Customer Reviews

Big 't'

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the best bargain for an incredible look at Teagarden's work from the mid 20s to just after he was with Louis and the All-Stars. I can't believe how underated he is and hopefully this set will open some ears. There is no question that he put jazz trombone on the map. His vocals show his versatility and how he is able to hold his own with Armstrong. Several came before him such as miff mole,charlie green, kid ory, and jimmy harrison but Big T is the real deal. Also, listening closely to his technique it is possible to extropolate to JJ Johnson, Carl Fontana and Frank Rosolino.

5 stars to this compilation and hats off to proper records for filling an obvious void- thanks!!! I rate this collection above Teagarden's King of the Blues Trombone box set but that set is also an excellent supplement to the proper set.

I also recommend the DVD Dixieland Jazz Vol.1 which has about 9 cuts of JT from the 50s. The other half of that dvd is crosby's bobcats.

these sets are the best bargain in jazz rereleases, both for the price and the quality (including complete liner notes). The Teagarden set ranks at the top, mostly of course because it is Teagarden. The anthologies are perhaps even better -- Hitting on All Six and The Engine Room -- see my reviews. But Teagarden is a giant of a musician, as a singer but even more as arguably the greatest trombone player in jazz. I realized that his voice and his trombone have the same tone -- which is cool.

I had never heard of Jack Teagarden before doing a YouTube search for "Stars Fell on Alabama," which I suddenly wanted to hear for some reason. Up popped Jack singing the song so beautifully in his comfortable drawl and sending it into a new-to-me dimension with the trombone, that I'll never be happy with anyone else's rendition.

This box set is well worth the price, which is low for what you get. The 46-page book seems thorough and has about 20 pictures, more or less. The details are there for all the 92 songs on the four disks.

Vernon, Texas, has a museum where it's two famous musicians, Roy Orbison and Jack Teagarden, are mentioned but, according to one website, the many European jazz aficionados who make a pilgrimage to Vernon every year are invariably disappointed by the little to be found. I think I'll drive the five hours due north anyway just to pay homage to both of them one of these days.

"Stars Fell on Alabama," incidentally, was published in 1934, and written by Frank Perkins with lyrics by Mitchell Parish. There really was a "night the stars fell on Alabama." On November 12-13, 1833, the Leonid meteor shower was so spectacular in the Southeast, and especially in Alabama, that people thought the world was coming to an end. It became one of those where-were-you-when moments for that area. There's much written online about it and it's worth googling.

These four discs are truly the best of Jack Teagarden. The selections on all four discs are perfect, with no duds, and the engineering quality is high. The stand-out is Disc Four, which is mostly groups with Teagarden and Louis Armstrong playing together. This material (also the last 3 selections on disc 3) features both Teagarden and Armstrong at their very best, mostly in live recordings - two musicians at the peak of their games spurring each other on and taking obvious pleasure playing together. In fact, I would choose many of these selections as the "best of the best" for Louis Armstrong as well as Teagarden. It includes the very best versions I know of Armstrong classics like "Ain't Misbehavin","Rocking Chair", "Black and Blue", "Royal Garden Blues", "Mahogany Hall Stomp", and "Way Down Yonder in New Orleans". I had never heard "Fifty-fifty Blues" but it is now one of my all-time favorite Armstrong-Teagarden performances.

I agree with the other reviewers that the Proper Jack Teagarden box set is a good collection of his music at a great price. The music is great and so is the sound, even though the oldest recordings in the set are from 1928.

I decided to purchase this set because I am an amateur trombonist and wanted to hear what one of the early trombone masters sounded like. At the time I purchased this, I only knew that Teagarden was one of the best of the early Jazz trombonists. While I noticed that at least one review mentioned his singing, I had not expected the box set to feature his singing as heavily as it does, almost as much as his horn playing. While Teagarden was a good jazz singer, he was not as good (in my opinion) as singers like Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald. His voice has an interesting Texan accent and charm, but is not beautiful. I would have preferred to have heard more of his sweet trombone and less of his singing. This is why I only gave this set 4 stars. However, that is just a reflection of my personal preferences, not a criticism of Proper who present a full picture of Teagarden by including his vocals.

Another thing to note about this collection is that the 4th disk features Louis Armstrong quite heavily since Armstrong and Teagarden teamed up from 1947 to 1951. If you already have some Armstrong recordings from the late 40s, this 4th disk might be redundant for you. While Armstrong got top billing for those recordings, Teagarden got almost equal space on them including both trombone solos and vocals.

as a comment to peter's opinion ... blues singers are not supposed to have sweet voices. mr t's voice is perfect for this type of singing. his slow southern drawl with a bit of grit makes his vocals exactly what one would want in a blues song. he is also magnificent in singing jazz (which is not the same). peter does comment that this is just his opinion, but i felt that for those who like the blues, this is the man.