Customer Reviews

The Boss of The Blues Sings Kansas City Jazz

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Here is the real Kansas City stuff.The great Big Joe Turner (not to be confused with the great Harlem stride pianist Joe Turner),born in Kansas City in 1911,swings high here.The band is a real all stars one,with some Basie-ites like Joe Newman,trumpet,Frank Wess,tenor sax,Walter Page,bass and Freddie Green,guitar,a great member of Duke Ellington's band,Lawrence BRown on trombone,plus Pete Brown on alto sax,Cliff Leeman on drums and... Pete Johnson himself on piano.
The result is a great swing session,with one of the greatest blues shouters on the front line.And even if the immense Jimmy Rushing will always be my man (listen to his incredible Columbia albums,"Little Jimmy Rushing and the big brass","the jazz odissey of James Rushing Esq","Cat meet chick" and "sings the Smith girls"),Big Joe is the other great KC voice;maybe his voice doesn't have that smoky flavor Jimmy had,and maybe he isn't so much at ease on jazz tunes that Mr Five by Five (Rushing's nickname referring to his impressive stoutness),but KC's jumping blues are his thing,and he is in this music like a fish in the sea.The masterful support of Page and Greene make the rhythm section swing like mad (like in the good old times of the Count Basie band),and the drive of Pete Johnson's piano (which can sometimes be as down to earth as Montana Taylor's) brings the band back to the essence of Kansas City swing.Big Joe was starting a new career at the time this recording was made (1956),a new career that will be going on for thirty years.
As essential as his fourties sides (the 1940 duets with Willie "the Lion" Smith,the magnificent 1941 "nobody in mind" with Sammy Price or the 1944 "little bittie gal's blues" with Pete Johnson,his associate since the early thirties,as necessary as his 1971 "Texas style" album,with a great Milt Buckner on piano and the imperial Jo Jones,the greatest master of drums,this record is a great moment of music you've to treasure.

A true classic.A great selection of songs, unified in approach but full of subtle variations as one would expect from such a stellar cast of musicians in the small/medium backing band, including Pete Johnson on piano and five significant Basie/Ellington alumni. Whether slow or rocking, every tune is the product of masters of the Kansas City blues at the peak of their form. Walter Page's bass sound is unmistakeable to lovers of the Basie band (Freddie Green is here too). A triumphant return to the roots at a time when Turner was enjoying success with his excellent R&B/Rock&Roll recordings.

The classic Kansas City jazz recording of the fifties. After putting out an illustrious string of rhythm and blues hits by Joe Turner in the early fifties, like his "Shake, Rattle, and Roll", Atlantic teamed him with his old partner, pianist Pete Johnson, and a marvellous small band. Every track is a gem.

Big Joe's Kansas City masterpiece. He bellows and shouts his way through a selection of Kansas City standards with a fantastic backup band including the boogie woogie master Pete Johnson. Great singing, great playing=great listening. Highly recommended.

As I write this review, I am listening to the LP (that's right - a phonograph record) with the same cover as this CD has. I bought this LP at the US Army Post Exchange in Germany in 1959. If you like Blues at all, you should enjoy this CD. I just ordered the CD to make sure I will be able to continue listening to this great music.

Joe Turner's magnificent voice stars in this session, with some fine backing from his Thirties partner Pete Johnson and other great musicians, including some of the young stars of the mid-fifties. Perhaps the arrangements are a little restrictive but Joe Turner was at his peak and the horn players deliver distinctive solos. I particularly like Jimmy Nottingham's trumpet introduction to I Want a Little Girl and Pete Brown's rolling piano introduction to Cherry Red, that's real mood music!

... is this album. Big Joe just had a wonderful voice, and this album shows it off perfectly. Probably my favorite song on this album is You're Driving Me Crazy, but I Want A Little Girl and How Long Blues are not far behind. This is one of my all time favorite albums that I have played and enjoyed for years. Out of the 250 odd albums in my collection, I would place this in the top 5. I love it.

As wonderful as it is that this classic continues to receive attention, the stereo remix on this disc is just terrible. The high end-particularly the cymbals-swims around and hopelessly clouds the entire image.

I'm guessing that the remix project was a labor of love, so I'm sorry to conclude that it was misguided and very poorly executed. Listeners would do far better to head for Collectibles' [Atlantic/Rhino-licensed] 2002 edition.

What can I say I ordered this CD, the price was right, and I received it in great time. I AM HAPPY.

I'm a big old-school jazz fan. I love my basie, prez, fats, goodman, etc. This album is just fantastic. Members of the count basie band are backing up Big Joe. And, they are in top form. Do yourself a favor and BUY THIS ALBUM. For realz.

Mike