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4.0 out of 5 stars
Early Punch Miller, April 2, 2006
This review is from: Punch Miller & Albert Wynn: 1925-1930 (Audio CD)
Trumpeter Punch Miller didn't make a commercial recording under his own name until 1944, though he recorded frequently as a sideman throughout the 1920s. This CD collects those recordings, and includes everything he did between 1925 and 1930, even a few sides on which his appearance is in question. The earliest sides are the ones he made with blues singers Billy and Mary Mack on OKeh. Next are some sessions made with Albert Wynn and contain some of the best sides on the CD, especially SHE'S CRYING FOR ME and PARKWAY STOMP. A King Mutt date from 1929 appears with much of the personnel unidentified or "possible" only, including Miller himself (many believe the trumpeter on these sides is Cicero Thomas), though there is good playing on MISSISSIPPI STOMP and GOOD TIME MAMA, the last featuring an unknown vocalist. Three Half Pint Jaxon sides are added, with YOU GOT TO WET IT being typical of Jaxon's style. A Jimmy Bertrand recording and a Frankie Franko disc are also thrown in, with the Bertrand being especially good. Most of these sides were made in Chicago; late in the 1940 Miller returned to his near-native New Orleans where he made a number of LPs in the 1950s-60s. Miller was a hot cornet player in the Armstrong tradition, and these early (and rare) sides show him off to good effect. [Interesting side bit: Miller's actual first name was Ernest, but he had a twin sister named Judy - thus the Punch nickname.]
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