I'se A-Muggin'
Mezzin' Around
Mezz Mezzrow (Milton Mesirow) and Frankie Newton
RCA Victor LJM-1006
1954
Note: The set titles are printed out of order on the jacket. The title order below is taken from the disc label.
Mezz Mezzrow and his Swing Band
Mezz Mezzrow (cl); Frankie Newton (tp); Bud Freeman (ts); Willie "The Lion" Smith (p); Al Casey (g); Wellman Braud (b); George Stafford (dm)
Frankie Newton and his Orchestra
Frankie Newton (tp); Mezz Mezzrow (cl); Pete Brown (as); James P. Johnson (p); Al Casey (g); John Kirby (b); Cozy Cole (dm)
The Collectors Issue Label designates a recording of great bistorical and musical interest which, although technically not representative of RCA Victor's present day bigh quality standards, bas been re-issued in response to widespread public demand.
Hot Mallets-Lionel Hampton
Stompology; I'm on My Way From You; Ring Dem Bells; Confessin'; I Can't Get Started; Memories of You; Hot Mallets; Shufflin' at the Hollywood; After You've Gone; I Surrender, Dear; I Just Couldn't Take It Baby; Rhythm, Rhythm. LJM 1000
Brad Gowans and his New York Nine Poor Butterfield; Clari-jama; I'm Comin', Virginia; Carolina in the Morning; Jazz Me Blues; Singin' the Blues; Stompin' at the Savoy; Jada. LJM 3000
Louis Armstrong Sings the Blues
I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues; St. Louis Blues; Basin Street Blues; Rockin' Chair; The Blues Are Brewin'; Where the Blues Were Born in New Orleans; Jack- Armstrong Blues; Blues in the South; Blues for Yesterday; Fifty-Fifty Blues; Back O' Town Blues; Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans. LJM 1005
The Don Elliott Quintet
Nettie But Nice; Susan Stands Pat; There Will Never Be Another You; Laura; I Just Don't Care Anymore; Everything I Love; Long Ago and Far Away; Imagination; Angela; Bingo, Bango, Bongo; Five O'Clock Whistle; Don's Dilemma. LJM 1007
From the inside cover: Long known as one of the more colorful and rambunctious, if not one of the more conservative of contemporary jazz musicians, Milton "Mezz" Mezzrow (Mesirow en français), flamboyant author of a Gogol-type masterpiece entitled "Really the Blues," clarinetist extraordinary and jack-of-all-trades, has probably made as many really good jazz recordings as anyone in the business. And although he has never been held in the same reverence here as that with which he is showered in France – where, incidentally, he is considered something of a major god, thanks largely to the unrestrained admiration of Hughes Panassié – he is, nevertheless, a musician deserving of special attention. Careful listening to Mezzrow's style, his intonation, his ideas, may often be rewarded by a fast glimpse at some of jazz's most exciting moments.
The combination of Mezzrow and Frankie Newton (Newton plays trumpet on the Mezzrow sides, and Mezz is heard on clarinet on the Newton sides) is actually more significant and appropriate than it first appears. Frankie, whose untimely death occurred in March, 1954, was not only a musician of the same ilk as the redoubtable Mezzrow, but personality-wise he might be said to be practically a blood brother. And while not a great deal was heard from Frank within recent years due in large part to his preoccupation with matters of a political nature – he has been, and will continue to be, remembered as one of the most subtle and forceful of trumpet stylists, a musician whose contribution to recorded jazz, if not unnoticed, has certainly been underrated.
The Mezzrow sides, recorded on March 12, 1936, feature a band which is thoroughly indicative of the clarinetist's philosophy, both musically and sociologically. The "Swing Band's" personnel – this was actually close to the very beginning of that crazy era – is composed of both white and Negro musicians, although the latter are clearly predominant, not only in physical presence, but in the nature of the music. This is the goal toward which Mezzrow strove and, presumably, still is striving – the acquisition of the basic tenets of Negro (read "true") jazz and of Negro life, as well. This was responsible, at one point, for his living in Harlem and has undoubtedly contributed to his permanent residence in Europe. But disregarding the whys and wherefores of his personal feelings, it must be admitted that the jazz he made with these musicians is of far more than passing interest – such an unorthodox combination as that of Mezz, Newton, Bud Freeman and Willie "The Lion" must be held responsible for the driving, biting attack, for the unrestrained, relaxed feeling-a combination of styles which react equally on one another.
Perhaps the band assembled under the leadership of Newton was even more to Mezzrow's taste – for he was the only white musician present. Recorded on January 13, 1939, these sides are notable both for the exceptionally exciting solo work and for the band's adroit ensemble playing. Pete Brown's jumping alto and James P. Johnson's ragging piano furnish a solid background over which Newton's trumpet and Mezzrow's clarinet weave intricate melodic patterns, carried along by Cozy Cole's drumming. It must also be stated that Brown's solo work at this session is among the very finest and most imaginative of his career.
Mezzrow's reedy, incisive clarinet style, and Newton's subdued but rough-and-tumble trumpet – he often played with an old felt hat hanging from the end of his horn – although at opposite ends of the musical pole, complemented each other as two similar styles could never do. The musicians who surrounded them. on these dates also served to set off their personal styles, as well as adding a more than ordinary abandon s of their own. These are, in short, memorable recordings whose excitement and musical ideas demonstrate that, despite individual tensions and personal philosophies – however at variance with the accepted standard – jazz is an art of feeling and form and rhythm. And here, under the tutelage of Mezzrow and Newton, and as a result of their taste and musicianship, these qualities have been built to the highest proportions. BILL ZEITUNG
Mezz Mezzrow and his Swing Band
Recorded March 12, 1936
A Melody From The Sky
Lost
I'se A-Mugging - Vocal refrain by Willie "Lion" Smith and Chorus
Mutiny In The Parlor
The Panic Is On
The World Is
Waiting For The Sunrise
Frankie Newton and his Orchestra
Recorded January 13, 1939
Rosetta
The Minor Jive
Who?
Romping
The Blues My Baby Gave To Me
