1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
JT, June 18, 2009
This review is from: Jack Teagarden 1939 1940 (Audio CD)
This was a really swinging band but came along about four years too late. Tea made a bad career move when he signed a lengthy contract with Paul Whiteman that didn't allow him to leave until 1939. Had T started this band in 1935 instead of staying all that time with Whiteman, he would have been a hot item at the dawning of the swing era. Instead, by '39, this hot style was on the way out and the slower fox trot style was now dominating by Artie Shaw, Glenn Miller, and Benny Goodman. The liner notes say Tea lost $40,000 trying to keep this band going___a tremendous sum of money for that time. There are some slower ballad tunes too, with Tea and Kitty Kallen vocals; a gal who would gain stardom with Harry James four years later. Terrific music from a band that unfortunately was short-lived because it's time had come and gone before it got a chance to succeed.
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