Customer Reviews

The Columbia House Bands, Vol. 1

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

 

 

Fred Rich led a dance band from the 1920s into the 1940s, and like Sam Lanin, Ben Selvin, and a few others, recorded prolifically under a string of pseudonyms for virtually every record label. At times, Rich's band included Joe Venuti, Eddie Lang, the Dorseys, and other notable jazz musicians; however, the band usually played in a style that was only mildly "hot." Although Rich recorded countless sides for such budget labels as Perfect, Harmony, and the Plaza group of labels (Regal, Banner, etc.), the selections here were all recorded for Columbia, or its full-priced subsidiaries: OKeh and Parlophone. These recordings were made c. 1929-1931 and there are some real gems here. The arrangements are clever, the tunes are catchy, and there are some great vocals. I had many of these titles on a previous TOM LP (with some added reverb), but the tracks on this disc have been freshly remastered from the (rare) original 78s without any of the added effects. These are excellent, "honest" transfers with nothing added--the rich "Viva-Tonal" sound of the original records has been lovingly preserved. The liner notes by Rob Bamberger (host of "Hot Jazz Saturday Night" on WAMU in Washington, DC) are very good as well. Despite the rather boring cover, this is delightful CD of snappy 1920s dance band fare that I would highly recommend. I play this CD often and count it among my favorites.

It's a perfect CD. It's got great old music, that has been perfectly restored! It doesn't get any better than that when you love vintage pop music!

A very nice collection of music that was recorded in the months around the 1929 Stock Market crash, featuring Bunny Berigan, Mannie Klein, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang and that pleasing singer Smith Ballew. Most tunes are up-tempo and some are downright great such as the second version of "I Got Rhythm" with its remarkable intro by Lang and Venuti, "I'm Tickled Pink" and "Cheerful Little Earful" and quite a few others. As always with TOM cd's, remastering is very fine, the liner notes are very informative; for the band personel I had to resort to an old World Records lp however (with notes by Brian Rust). You won't be able to stop tapping your feet with this cd in your machine.