrise" finds Fountain in a slightly more contemplative mood as he makes his way almost mournfully through the theme. As the song progresses though, and the band begins to jump, the clarinet responds in kind. Here, it's fun to hear how Pete gets both melancholy and joy out of the same notes, as the clarinet gradually, but never completely, succumbs to the glee of the brass and rhythm section.

Following the introduction, the trumpet's working of "Up A Lazy River" includes some nice scale bending similar to the clarinets at the start of "Margie." The tempo here is decidedly slower than anything so far and the blues just drip off the notes.

As its name might suggest, "Mahogany Hall Stomp" marks a return to the upbeat. But, as if the bluesiness of the preceding tunes have had an effect, the tone here is more contemplative than the album's opening tunes. Which is not to say it isn't hot. The flame is just more blue than white. Trumpet leads off. followed by clarinet. The trumpet then returns in muted form and blows some impressive long notes.

"I'm Goin' Home is one of those songs which the adjective bittersweet was born to describe. While not exactly a traditional New Orleans second line, it does put one in mind of that final send off. But the sublime accented scales of the clarinet together with the occasional united trumpet punches, make it far more sweet than bitter - and serve as a strong argument against the playing of funeral dirges on such occasions.

As impressive as Pete is when he's noodling at high speeds. it's the slow. mellow, julep-sipping stuff that is most dramatic. "Margie" is an excellent example. On the opening phrase of the melody, Pete bends ablue note with exquisite force and subtlety). It's almost as if the turntable were suddenly spinning just a hit slower (And if l were listening to a vinyl copy. I might have checked). Then the love songs vocal is presented in that matter-of-fact. Hex. I don't really sing. but nobody else showed up for the gig. kind of was that works perfectly for this type of song. After the vocal, the trumpet piano and trombone run through the tune.

With "Farewell Blues" the album ends where it began. as Pete Fountain once again runs circles around everything without breaking a sweat. Too often, people dismiss Dixieland without really listening to it. Pete Fountain makes sure you pay intention. you'll be glad you did.

New Orleans All Stars - Tradition Records

New Orleans All Stars

Inserts Below (5 page booklet in liners notes)

1997 Tradition Records TCD 1047 Mono

CD Listing
1. South Rampart Street Parade
2. Sensation Rag
3. Sunset In Paradise
4. In The Shade Of The Old Apple Tree
5. Bayou Blues
6. Jazz Me Blues
7. Bugle Call Rag
8. Saint James Infirmary
9. When The Saints Go Marching

Liner Notes:

Reissue produced by Anton Glovsky - Sonically cleansed using the Cedar system, Digital restoration by Allen Lowe - Series design by Steven Jurgensmeyer Cover photography courtesy of Michael Ochs - Archive Research by Nick Olney and Eric Johnson.

New Orleans All-Stars - Clarinetist Pete Fountain still reigns supreme as the king of New Orleans jazz. Recorded in 1957. this comprehensive collection of various sessions features inspired solos by Fountain. pianists. trombonists. trumpeters. and even the occasional tuba player.

The Tradition reissue of this album includes new comprehensive liner notes. The mastertapes were digitally restored and remastered for this release.

Personnel:
Pete Fountain: clarinet
Tony Almerico: trumpet
Jack Delaney: trombone
Roy Zimmerman: piano
Lester Bouchon: clarinet. tenor saxophone
Frank Frederico: guitar
Joe Lovacano: bass
Johnny Castain: drums

5 Page Booklet:

New Orleans is a strange and wondrous place, a city of great mystique to those of us who view it at a distance, but a home of some fickleness to those who try to make a living playing music there. Like many great musical cities of jazz's formative years, it seemed to expel some of the best and brightest of its pioneers with the hostility of poor working conditions, low pay, and general neglect (the early trombonist George Brunis said the best thing about New Orleans was the next train out of town). Some, however, saw fit to return to this city which was, if not the actual cradle of jazz, than its place of deepest and most profound incubation.

We won't spend a lot of time on the racial politics of this city, except to note that a) it is no accident that so much great music developed in a city of such great cross-racial acculturation, and b) racism still thrived here as it did in the rest of the South throughout the pre- and post-war years. Our point is only to show how upside down the world of race and culture is; how, in a music whose pioneers have always been African-Americans, the danger is of ignoring the essence by which we ought to make our musical judgments. That essence is the music itself, which, in its purist state, exists apart from the not-so-petty political squabbles that cloud the realities of our historical record.

Pete Fountain is a clarinetist who comes very deeply from within the New Orleans jazz tradition. Though capable, in the spotlight, of some very glib and shallow performance, he is also, in the final analysis, a very fine improviser, with the deep, hard but velvety tone typical of that school. He is one native son to whom the city has been particularly hospitable, succeeding not only on a national stage (he's one of the few jazzmen who ever had a regular booking on The Tonight Show) but also in a local venue, the club in the Crescent City where he's been based for some time. Maybe it's a matter of concentration and conviction, but when Fountain wants to he can play in a very emotionally and technically convincing style that, while fitting into the revivalist scheme of things, shows he's not unaware of changes in the body music over the last forty or so years. Yes, he does dip into the businessman's bounce repertoire now and then, but he shows an equal affinity for those parts of the mainstream repertoire that illustrate other sides of New Orleans' musical developments.

Born in New Orleans in 1930, Fountain began playing professionally at age twelve. From the earliest stages of his career, he showed a knack for landing in ensembles with great commercial staying power. At age twenty-five, he did an extended stint with the Dukes of Dixieland, and then followed this with an association with Al Hirt. For two years. he worked in a venue which gave him his greatest visibility and propelled him to popular stardom, The Lawrence Welk Show. Welk featured him regularly and, even in that somewhat corny and cliche environment, Fountain managed to forge an image of himself as the ultimate Dixieland clarinetist, an image he carries to this day.

On "St. James Infirmary," we hear what is obviously a working band, with a fine and idiomatic muted trumpet solo. In this "old timey" rendition, as elsewhere on this CD. we hear more than just hints that these musicians are well aware of more modern schools of playing, and the references they make to them are pithy and convincing. Listen, as well, to the piano solo, a very fine alternation of Hinesian, stop-start rhythm and well-placed chords. Essentially a blues, "St. James Infirmary" has proved itself to be a durable piece of the Swing-Dixieland repertoire.

"South Rampart Street Parade" is much more a part of the traditional street-parade sound of New Orleans if, unfortunately, here its polyphony is a bit too smoothly integrated. Listen to Fountain's interesting tonal amalgamation of native influence and Benny Goodman, his sweet. woody sound. The ensemble rides this out in that raucous but still somehow polite manner typical of the commercial side of this music, and it all comes to a typically cacophonous, New Year's Eye end.

"Bayou Blues" is a newer sounding piece, with very nice clarinet against a moody background. This is Tin Pan Alley gone South, and nonetheless pleasant for its probable less-than-authentic beginnings. The guitar takes a very pleasantly lyrical solo with an almost acoustic sound, a chordally-based turn that perfectly complements Fountain's central and recurring role. The trumpet plays a fine paraphrase of the melody, constructing his thoughtful solo from the intervals of the song.

"Sensation Rag" comes from deep within the commercial repertoire of New Orleans, from the earliest work of groups like The Original Dixieland Jazz Band and, probably, from the popular parade bands of the early part of the century. Its multi-strain structure places it as coming from the world of ragtime, as does its double time character and basic, march-like feel. This performance reflects, as well, the stomping spirit of the Dixieland revival movement, its populist reach and demographically broad appeal. Listen, particularly, to the trombone solo, which manages to sound very old fashioned, with its on-the-beat phraseology, yet still betrays a new world sensibility.

"In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree" has some of the finest soloing on this album, with good, strong trumpet playing, showing the power of the "lead" player, yet still minutely sensitive to group sound and balance. Fountain begins his solo in the clarinet's gorgeous low register, and stays there almost throughout. As usual in his playing, there's a bit of tension between his desire to sound like a down home player and his obvious knowledge of swing and post-swing clarinet. Though these varying impulses sometimes give him a surface slickness, he generally makes them work in his favor, imparting a smooth and breezy quality to his ensemble work.

"Jazz Me Blues" is of the old school, a different kind of bugle call rag. one of a stomping. hand-clapping call to arms. This is the classic sound of the most commercial side of the New Orleans school, with its very careful counterpoint and pleasing backbeat-based dance style.

"Sunset Parade" is an infectious dance-like number, and we hear, for neither the first or last time in this CD. the influence of Louis Armstrong. Fountain's solo is the center of the piece, with his usual precise and symmetrical liquid phrasing, and we hear a Yiddish turn of musical phrase by the trumpeter in what sounds almost like a piece from a Jewish wedding - not altogether surprising from a city as racially and ethnically mixed as New Orleans. The trombonist shows more than a little bit of a Teagarden-ish frame of mind, and the ensemble closes with its usual carefully arranged, but quite enthusiastic, ride out.

These are a few of the highlights of this very varied set. Fountain. still active as of this writing. is that rarity, a prosperous jazz musician of great renown, still highly visible in his hometown, and still an attraction on the touring circuit. Recorded in New Orleans, 1957.

Liner notes by Allen Lowe