48 of the Best 48: 1927-1930 (Slim)

Rhythmic Eight | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 10, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Retrieval Records
• ASIN: B002HIELYO
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #154,420 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE MOST SOUGHT AFTER 20s BRITISH DANCE BAND RECORDINGS, November 10, 2009

By 

Barry McCanna (Normandy, France) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 48 of the Best 48: 1927-1930 (Slim) (Audio CD)

Bert Firman was a very successful bandleader, who recorded prolifically for Zonophone in the 20s under a variety of pseudonyms, using the cream of London's session musicians. Of all those recordings, the most sought after are those by the Rhythmic Eight, which in the opinion of many contain some of the best examples of hot dance band music ever committed to wax. The fact that the original recordings are now extremely rare testifies to the fact that they were far ahead of their time, and this 2-CD set should win them a new audience.

What made them so special is that the group appear to have been able to play as they pleased, free from the commercial constraints that so often forced other bands into recording mediocre material. That's not to say that popular songs of the day don't feature here, but they were transformed by the arrangements, many by reedsman Arthur Lally, which accentuated their syncopated rhythms and left space for individual contributions. Particular mention should be made of Sylvester Ahola, whose hot solos are thrown off apparently effortlessly, as if issuing unbidden from a hidden spring.

The only thing preventing me from giving this compilation an unqualified welcome is that sadly somewhere between remastering and production the gremlins have struck, creating a very brief glitch 39 seconds into the first track of the second CD. I've commented before on the need for Retrieval to improve quality control, and it really is time someone took that on board.

Keen collectors may already own one or more of the three volumes issued by Mellotone in 2001/2, and there's no denying that this set duplicates many of those tracks, but remastering techniques have moved on since then. Nick Dellow has succeeded in capturing and balancing the complete spectrum, doing justice to both Hooley's golden tone and Lally's full-bodied baritone sax, as well as providing an informed 10-page liner note, embellished with rare photos. All of which more than offsets my one reservation, and justifies a five star grading.